Kirby Heybourne: Needy Father or Sell-out?

I will add my two e-bits to the pot and suggest that the recent controversy surround Kirby Heyborne's (you know...Mr. Mormon cinema...he was the RM and also played significant parts in Singles Ward, Saints and Soldiers, and The Best Two Years) cameo in a Miller Lite Beer commercial. Heyborne has recently defended his action as Heavenly Father's way of helping him "stay afloat for another year." See his full remarks here. From my conversations (largely within Happy Valley), however, Heyborne is universally seen as a sell-out. To these folks, however Heyborne wants to spin it, he is still profiting from a business that is not compatible with the LDS lifestyle.

Herein is a major fault-line in gospel thought. Yes, he who does not take care of his household is "worse than an infidel." And sometimes, the early Latter Day Saints were to become friends with the "mammon of unrighteousness." But how far can this approach be taken w/o leading us to simply becoming a part of a wicked bureaucracy where we can all distance ourselves from the fundamental evil of the company/institution? Could a faithful Latter Day Saint be a white collar desk clerk for Playboy? Could a faithful Latter Day Saint work as a product rep. for Coors? Awkward questions indeed.

Addendum

Upon further reflection and some prodding from a good friend of mine, I have thought some about Heyborne's predicament. It's true...new, less-than-well-known actors make approximately 1,000 dollars more than crap/year. And when you're in da biz, there's something to be said for taking care of one's family. From a strict public relations point-of-view, I still wish he hadn't done it, wish he had taken any other odd-job, but then again, there are many things that I wish my family/friends (including myself) wouldn't do. And yet I still care about them deeply...and these are people I know. I certainly wouldn't make a personal attack over the blogosphere. I don't even know Heyborne. If I had known him personally and had been on close terms, I might have even privately expressed what I did in this blog. For public consumption, however, I should have tempered my remarks to fit the requirements of the charity that befits Latter Day Saints, should have shown my concern without such a biting edge. In previous posts, I have confined my remarks to the criticism of ideas, trends, culture. Such things can be fixed on an individual level w/o anyone losing face. But in the temple we are instructed to speak kindly of others individually...that includes individuals in the public eye.

So Kirby...you'll never read this. But let it be the known that anyone who keeps their temple worthiness up deserves my silence and everyone--temple-worthy or otherwise--deserves my charity. As Augustine noted: "In the essentials, unity, in the non-essentials, liberty, and in all things, charity."