Actors' politics pollute 'Ring'

USA Today ^ | 1/11/2004 | Michael Medved

[HungarianGypsy]

You may have seen Elijah Wood before. He played in parts as a child actor. Was in The Good Son with Macaulay (sp?) Culkin. Read he was also in Forever Young with Mel Gibson. I was only curious to find out because I was looking at the Directv guide last night and was surprised to see Elijah Wood's name listed on The Good Son. I saw it ten years ago and remembered to the kid to be cute. Well, now I know what became of him.

[shaggy eel]

Damn. She even LOOKS like a leftist.

,,, yep, a leftist matron.

[shaggy eel]

Hey! Looks like one of the Nazgul captured the Ring after all...

,,, NZ's very own Janet Reno. She's known here as the "Minister of Everything". Even LOTR hasn't escaped her craving for photo opportunities.

[I still care]

Here is a great article out of World. It covers how the Christian point of view clashed with the filmmakers, but how they felt it was more important to be faithful to the vision of Tolkien.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1041043/posts

[xm177e2]

Whatever Mortensen believes, it sure as heck didn't show in the movie. He did a fine job playing his character, he never let his politics pollute the movie. What Medved is upset about is that an actor has any political ideas that Medved doesn't like, even if the actor keeps them firmly separated from his work.

[Let's Roll]

Wasn't he also in the first Indiana Jones movie?

[OXENinFLA]

LOTR:John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) Interview (MUST READ)Islam Vs. The West


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1042278/posts

[Let's Roll]

Wasn't he also in the first Indiana Jones movie?

[united1000]

From an interview with Reys-Davies:

 

http://promontoryartists.org/lookingcloser/movie%20reviews/Q-Z/returnoftheking-jrd.htm

 

"I have had the ideal background for being an actor. I have always been an outsider. I grew up in colonial Africa. And I remember in 1955, it would have to be somewhere between July the 25th when the school holiday started and September the 18th when the holidays ended. My father took me down to the quayside in Dar-Es-Salaam harbor. And he pointed out a dhow in the harbor and he said, “You see that dhow there? Twice a year it comes down from Aden. It stops here and goes down [South]. On the way down it's got boxes of machinery and goods. On the way back up it’s got two or three little black boys on it. Now, those boys are slaves. And the United Nations will not let me do anything about it.”

The conversation went on. “Look, boy. There is not going to be a World War between Russia and the United. The next World War will be between Islam and the West.”

This is 1955! I said to him, “Dad, you’re nuts! The Crusades have been over for hundreds of years!”

And he said, “Well, I know, but militant Islam is on the rise again. And you will see it in your lifetime.”

He’s been dead some years now. But there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him and think, “God, I wish you were here, just so I could tell you that you were right.”

What is unconscionable is that too many of your fellow journalists do not understand how precarious Western civilization is and what a jewel it is.

How did we get the sort of real democracy, how did we get the level of tolerance that allows me to propound something that may be completely alien to you around this table, and yet you will take it and you will think about it and you’ll say no you’re wrong because of this and this and this. And I’ll listen and I’ll say, “Well, actually, maybe I am wrong because of this and this.”

[He points at a female reporter and adopts an authoritarian voice, to play a militant-Islam character:] ‘You should not be in this room. Because your husband or your father is not hear to guide you. You could only be here in this room with these strange men for immoral purposes.’

I mean… the abolition of slavery comes from Western democracy. True Democracy comes form our Greco-Judeo-Christian-Western experience. If we lose these things, then this is a catastrophe for the world.

And there is a demographic catastrophe happening in Europe that nobody wants to talk about, that we daren’t bring up because we are so cagey about not offending people racially. And rightly we should be. But there is a cultural thing as well.

By 2020, 50% of the children in Holland under the age of 18 will be of Muslim descent. You look and see what your founding fathers thought of the Dutch. They are constantly looking at the rise of democracy and Dutch values as being the very foundation of American Democracy. If by the mid-century the bulk of Holland is Muslim—and don’t forget, coupled with this there is this collapse of numbers ... Western Europeans are not having any babies. The population of Germany at the end of the century is going to be 56% of what it is now. The populations of France, 52% of what it is now. The population of Italy is going to be down 7 million people. There is a change happening in the very complexion of Western civilization in Europe that we should think about at least and argue about. If it just means the replacement of one genetic stock with another genetic stock, that doesn’t matter too much. But if it involves the replacement of Western civilization with a different civilization with different cultural values, then it is something we really ought to discuss—because, g**dammit, I am for dead white male culture.

You do realize in this town what I’ve been saying [is like] blasphemy…

…but we’ve got to get a bit serious. By and large our cultures and our society are resilient enough to put up with any sort of nonsense. But if Tolkien’s got a message, it’s that “Sometimes you’ve got to stand up and fight for what you believe in.” He knew what he was fighting for in WW1."

[With that, he departed our appreciative and applauding table, saying:] Try and put verbs in my sentences.
 

[StoneColdGOP]

Gimli, son of Gloin, bump!

[luckystarmom]

I think Elijah Wood's best role was in the remake of Flipper. It was such a great movie. (sarcasm on)

[beckett]

Excellent analysis. I agree completely that Mortensen was quite weak in his speech before the last battle. It wasn't Shakespeare's Henry V speech that crossed my mind in comparison, however, although that's a good choice, too, but rather Mel Gibson's brilliant turn in Braveheart. The Scots would have buried the army from Middle Earth.

[savedbygrace]

Nevertheless, Mortensen believes that he had no choice but to distract attention from his martial role with his pacifist preening.

Couldn't leave people with the impression that he wasn't acting when he played Aragorn, now could he? Ditz.

("I didn't really mean it, 'cause wasn't me up there on the screen, it was a character, you know.")

[rintense]

One wonders if Aragon had grown a pair sooner, if the Ring may have been destroyed sooner. Hmmm... ;)

[rintense]

It puzzles me how Viggo gets roles so opposite of who he is. I saw the previews to 'Hildago' and it looks awesome. But I loathe Viggo so much I'll wait til it hits cable.

[rintense]

I agree with you - to a point. I mean, I think they have the right to say whatever they want. And what they think has no concern for me, except for one thing. I know that money I put in their pocket may get contributed to groups like ANSWER or moveon.org. Plus as they get more popular, they use their fame as a platform.

I take issue with these folks using their publicity and celebrity status to somehow add credence to an issue when it is clear they can't even recite the Preamble, let alone know what they hell we entered WWII for.

If you have an opinion, fine. But for God's sake, put some intelligence and thought behind it. Viggo relies solely on some pseudo-intellectual upper west side crap that only those of his same ilk even remotely believe. At least Brad Pitt had the balls to say (when asked about the war in Iraq), 'who the hell cares what I think. I'm an actor.' He went on to say no matter what your issues are, you should support the President and the country in a time of war. It's nice to know my plans for Brad *could* include a minute or two of politics, but the other 13 minutes... ;)

[2nd Amendment]

Just because they hired a bunch of pacifist metrosexuals as actors, it doesn't detract from this grat work!

[XJarhead]

Damn. That's really a hell of a little speech that Rhys-Davies gave. It's not just some actor shooting off his mouth. Gotta bookmark that one....

[nutmeg]

LOTR ping

[CalKat]

Should't Rhys-Davies keep his thoughts to himself? He seems to have said more in that one piece than Mortensen has said over the past couple years.