he was a dyed in the wool racist. And not against just First-Americans.

John Wayne supported the Vietnam war knowing it was based on a lie. He called it a conservative cause.

I think that we tend to idolize celebrities without critical thought. It is a failing of our thinking that has a negative effect on society.

Wayne to me, was more of a made up icon than anything real. His acting wasn't great, but what he was portrayed as was important for society at the time of the cold war when "being American" was a binkie to people scared of the "Reds" and social change. He is a reflection on society more than anything special.

I think Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are fairly talented actors and writers, "Good Will Hunting" was a very good movie in my opinion. I tend to agree with their politics as well. However, I don't give any more credence to their views or their words. I may say, I agree, or "he makes a good point", but you will never see me use the words of a celebrity as "proof" of anything or as a definitive fact. They are actors, they are rich, they have maybe some more free time and resources to look into things, but they are not experts.

I never understood the worship of celebrity. I mean I thought Prince was one of the best musicians of the modern pop/rock age. He was super talented, played multiple instruments, and wrote and performed some very good music. Again, what he thought about the world, politics, religion, etc... was not what I liked him for.

Obviously if talented musicians, actors, athletes, etc... have views that are repulsive and damaging to society and they use the platform they are given to promote those destructive views, then something needs to be done to counteract that damage. I personally think that we should not be giving celebrities that much importance to begin with.

He was of prime age during WWII. Were there medical reasons?

He wanted to enlist but JohnFord worked behind the scenes to keep his only A-list actor in films.

Wayne was married three times, with all of his wives being Latina.

From Wikipedia: “America's entry into World War II resulted in a deluge of support for the war effort from all sectors of society, and Hollywood was no exception. Wayne was exempted from service due to his age (34 at the time of Pearl Harbor) and family status (classified as 3-A – family deferment). Wayne repeatedly wrote to John Ford saying he wanted to enlist, on one occasion inquiring whether he could get into Ford's military unit, but consistently kept postponing it until after "he finished just one or two pictures".[36] Wayne did not attempt to prevent his reclassification as 1-A (draft eligible), but Republic Studios was emphatically resistant to losing him since he was their only A-list actor under contract. Herbert J. Yates, President of Republic, threatened Wayne with a lawsuit if he walked away from his contract,[37] and Republic Pictures intervened in the Selective Service process, requesting Wayne's further deferment.[38]

U.S. National Archives records indicate that Wayne, in fact, did make an application[39] to serve in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), precursor to the modern CIA, and had been accepted within the U.S. Army's allotted billet to the OSS. William J. Donovan, OSS Commander, wrote Wayne a letter informing him of his acceptance into the Field Photographic Unit, but the letter went to his estranged wife Josephine's home. She never told him about it. Wayne toured U.S. bases and hospitals in the South Pacific for three months in 1943 and 1944.[40] with the USO.[41][42][43] During this trip, he carried out a request from Donovan to assess whether General Douglas MacArthur, commander of the South West Pacific Area, or his staff were hindering the work of the OSS.[20]:88 Donovan later issued Wayne an OSS Certificate of Service to memorialize Wayne's contribution to the OSS mission.

By many accounts, his failure to serve in the military later became the most painful part of his life.[36] His widow later suggested that his patriotism in later decades sprang from guilt, writing: "He would become a 'superpatriot' for the rest of his life trying to atone for staying home."[45]

And that's my alma mater.