Film stars and celebrities often share their views on public matters that have little to do with their profession.
Is this a positive or negative development?
Public figures are usually seen to voice their opinion with respect to public issues beyond the scope of their expertise. From my perspective, potential drawbacks of this tendency are incomparable to its upsides.
The fact that celebrities' viewpoints on a wide range of matters being publicized is indeed positive. Firstly, this could raise the public's awareness about the problem in question. Due to followers being predisposed to take what their idols concern into consideration, when well-known people share their ideas about a specific issue, it could instantly become the public's interest. Conversations featuring it might become prevalent, and numerous public members even do research, thus gain more insights of it. In addition, in some cases, consciousness of a matter brought up by famous individuals could translate into reforming initiatives in response. For instance, as an iconic figure raises her concern about the local environmental degradation, her admirers might be encouraged to organize campaigns for environment preservation, or simply think twice before littering in the park or discharging garbage into the river.
Nonetheless, a negative aspect of the mentioned development is that if public figures' viewpoints regarding issues outside their domain involve inaccurate information, several members of the community could be left ignorant. Idolatry could sometimes cause followers to take their idols' false beliefs for granted without attempting comprehensive research. For instance, if a celebrity, due to his superficial knowledge, consider an aboriginal group as culprits behind the extinction of a species, many of his fans might unthinkingly develop an aversion for the group, who are innocent people. However, this negative effect is unlikely to be severely damaging and long-lasting, since sooner or later there tends to be specialists stepping in to correct mistaken notions and leading blind followers into enlightenment.
To conclude, despite my recognition that celebrities voicing their views about a public matter beyond their profession is negative in some way, in general, it seems to me that this has more positive elements.
Holt Educational Consultant - / 14,797 
4780 The writer has provided an inappropriate response to the discussion question which will result in a failing TA score due to an inappropriate prompt response. As the original discussion format is to be based on a positive or negative development, the choice to use an advantage v. disadvantage response format was incorrect. Positive and negative development prompts cannot be interchanged with an A/D discussion response format. By this point, the writer will be percieved by the examiner to be discussing a totally different topic. Was it an instruction comprehension error? Maybe. Whatever the reason, this sort of error can force a failing score in the first half of the presentation. Always respond as per the discussion suggested format.
@Holt
Dear Holt, I did read samples of Ielts regarding 'Is this a positive or negative development?' before writing this and follow his format. He too mentions benefits and disadvantages in both the introduction and conclusion, and discuss both sides of an issue. So may I ask why you said this essay should not be an A/D discussion? Thank you very much!
