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 ...
Worthy point.
Schwartznegger has said they are going to where the evil is and they will fight the fight and this is the correct view to take.
Some people are willing to listen and these are the ones one can engage in conversation. Many are not.
Eastwood is a VERY VERY liberal Republican. Sometimes they are worse than liberals.
However, he's a multi-millionaire resident of a gorgeous and remote California coastal town where he used to be tallest hog at the trough.
There's nothing wrong with that of course, but it goes a long way to explain how Eastwood has the luxury of an 'Hey, what's all the fussing about?' attitude.
I kind of agree with Clint on this too.....regardless of politics, the atmosphere seems alot more polluted than the last several years.........yes I do blame the Dems for the most part but even here you can see it on threads....like McCain threads.....he is obviously hated alot here, but when people call him a traitor or POS or whatever, well that doesn't add to the discussion and only heats up side issues......I can argue with the best of them but would rather discuss viewpoints without being a traitor, or RINO. or whatever.....those are just emotional outbursts, not reasoned thought........
The Dems power is still not gone...there is still work to be done. However, it is wonderful to see how much they have crashed and burned. The anger will continue for some time. It's inevitable.
Every time I see Carville's face, I think of that Peter Griffin line:
"OH GOD!!! Did someone open the Ark of the Covenant!?"
Yeah,starring in them,not directing them.
And this is different from the past how?
The Founding Fathers were keenly aware of this problem which is why they wrote the Constitution in such a way that it would "pit competing ambitions against each other". It is nothing new.
He's not a Republican. He considers himself a libertarian.
The problem with Clint's take on it is that if American politics didn't have such a wide rift in it, America would basically become like Canada - a very scary premise. The left has gone whacko, as simple as that. Wait a minute, I meant to say the left has gotten even more whacko.
This is a good point, one I've been making for some time now. It's one thing if an actor appears on Leno (Carson) or Letterman or whoever, and says pretty calmly, hey this what I believe but it takes all kinds to make a world, blah-blah-blah, which is the way it used to be.
But when they go out of their way to so publicly and constantly heap insults on their audience in a screechy, sanctimonious tone, then it becomes extremely difficult for the audience to separate the actor from the insults he or she has hurled at you. In the public eye, they become annoying activists who make movies as a part time job.
If the Garafolo-ites think that's unfair, then they are even bigger wack-jobs than we thought. This is just Business 101. Never alienate your customers. Would these actoids go to a restaurant where they knew some of the waiters were people who insulted them when they saw them out on the street?
All I know is he was the Republican mayor of Carmel.
I saw "Mystic River" on my WebTV/DirecTV - PIP - while surfing FR the other day
Good actors, performances - a powerful movie - a few actors seem to have that nutcase off-screen Limo-Socialist-Lobbyist millionaire agenda which Eastwood does not seem to have
I have not seen this latest flick so I can not intelligently comment about it (many lib journalists never seem to need to even read the book, see the movie)
It is truly a shame that Sean Penn and Tim Robbins adopt an stupid "expert on national security" role instead of applying that emotion and passion to future acting roles.
Penn and Robbins were good in their roles but I kept thinking of their pro-Saddam Hussein statements, and in Sean Penn's case, his personal visit to Bagdad (like Cong. Jim McTraitor) to kiss up to a mass murdering tyrant/butcher reading Adoph Hitler's script.
Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne also were great and appear to believe their career depends on good outstanding entertainment, not crazy rants without honest substance.
Clint Eastwood directed "Mystic River" brilliantly - a "little government" guy somehow getting several hypocritical liberal democrats to "shut up and act".
Whoever cast this ensemble did a great job.
On a side note, back a bit I heard Clint Eastwood call in (from his vehicle in California) to Mike Savage to straighten out some things about "Mystic River" and Savage treated Clint like he was/is an idiot.
Mike Weiner-Savage is low-rent jerk.
You've got to ask
yourself one question:
"Do I Feel Lucky ??"
Well do you, punk ?!
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The Good, the bad, and the Ugly
He was, but I've read a few interviews and he says he's pretty much a libertarian (lower case "l").
This author has a point, although one can't help but notice that there were no complaints about nastiness in discourse up until the time conservatives stopped getting their butts kicked & started pushing back, ie. almost the entire last half century.
Yeah...now I see why he didn't do a whole lot for the Republican party. Too bad.
I ask you again to point out where in the film it does that.
The movie does not take a position on the matter one way or the other but merely depicts is as the outcome.
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