Talk:Martin Sheen

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Contents 1 Does he and his sons speak spanish or galician? 2 Sheen's mother 3 Pro-choice or pro-life? 4 Removed 5 Anti-Fascist 6 Consistent Life ethic/group 7 Apocalypse Now scene--briefing at Na Trang 8 Irish actor? 9 Birth name

[edit] Does he and his sons speak spanish or galician?

Anyone knows if they speak spanish or galician?

Onofre Bouvila 03:45, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sheen's mother

I believe Sheen's mother's name is spelt Mary Anne Phelan, not Marry Anne Phelan. Here are two examples from The N.J. Star-Ledger and The N.Y. Daily News. These articles also state that she hailed from Tipperary, not Galway - anyone have a reliable source for which it is?. Maybe both? Tertulia 16:21, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Pro-choice or pro-life?

• I found that he marched in the pro-choice "March for Women's Lives" only a year ago. [1] --Fallout boy 21:48, 17 October 2005 (UTC)

• Easy mistake to make Fallout Boy, but Sheen's name was wrongly used for this march and was withdrawn. [2] Quote: "Actor Martin Sheen has backed out of being listed as an endorser for the pro-abortion march sponsored by leading abortion advocacy groups. Whether the listing of him as a sponsor was accidental or if Sheen didn't know the march's purpose is to support abortion is still a question."

Labelling pro-life/choice is hard in Sheen's case, because he is pro-life, but does not believe that the state should prevent women from having an abortion. He has, however, as stated in this Wikipedia article, campaigned with Consistent Life, which speaks out against abortion. If we have to assign him to one of these two categories, "pro-life" is the most appropriate, I think, although unfortunately this suggests a belief in legislating against abortion, which he apparently does not subscribe to. Here is Matty j's explanation and source, which was inexplicably removed from this talk page by Digby a few days ago:

"I removed the Pro-Life category.

I found this quote at [3]: "I cannot make a choice for a women, particularly a black or brown or poor pregnant woman. I would not make a judgment in the case. As a father and a grandfather, I have had experience with children who don't always come when they are planned, and I have experienced the great joy of God's presence in my children, so I'm inclined to be against abortion of any life. But I am equally against the death penalty or war-- anywhere people are sacrificed for some end justifying a means. I don't think abortion is a good idea. I personally am opposed to abortion, but I will not judge anybody else's right in that regard because I am not a woman and I could never face the actual reality of it."

He seems fairly explicity that, while he is personally opposed to abortion, he does support (to some degree) the right to have one. I would say, although there is disagreement, that the pro-life/pro-choice labelling should be reserved for one's political opinions on the matter (whether they ultimately support the right to have an abortion, or the right of a fetus' life), not their personal views. -- Matty j 21:46, Nov 13, 2004 (UTC)"

I agree with Matty j, and suggest that as neither "pro-life" nor "pro-choice" is a satisfactory label for Mr Sheen's beliefs, we should remove the category altogether, and cover the subject in the article. Tertulia 00:24, 18 October 2005 (UTC)

When you belong to a pro-life group and makes people take his name off of pro-choice events. He is considered a pro-life celebrity. I know it kills you libs that someone like Martin Sheen is against abortion but no parsing of his statements is going to change the facts. Not judging others for their actions is part of his religion.

It is pure censorship removing the category listing. Your so called proof is no proof at all, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Dwain 02:24, 18 October 2005 (UTC)

His statement that he could allow people to choose abortion doesn't sound very pro-life to me. I originally got involved with this and created Category:Pro-life celebrities because I was so surprised to find out he was pro-life. It doesn't surprise me to find out he's not very consistent. I concede that it doesn't sound like he belongs in the pro-life category. But all this material definitely needs to be put into the article. Jdavidb (talk) 15:02, 18 October 2005 (UTC)

Definitely needs to be put into the article, rather than leaving it as a link at the bottom. While I would contest that the label "pro life celebrity" doesn't quite fit, it seems to me it's a moot point, as he's close enough for it not to be a misnomer. Unfortunately, it implies he's involved in campaigns for the legisislation against abortion, which he is not (according to the interview). Someone should just address that briefly and let the link elaborate. I mean, ultimately, it's really not that important what he thinks. -- Yossarian 09:44, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removed

There was a certain irony in his visit because Cindy Sheehan had demanded to speak with Republican President George W. Bush, and Sheen plays Democratic President Josiah Bartlet on The West Wing. Original research, or somethin' - definitely not encyclopaedic Sherurcij 09:24, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

I readded the above info, rewritten with a quote and a source. I think that juxtaposition/contradiction of him being there while Bush was not, is partly what makes the event significant.--newsjunkie 11:42, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

Alright, that's a good way of putting it thanks, especially the quote. I removed the "Democrat/Republican" markers though, don't want to seem polarizing :) Much thanks Sherurcij 07:31, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Also removed mention of his being a member of Consistent Life, since they post a full memberlist on their website[4] and he is not listed. Sherurcij 09:27, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Anti-Fascist

Writing that the anti-Bush group he signed a statement for is "anti-fascist" is a political opinion about the Bush administration and is therefore a violation of neutrality. Therefore, I deleted that label user:stanley011

While I agree with your decision I disagree with your assessment. Describing a group does not necessarily violate NPOV. The most important question is whether or not the description/label is accurate and fair. This can be difficult but some of the relevant assessments include:

• Is this the label commonly used by the group to describe itself?
• Is this the label commonly used by others, especially the media and general commentators to describe the group
• Is this the label commonly used by researchers to describe the group?
• Do other encylopedias describe the group using this label?
• Based on the groups activities and public statements and generally accepted meaning of the label, is this an appropriate label?

There are probably others points I missed but these are some of them. Using such an analysis, you can decide and hopefully reach consensus on whether a label is accurate or not to describe a group. If a label is accurate then it should remain. Just because a group has a label doesn't imply you're making a statement about people the group is critical of. For example, describing an anti-war group as an anti-war group doesn't mean people the group criticise love war. Similarly describing an environmentalist group as an environmentalist group doesn't mean people the group are critical or don't care about the environment. So just as similarly describing an anti-fascist group as anti-fascist doesn't make people the group is critical of fascists. In fact removing a label simply because your disagree or unhappy with the implications of said label for people the group is critical of is the real violation of NPOV. Of course, if a group has a broad range of activities, it probably has several labels. Choosing which one to use (if any) in this case may be tricky. And of course, it isn't always necessary to label a group in any reference. Labelling must be done with appropriate care and only when necessary. Deciding when a label is appropriate or necessary can be tricky. But it can be done Nil Einne 22:14, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Consistent Life ethic/group

I have modified the bit about consistent life. I see no evidence he is a member of the consistent life group and indeed the consistent life group appears to be an umbrella group uniting various groups who subscribe to the consistent life ethic and doesn't seem to have individuals as members. However the reference that was already there along with the article on the ethic DOES support the idea that he is an exponent of the ethic. Nil Einne 22:23, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Apocalypse Now scene--briefing at Na Trang

Martin Sheen--my fav scene from Apocalypse

[edit] Irish actor?

Isn't Sheen an Irish actor, seeing as he's a citizen of Ireland? Or would he be an Irish-American actor... Or an American-Irish actor... Hrms, confusing. What's the details of his citizenship of Ireland? Dual? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 213.94.241.211 (talk) 17:02, 12 December 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Birth name

Sorry, I'm confused. Was he born Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez or Marty Sheehan? I couldn't work it out from the article. Tobelia 01:29, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

The article says he was born Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez, and later adopted Martin Sheen, just like his son. I hope this helps! Jayden54 08:52, 5 March 2007 (UTC)