Affleck and Rogen performed admirably on Capitol Hill, and both policy-makers and celebrities benefit on these away-days: Their two brands of show business are briefly in perfect alignment. One side for the day is adjacent to true power, the other gets a coating of stardust. But will funds and productive initiatives to the DRC proliferate as a result of Affleck’s appearance? Will Alzheimer’s research programs be more prosperously funded and treatments improved because of Rogen’s?

This isn’t an argument against celebrity involvement, or a snark at Washington and Hollywood’s mysterious pas de deux. But it’s a strange dance when celebrities go to Washington. Their journeys are rooted in venerable intentions, and the benefits, while profound in the moment, may prove harder to quantify in the long term. These are days when no one is in their familiar corners; when a dose of LA swagger invades the airless Capitol Hill offices of grey suits and entrenched power play. In this rare meeting of two different worlds is a shameful indictment: Why do our politicians and policymakers need such glitzy shots in the arm to do their jobs?