Posted on 02/25/2005 10:15:56 AM PST by FlyLow
Clint Eastwood made my day. It happened during a recent interview with The New York Times in which the actor-director said he was baffled by the controversy surrounding his latest film, "Million Dollar Baby."
What Eastwood finds frustrating is that a movie that isn't really political has had to endure political fallout from right-wing talk show hosts who insist that the film in a plot twist already revealed elsewhere pushes liberalism by promoting assisted suicide.
Given that Eastwood is the former Republican mayor of Carmel, Calif., and a movie star who once played hard-nosed Police Inspector Harry Callahan, aka "Dirty Harry," the irony is palpable. But what caught my attention was what Eastwood had to say about the ruckus. He harkened back to an earlier time when politics were more cordial and the discussion of all things political wasn't so all-or-nothing.
"Maybe I'm getting to the age when I'm starting to be senile or nostalgic or both, but people are so angry now," Eastwood said. "You used to be able to disagree with people and still be friends. Now you hear these talk shows, and everyone who believes differently from you is a moron and an idiot both on the right and the left." Bravo. Eastwood has just zeroed in on one of the biggest problems with political discourse in this country. It's a problem that needs fixing, and, until it gets fixed, the political process will not work as well as it would without all the acrimony and accusations.
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
Dat ol' Clint Eezwood's a MO-ron, I tell ya! You drag a hunred dollar bill tru a traylapark an ol' Durty Harry will be reachin' out from 'tween the dubbawides...
LOL!
I've heard that!
Clint is correct. But times change. And now the nation is much more conservative so that, what seemed a rational way of proceeding through life 30 years ago or so, is now viewed as an unsatisfactory path to follow.
Abortion, I think, is an excellent example of that ethos change. It wasn't that long ago, in America, that "a woman's right to choose"(what a euphemism!) seemed quite practicable and sensible to many, many Americans. Now, as I understand it, most Americans oppose abortion(as I do).
Before the US Civil War, most Americans thought slavery was, well, acceptable. Now, slavery is an abomination - as it should be.
I am surprised that someone such a Mr. Eastwood - a man I have always thought was very bright and articulate - has difficulty perceiving this rather obvious cultural and political shift in America.
Those actors, left wing as they are, delivered excellent performances in Mystic River. That's all a director wants from an actor. If I were a director, I wouldn't care less about an actors' politics as long as they did their job acting and didn't speak to me with their rhetoric.
You can't blame a director for the actors he works with.
You have a right to your opinion.
Or I guess the other possibility is that you don't know what you are talking about.
"You have a right to your opinion."
Of course.
Can't you even answer the simplest question? Did you see the movie?
Clints the one who picked them, soyeah I can.
I'm sorry I upset you by expressing my opinion regarding a movie. Have a nice day.
You missed my point. All I'm saying is that all a director wants are actors who can act well. Viewers can avoid a film with liberal stars because no one is obligated to see the movie, but a director needs good performances, no matter what their politics are. Because Penn, Robbins and the like did give good performances, Eastwood did nothing wrong in casting them. And viewers are free to not watch the movie if they don't want to.
"I'm sorry I upset you by expressing my opinion regarding a movie. Have a nice day."
I'm not upset.
It is quite obvious you didn't see the movie, after you avoid the question over, and over.
I would miss some good movies, and a lot of life, if I let others do my thinking.
Anybody that has not seen the movie, yet claims it is political is wrong. wrong. wrong.
Either this is not exactly how you meant to put it or you are mixing apples with oranges. Being opposed to abortion does in no way negate "a woman's right to choose". I believe they are two different things. I can believe a woman has a "right to choose" but still be opposed to abortion.
I can see where Clint comes from on this.
Yeah, it made my day, too.
There's nothing about this movie that extols the virtues of euthanasia. Have you seen it?
Thanks for your note.
Many Americans used to think abortion was OK...now they don't.
As for myself, I think it is a sin and an abomination.
Well, anyone who supports an ever-expanding, socialist Federal Leviathan IS a moron and an idiot...MUD
I saw it. If you really love the handicapped, you help them die. It's a sweet message. /sarcasm
This is Bill Clintons REAL legacy.
True, but what he is doing is effectively killing the appeal of his movies to the masses. Now if its artsy fartsy movies that he wants to make so only Sundance viewer see it, OK, but there are alot of very competant Conservative actors that could have pulled of the roles that Spicoli and Mr. Sarandon did. Sorry but if you can't separate the actor for the activism, your asking for boxoffice death!
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