Playboy hasn’t released their interview with Gary Oldman yet, but it’s going to be very interesting to see the blowback when they do. For now, The Daily Mail has some quotes from the piece and… well, Gary sort of went off. I thought Gary had mellowed out over the past decade, and he was no longer the angry, aggressive man he was in his 20s (and 30s). But Gary can still get angry. And obscene. And he defends his abuser/bigot friends passionately. Some highlights from his Playboy interview, via The Mail:
On Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic rants: ‘I just think political correctness is c**p. That’s what I think about it. I think it’s like, take a f***ing joke. Get over it. I don’t know about Mel. He got drunk and said a few things, but we’ve all said those things. We’re all f***ing hypocrites. That’s what I think about it. The policeman who arrested him has never used the word n***** or that f***ing Jew? I’m being brutally honest here. It’s the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy. Or maybe I should just strike that and say “the N word” and “the F word,” although there are two F words now.’
On Alec Baldwin’s homophobic slurs: ‘Alec calling someone an F-A-G in the street while he’s pissed off coming out of his building because they won’t leave him alone. I don’t blame him. So they persecute. Mel Gibson is in a town that’s run by Jews and he said the wrong thing because he’s actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him – and doesn’t need to feed him anymore because he’s got enough dough. He’s like an outcast, a leper, you know? But some Jewish guy in his office somewhere hasn’t turned and said, “That f***ing kraut” or “F*** those Germans,” whatever it is? We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That’s what gets me. It’s just the sheer hypocrisy of everyone, that we all stand on this thing going, “Isn’t that shocking?”’
Gary says he’s ‘not a bigot.’ ‘No, but I’m defending all the wrong people. I’m saying Mel’s all right, Alec’s a good guy. So how do I come across? Angry? It’s dishonesty that frustrates me most. I can’t bear double standards. It gets under my skin more than anything.’
Satire/free speech: ‘Well, if I called Nancy Pelosi a c*** — and I’ll go one better, a f***ing useless c**— I can’t really say that. But Bill Maher and Jon Stewart can, and nobody’s going to stop them from working because of it. Bill Maher could call someone a fag and get away with it. He said to Seth MacFarlane this year, “I thought you were going to do the Oscars again. Instead they got a lesbian.” He can say something like that. Is that more or less offensive than Alec Baldwin saying to someone in the street, “You fag”? I don’t get it.’
12 Years a Slave & the Academy: ‘At the Oscars, if you didn’t vote for 12 Years a Slave you were a racist. You have to be very careful about what you say. I do have particular views and opinions that most of this town doesn’t share, but it’s not like I’m a fascist or a racist. There’s nothing like that in my history.’
For the love of God, Gary. You are really going to get THIS frustrated and angry about people being horrified that Mel Gibson is an anti-Semitic racist and violent misogynist? You’re really going to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Alec Baldwin because he has the “right” to call people f-gs? If we’re making this into a free speech issue – which I guess is part of Gary’s argument? – Mel and Alec can say whatever they want. And we can call them bigots and homophobes and woman-beaters because that’s free speech too. But I think Gary’s point is that we’re all hypocrites and we should all just get over it? Er. Well, no. Anyway… have at it.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
“‘We’ve all said those things”
No.
+1
•OhDear•
Yep.
It’s a$$holes that think everyone is doing it but they are the only ones that get *caught*.
Sad, as Gary just dropped in my esteem over those horrible comments.
😔
+1
+2
Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t make it right. Second attempt at posting this.
+3
Exactly. Nope. Speak for yourself and those other bigots oldman.
“oldman”
Why make an issue of his age? Bit ageist isn’t it?
His name is Gary Oldman.
Yes. I agree with you. His name is Gary Oldman.
While he does sound get-off-my-lawn-ish and he’s playing to the tough guy effect that men’s mags like to foster in their interview subjects, I tend to agree with what he’s saying. The second someone says, “I don’t have a racist bone in my body,” my bullshit alarm goes off. We all hold prejudices to some degree, and yes, we even communicate them. Maybe not to Mel Gibson’s level, but you tell me — honestly — that someone from another race cuts you off in traffic (e.g.) and you don’t have a few choice words or thoughts?
No.
Also no.
Really Anonny?
If someone of another race cuts you off in traffic, your go to words are racist slurs?
so much no
What?! No, no I do not think racist epithets at other people.
Given that this was the example you used I can say hand on my heart in 100% honestly that while yes I would unleash a barrage of obscenities within my car at someone who cut me off etc. not one of them would be about their skin colour or anything else of that nature.
(actually about anything, not just the car thing. I’ll swear like a dock worker but my go-to swears are all race/religion/sexuality-neutral)
No I don’t. I may swear, usually yell out “f*ck, watch where the f*ck you’re going” but in the moment I could not say whether that’s directed to the person who cut me off, or myself. But I can assure you, race, gender or appearance does not factor into my remarks. I’m usually trying to restart my heart.
I agree with Anonny. I don’t drive but I don’t think I know many people who have not complained about Asian drivers, including other Asians. Is it a stupid stereotype? Yes. Does that make them racist? No.
I can attest though that I have never heard anyone use the N word and would be shocked if I did.
I think these are some valid points! A lot of people discriminate along racial lines. Here in America, in Europe, Asia…you name it, there’s discrimination. I think Oldmans saying that to turn a blind eye to this and say, everyone just act politically correct all the time, regardless of your true thoughts!! Annoys him. Which is fine right, he can be annoyed by an attitude. Free speech exists in this country.
Is it right to discriminate against some groups and not others? No. So a homophobic slur is just as bad as an anti-female slur is just as bad as a racist slur, anti-white or anti-black. To go after some people who are racial bigots, and not others who for example call strong straight women lesbians, is a double standard.
I dont think some of us read the article, so heres a little excerpt “Alec calling someone an F-A-G in the street while he’s pissed off coming out of his building because they won’t leave him alone. I DONT BLAME HIM. SO THEY PERSECUTE”. (emphasis mine)
Gary is no way saying that we should have full on war on bigots of all shades. No. No. He is saying we should have NO war on bigots of any shade.
Never. I would flip them off and call them an a-hole, but I wouldn’t think to use an ethnic slur. Does that mean I have no prejudices, probably not. If his argument is that everyone has some bias and it is only the ones who actually use certain words that get publicly shamed for it, I understand that argument. But he straight up says everyone uses slurs, which is not true. In the last 10 years, I can only remember one instance of hearing someone say f*& in person. And I truly believe that people who feel comfortable using those slurs either have more extreme anger issues or more extreme prejudices. Either way, they deserve blowback.
No. I will fully admit I have my biases. I try to be aware of them because I live in an extremely white area of the country and have no real experience with other races. But no. I would not use a racial epithet because I know it’s wrong and I have a heart. We have the ability to express our frustrations without using racist, sexist, or homophobic language. We also have the capacity to understand that language changes and the ability to change our habits if we wish without it being a big ‘effin deal. To say “everyone does it” is an excuse. Do you plan to jump off that bridge with everyone else too?
No, no, and no. @ Anonny.
I only spout off and call people dickheads and douchenozzles. I don’t use ethnic slurs.
Um, I think you just outed yourself as a shitty person and a racist. You might want to work on that part of your personality.
Really @Mary? Did I really out myself as racist? What if you knew I’m black/Asian (and a couple other things, but mostly those)? Will you still call me racist?
You’re so naive.
Nope. But I don’t think of people in terms of slurs, even just to myself, so there you go.
Last week a black person in front of me did something stupid at a light. He gave me the finger. Can’t say a racist thought or epithet even came to my mind. Never even occurred to me.
And I don’t care what your race/ethnicity is. People like you are the reason I don’t believe racism is exclusively a white thing. Talk about naïve.
Is someone is being an a$$ hole or a jerk whats wrong with just calling them that ? why is the default setting to go with something about thier race religion gender or sexual preference ???
Who does this …..Seriously
For the 10th time, NO.
You may do that but you can’t ascribe it to others. Maybe your family. Your friends. But that’s YOUR crowd. Bigots hang with bigots.
And why do you think if you’re racially mixed that you’re immune to being a racist?
It’s not exactly newsworthy to say that prejudice exists in society. It shouldn’t take a reference to the rampant inequality between races, genders and religions to clarify that point. Society is sexist, racist, bigoted and all the rest, and when we deny this and denigrate those who break the unwritten law of silence with which we all abide, they are castigated. I don’t think Gary Oldman was saying that prejudice is ok, i think he was saying that prejudice exists and as long as it does exist, who are we judge anybody else. Also, you don’t have to use slurs to be racist! Unconscious thoughts are enough. It’s a difficult issue which demands much personal scrutiny. Personally, i hope not to add to that problem, though i can’t 100% say that i won’t. The issue is not black and white, yes or no…
“What if you knew I’m black/Asian (and a couple other things, but mostly those)? Will you still call me racist?”
if your go-to insult/retort is of the racial-slur variety, then yes.
No. No. No.
YES!
Kidding.
I mean NO.
So much NO. Oodles and oodles of NO.
Even if that were true, it doesn’t magically undermine the discriminatory nature of your comments. It also doesn’t mean we can’t be critical of those who choose to use such language.
That’s not the point. The point he’s trying to make is that because we all have said those things over the years (his view), that that makes it okay. Notice how he brings up this imaginary person who is the same as Alec, but he didn’t get raked over the coals. “But some Jewish guy in his office somewhere hasn’t turned and said, “That f***ing kraut”?” And to insult a movie that, in his view, only won an Oscar because of white guilt. Jeez. He’s gone down in my eyes.
@Anonny- “What if you knew I’m black/Asian…”
Just because you aren’t white, doesn’t mean you aren’t racist.
yeah, when people say that I say, with 100% honesty, “I have NOT.”
sorry, OLD MAN, you just lost a fan.
ETA: to “Anonny”: “that someone from another race cuts you off in traffic (e.g.) and you don’t have a few choice words or thoughts?”
sure, and they’d be “a-hole”, “MF’er” or “pr*ck”…things that are not race/ethinc specific. if YOU utter racial or ethnic slurs, that’s on you.
ETA2: ” The policeman who arrested him has never used the word n***** or that f***ing Jew?”
if the cop was arresting him for his bigotry, this might make sense, but it was DUI, correct? so, that’s one pretty lame argument.
YES. Exactly. I’ll call someone an a-hole or MF’er when they’re acting like it but not a racist slur. That doesn’t even occur to me. If someone’s being an a-hole, call them an a-hole, WHY ON EARTH would you even bring race into it??? Their race has nothing to do with them being an a-hole.
“sorry, OLD MAN, you just lost a fan.”
LMAO I love it
I’m going to offer my two cents here. I think both Gary and Anonny get into trouble when they say “everyone”. I think some people have awful tempers. My older sister is one of these people. When she is super pissed she’ll say anything that she thinks will hurt to make her point. She recognizes this as a character flaw and is working on it. I also realize that she does not mean these things and try to not let words she says in anger, define her as a person.
While she does not use racial slurs, I can see where this could be an issue with some people who have anger management issues who uses words to hurt others out of frustration. I DO NOT think this is right, I can also appreciate this may be a symptom of another problem and not a true portrait of the person. Just my two cents.
‘We’ve all said those things’, meaning: Gary, Alec and Mel have all said those things.
Oh, sh8t. I have loved this guy for so long. So much talent. So intriguing on the screen. I knew he had his demons(alcoholism) but never really paid much attention to him off-screen. I see what he is saying when he states that we all have prejudices. I don’t like stupid, privileged, ranting, misogynist , racist assholes. I guess that’s my prejudice. Yes, racism still exists. Yes, sexism stiil exists. But NO to making excuses for that fact. NO!
Loved him too. No more.
I first started commenting on this site because of Mel Gibson’s BS. None of that shit is normal or even remotely acceptable. NO, OLD MAN, NO.
He lost a few fans with this interview.
And Mel Gibson has always been an idiot, racist and bigoted mysoginist, he never did anything ‘on the spur of the moment’. He is a repeated offender.
How the heck could Oldman say he was right because it happens to everybody? It never happened to me, FGS.
Well shit, Gary. I liked you.
My first thought too (and I f*cking adore Gary Oldman). Sorry, but I was raised better. My mother would’ve kicked my arse if I ever called someone anything of the kind, and she made sure I understood why, so it’s not something I ever did out of her hearing, nor while drunk, nor to be “edgy”. And while I’ve certainly said things I regret, I’ve never repeatedly lashed out at my other half and expressed a wish that they should be “raped by n*****s” before I bury them in the garden.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the people who got so het up about political correctness “going mad” got equally het up about the social inequalities that lay behind it? What’s more important, the right of white men to call people n***** or f***** without reproach, or the right of nonwhites and LGBT people not to be subjected to abuse and violence? That’s the point of “political correctness”.
People whine about political correctness because they believe empathy to be a chore and a crime and hate that their assumed natural authority and ‘right’ to disregard minority groups is being challenged. The indignity of it all, right? At least the antiques on Roadshow don’t talk back (couldn’t resist).
We’ve seen it before, they’ll dress it up to repackage that arrogance and disregard as a flaw in the pathology in the offended group and bawl about a ‘victim culture’, people needing to ‘get over’ things, pretend to forget what freedom of speech means and complain, complain, complain about the complaining nature of the group in question. THEY are the victims of other people’s assumed victim status and it chaps their hides that someone else’s interests is sometimes being aired. ‘Aren’t you supposed to ask for my permission, sirrah?’ I believe I’m going to do something towards your general area.
People are going to respond to the stupid crap you do and you can’t bloviate and deflect yourself into making your personal shortcomings someone else’s fault. Cry me a flipping river about political correctness with that entitled pampered housecat mentality, I’m just going to dip my cookies in your tears if you think that this, THIS qualifies as some kind of persecution. But nope, the only ones claiming to be victims are those others whiners, the targets and recipients of our abuses who magically aren’t the sufferers of it–them, that’s who, and that’s just science, guys.
The only freedom potentially being lost is the one in which you get to pretend that yours is the only voice that matters and if we’re going to be truthful, you haven’t lost that by any meaningful stretch. Look at how people freak out about how they’re the only ones it’s okay to abuse when nothing has even happened to them? Can you imagine how they would wail like stuck pigs if they were suddenly treated as though they were members of an underclass? They would lose their damn minds.
@Pepsi Presents…Coke, Nicely done. And practicing ‘being respectful’ is a skill-set that anyone can learn. Even if, hypothetically, everyone came from this horrible place as he asserts, being told it isn’t copacetic, and then changing one’s behavior goes a long way in the world. The less that type of behavior, the less the attitude is seen as mainstream and acceptable.
I adore this comment.
Perfectly said, Pepsi.
@PepsiPresents… Coke
Cool name, lol.
I agree with your sentiments. However, I do believe you are asking/expecting a LOT out of people who most of haven’t evolved to the point of being empathetic to others. If it were that easy, everyone would be that way. Hopefully, one day that will happen.
But probably not in our lifetimes. We have a long way to go as human beings.
This nicely sums up the last few cultural appropriation threads on CB. Wish I could just copy paste this to the next one.
Uh, no. We haven’t all said those things. Old man.
I never use racial slurs. Thanks to my upbringing, I view those who do use racial slurs as low class or stupid. I also never lose my temper and swear. I just don’t have the personality for it.
Neither my upbringing nor my inborn personality type makes me virtuous.
But what if I were raised in a different environment or if I had a mercurial personality? Maybe I would actually need to resist the “temptation” of using bad words. IDK.
Onky jackasses who think this way say words like that. Ugh.
Ugh. EAsier to admit because I don’t know you guys, but yes. I’ve said those things. Out of context and not f**s or ns, but other stuff. More to attack those playing into a stereotype and have done me some form of harm acting out as those stereotypes.
When I meet that race of people that don’t play into those awful stereotypes and act like decent people the thought doesn’t cross my mind.
I guess the worst i’ve done lately has been after I get cut off in traffic and pass the person I wonder to myself… woman Driver on a cell phone? and i’m usually right.
+1 for me, also.
Thank you.
(1) My mother would have washed my mouth out with racial-slur-cleansing soap if had, and (2) who the EFF is he hanging out with who “all say those things”? Get a new entourage.
(Oh and (3) for pity’s sake look up “free speech, Gar, and get back to us.)
Nope. Or even thought them.
In a previous life, Gary was a White Van Man. Living in a Tudorbethan house in the southeast sprawl.
‘Tudorbethan’…
*hugs Sixer forever*
Did he call his servants ‘peasants’?
Lol at Tudorbethan…
Hmm, I wonder how HTC will feel about him after the backlash occurs.
Exactly what I first thought when I commented…
Blah blah blah blah
I’m wondering if they address it or ignore it.
What is HTC? :/
@NN Gary Oldman appears in commercials for HTC a company that sells smart phones.
Probably both. Pull the ad for a little while and then put it back on when we are distracted by the next celeb wearing a headdress.
Well, Monie, this dude is in luck.
There won’t be any backlash. Gary Oldman is such a non-entity these days no one will really care.
Wrong.
Dick Head
Oh Gary…..just no.
(how f*cking angry does he sound here?!? The minute you use Mel Gibson or Alec Baldwin as your reasoning, you’ve lost any valid point you might have had)
•Lindy•
Agreed.
OMG. I wasnt expecting this today. Who knew the loveable police chief in the batman films was a bigoted asshole who thinks that throwing in “I am not racist/sexist/homophobic” means that you most definitely arent those things? Why are people so stupid?!!
Way to showing your true colors there dick face!
Omega – it’s not as though Gary hasn’t previously hoisted his colours as a chippy, right wing agit-propper to a very high mast, you know? He’s always been like this.
@Sixer
Seriously? He has never been on my radar but going by the posts on the Amber Heard trailer story he seemed very popular and I just assumed he was some kind of unblemished legend.
Educate us please…..just so that nobody here can ever claim ignorance of his douchebaggery.
What did he say before?
I did not know he was like this. My rose-tinted glasses where Gary Oldman is concerned have been shattered beyond repair. OMG, he sounds like a right ass in this interview.
I’ll still think of him as a brilliant actor but as a person, he sucks.
I’m just honestly surprised people didn’t know he was, as I said above, a good old (well, bad old, you know what I mean) – White Van Man. He’s moaned about his films being edited with a “liberal agenda” or somesuch epithet before. He’s always said he can’t stand political correctness.
His views are quite an archetype of a British working class Tory voter from the south east of the country. Perhaps it’s just me – but it’s always seemed pretty obvious!
@ Sixer:
I always felt that there was something off about Oldman…but maybe because I liked his acting AND have never read that much about him besides movie reviews (say, compared to Cumberbatch or any other famous actor) I had no idea of the extent of his a**holery.
^ THIS Eve.
If these are the people Gary chooses to defend, and this topic, he must be a very angry unhappy individual.
Wonder if Tom Hardy will keep refering to him as his “hero”.
I’m with Sixer. All those who are surprised – have you not seen Nil By Mouth? Before I’d seen that, I assumed Oldman’s background was standard middle-class. But it definitely wasn’t … and knowing that, this outburst isn’t surprising at all: he’s very much a product of his upbringing.
That doesn’t excuse him (dude has resources, he should’ve learnt better by now), but it does explain it somewhat.
A working class Tory? How could anyone working class vote for them?
Yeah. Hardscrabble past with unpleasant views. This outburst is as surprising as Morrissey pitching a fit over meat eaters. But perhaps I’m not seeing clearly as Moz so graciously reminded me last month that as a Canadian I am fashionably dead.
Yes, he’s always been quite odd and ‘off’! Not surprised he opened his mouth to support two other bigoted racists and..idiots.
@Spookyspooks
Those who’ve done well for themselves and either want to pull up the ladder behind them or don’t understand how other people haven’t made it up the social spectrum like they did i.e. my parents.
Yes he goes overboard but I know what he’s trying to say and I agree with his overall point. Always loved this guy.
And what pray tell IS his point? (Other than that he thinks everybody else is as consumed with hate as he is and therefore shouldnt call him and his old white boy club out on their stupidity, of course)
Yeah… it’s angry old-man (hur hur) ranting. The Hollywood equivalent of complaining that back in the day you could call people certain names and everything was good and now you can’t and HOW DARE YOU TAKE AWAY MY RIGHT TO SAY THESE WORDS!! *shakes fist at sky*
And as much as I adore both Bill Maher and Seth MacFarlane, you know the moment someone’s like “Waaaaa, Bill Maher can say this why can’t I, waaaaaaaaa” you know you’re listening to a huge bell-end.
I guess you and he are part of the 30% of Brits the admit to be racist. Thanks for being so honest now I know who to hate.
His overall point is that everyone uses racist terms and it’s ok, and people are hypocritical for objecting to racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic comments. His overall point is wrong, morally and factually, in my opinion.
I think everyone slamming him here is just as he says, a hypocrite. Even if we keep our thoughts to ourselves we still think (or categorize) people by race, religious belief, monetary input/output, etc. We are human and we mess up. Once people realize that sweeping all of that bigotry and animosity under the rug, instead of dealing with it out in the open, is a stupid idea we can finally fix it instead of ignoring it. How many black comedians have you heard trashing white people while dozens of them are sitting 20 feet away?
Yet we allow it, because its politically correct for white people to STFU and let anyone willing to step up to the plate have their shot at us. And for what, being white? Oh wait, 150 years ago a small percentage of us legally owned slaves. How is that still our fault and why are we still paying for it by allowing all this PC b.s. to exist? How many white soldiers died during the American Civil War to help stop slavery? Every race has its good people and its bad. I’m just tired of always having to hide what I really wanna say just because my skin color is white. Cant we just be honest?
Except he isn’t telling people to deal with it in the open, he’s essentially saying that it’s no biggie to be racist and bigoted in public or in a work setting, and no different than saying certain things in the privacy of one’s own home and that believing otherwise is hypocritical. Find me an employment lawyer who will side with him on that one. Also, after completing his epic rant about how everyone is a raging hypocrite, he then feels the need to conclude by stating that he’s not racist or bigoted in the least, and that there’s “nothing like that in my history.” He’s as hypocritical as they come.
I’ll be honest. You are incorrect to think that all white people view themselves as victims the way you do, and are just biting their tongues to keep from making racist and homophobic remarks. Some of us have actually grown past that or were never that way to begin with. I try not to judge people on here, and disagree with their opinions only, rather than them as people. But I find your remarks despicable. If you want to be a bigot, be one, but don’t try to justify it by saying everyone else feels that way.
Lmao. I guess he found his constituency who I presume are that tiny handful of white people who like to rant about how haaaaard slavery was on them. There, there Jojo. There, there.
You’re definitely entitled to your opinion, thank you for sharing; I can honestly say I don’t classify people by their race or income bracket.
Look up the disparity in pay for white/ black/ latino women…
You’re still ahead (privilege).
Look up the tasty food cracker on google vs two other epithets used for the previously mentioned groups, there’s a disparity in the imagery as well.
You’re still ahead (privilege).
The words of whites have power because y’all (collectively speaking) get to make judicial decisions, marketing decisions, and economic decisions that affect EVERY other group–I’m referencing the numbers of politicians/financial investors/ and marketing companies ran by whites (not you as an individual).
You’re still ahead (privilege).
YOU as an individual are in no way to blame for this, but that you’re tired of having to “pay” for the actions of your ancestors is telling–I’m truly sorry that being expected to not say certain words used historically to dehumanize so many is such a burden.
Have a lovely day.
+1
What Maria said. EVERYTHING that Maria said!
Eloquently and accurately stated, maria (it is just these kind of comments that set this blog apart!). Way to break it down!
There is a HUGE difference between thinking something and acting upon it. My child may piss me off to the point where I want to slap her but I choose not to. Am I a hypocrite for being opposed to hitting children because I thought about it? No I am not because my actions speak for themselves. Does lusting after a famous actor make me an adulterer? No I am not because I have never acted upon such a thought and wouldn’t, even if I could. So having a racist thought is NOT the same as saying something racists or treating someone as less for being a different race. But hey, nice try. Oh, and yes, I’m white too and I think I have it pretty darn good.
Fighting slavery my daffodil behind, they were preserving the Union.
And as I predicted someone came out of the woodwork to make racism all about the plight of those poor people who perpetrated and still benefit from it. I’m sorry for your trauma.
“Oh wait, 150 years ago a small percentage of us legally owned slaves. How is that still our fault ” it is truly mind boggling to me that people still make comments like this. It implies that slavery was somehow a frozen moment in time with no effects on the future or the descendents of those enslaved. It’s not as though slavery ended and everything was suddenly equal and everything became okay for black people. I mean Jim crow laws weren’t even abolished until 1965!! That means there are 50 somethings walking around today who experienced legal state sanctioned discrimination based only on the color of their skin. So yes, we as a society are still “at fault” because in the context of history the 300 years of slavery and its damaging effects really weren’t that long ago. I also think it is telling that you focus specifically on the black race when the greater conversation included anti-Semitism and homophobia. Seems like you may have had some unfortunate experiences that have shaped your views of race relations
Agreed, people get in a tizzy (like many of the self righteous perfect commenters here) and say Sh-t-y things. Its not always about bigotry, but sometimes is about having an angry immature tantrum and looking for something mean to say. But its ok to say awful things about people, as long as you skew away from the bigotry. He is right about the hypocrites.
@bambam
Thanks for proving you screen name is more than apt.
Awe, love you too, whatever on “apt” and thank you for exactly proving my point.
i think today i have finally come to the conclusion that they’re all a**holes. all of them.
I don’t even know what to say after reading that.
He makes some interesting points, but I’d like to think that the delivery of these points was just executed HORRIBLY.
I must be utterly stupid because I see no point here. Just a wealthy straight white guy hankering for the old days when assholes could be assholes.
I think his point is that we’ve all said messed up things in our lifetime and that no one should be condemned to hell for saying things like that…
We’ve all said f***ed up stuff. Doesn’t mean you are a bad person.
PS – I don’t condone ANYTHING Mel Gibson or Alec Baldwin has said that has been offensive. I just don’t think they are awful people who damn near deserve to burn in hell because they’ve said it.
Considering Mel’s history of racism, misogyny, anti-Semitic remarks and abuse, I do think he’s an awful person.
GeeMoney, saying “messed up” things and saying bigoted things are different.
Oldman is saying “we’ve all said those things” specifically referring to Gibson’s antisemitism and/or overall bigotry. and no, we haven’t ALL said those things.
GeeMoney; I beg to differ. If you say things of this nature then you most certainly are a very horrible person. Further, save for a deeply felt apology and a series of sincere amends that are fully accepted by those you have harmed, you SHOULD burn in hell.
@doofus @cr @the world
Not trying to pick a fight… but I don’t believe for a SECOND that you or anyone else in the free world hasn’t said or thought anything negative/racist/misogynistic/offensive/whatever. EVER.
The only difference between you and me and most of the world vs. Mel Gibson? His stupid a** got caught on camera saying those things. The rest of us haven’t.
@jojoann
Anyone who says that someone has the right to burn in hell for X, Y or Z reasons (outside of rape, murder and child molestation) better have NO f***ing skeletons in their closet.
@GeeMoney: Have I said some stupid things? Yes. But on this level? And on a consistent basis? No.
You are making excuses for both Alec and Mel’s long history of being violent racist assholes by saying ‘everyone does it’. Not everyone does. Your comments make it appear as if you do, for which I’m sorry that you do, but not everyone does.
@GeeMoney
Hmmmm. Let me have a look. All clear. NOW can I condemn hateful bigots to a life of misery and pain worse than that they inflict on their victims???
“but I don’t believe for a SECOND that you or anyone else in the free world hasn’t said or thought anything negative/racist/misogynistic/offensive/whatever. EVER.”
believe whatever you want. my conscience is clear. Negative, sure. Offensive? sure. but racist? no. misogynistic? no.
not everyone thinks or says those things. that’s what some folks like to think or believe because it gives them a pass for their OWN bigotry. some of us were raised to NOT judge people based on their skin color, religion, ethnic identity, nationality, etc.
“The only difference between you and me and most of the world vs. Mel Gibson? His stupid a** got caught on camera saying those things. The rest of us haven’t.”
haven’t, and WON’T, because I DO NOT say things like that. If you haven’t “been caught” yet, I guess you’re just lucky.
It would appear that some of us did not read the article.
This. Is. What. He. Is. Saying “Alec calling someone an F-A-G in the street while he’s pissed off coming out of his building because they won’t leave him alone. I don’t blame him. So they persecute.”
The diatribe over PC is just a cover for this. He is showing us WHO he is. And I would suggest that many of his supporters are doing likewise.
@everyone
I apologize! I didn’t realize that I was conversating on this blog with a bunch of ANGELS who have never done or said anything bad in their lifetimes!
My bad. I’m going to go run away now and stick my head in the sand and pray for mercy. *insane sarcasm for those who haven’t picked up on it*
For the record… I don’t condone anything that Mel or Alec has said… they deserve the public backlash for being douchebags. It would be good of them to apologize and get some treatment for whatever anger/drinking/crazy person issues that they have and try to become better people. Time will only tell if they ever do that.
I think that Oldman went off on a tear about a specific topic (using race as an example), but it was a topic that had broader strokes. Everyone is focusing on the racial slurs, but he makes a bigger point that everyone is seeming to askew. The bottom line? None of us are perfect. And we should be wary of judging others so harshly when we’ve all done and said things that were wrong or inappropriate.
My biggest problem with what he said? It was that he should have articulated himself better and chose better words to make his point. I think that if he had done that, there would have been less backlash against his comments.
well, this is disappointing.
Same here. Disappoiting…to say the least.
•yael•
Isn’t it????
Question: based on your name are you a fellow tribe member?
you’d have to let me in what the tribe is! this is the first i’m hearing of it :).
I think Yael is a female Hebrew name, there’s one in the Bible and one on OITNB.
Yes. Totally disappointing. Not everyone has said those things. Nope. And there are actually people who don’t even think those things! Wow, another asshat (my opinion, and yes, I called Gary Oldman, Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin asshats.)
•Punky•
Yep. The asshat list is growing.
Sad.
Indeed it is. Until about 5 minutes ago I thought Gary was one of the smart guys in an industry that too often handsomely rewards morons. And then I read this.
How is this disappointing? I’d say it’s what I expect out of Gary Oldman. Oh and yes he’s a dick. An abusive one at that.
disappointing because i didn’t know he was like this?
I get his point about the Hollywood/industry hypocrites. Read up on some of the most vocal power house men in Hollywood and you will see where they are GIGANTIC hypocrites who preach one thing against a few but turn around and do something equally offensive to another.
I may not agree with everything Gary said but I do agree about the hypocrisy.
I suppose the love for Gary will be much lower after this interview. Take cover Gary. It’s gonna be a rough one.
I know. I think about Brian Singer and the child sex rings that he is being sued about and I feel sick. How many people in Hollywood know about it, knew about it, and just ignore it. Ugh.
Read up on the racist/misogynist AND bigoted Ari Emanuel. The chief among Hollywood power playing hypocrites.
I totally agree about Singer. People turn a blind eye when it comes to the almighty dollar. Singer makes people money. People scream “Oh pedophile. He’s awful BUT see his movies
Like I said, I do not agree with Oldman and his poor use of examples BUT I do agree regarding hypocrisy.
I think he did use concrete examples such as Bill Mayer, John Stewart, Seth McFarlane, etc. I don’t agree that people should say those things but I do agree that many people in Hollywood who have said those things get thrown under the bus right quick when they are caught at it. What was that director a few years ago that was supposed to direct the Academy Awards? Brett something right? He got called out (rightfully) about what was said but I applaud Eddie Murphy who was going to host for pulling out and saying what hypocrites people were being. Shit I give tons of people in Hollywood the side eye for still hanging out with Chris Brown, Terry Richardson, etc. Hell I love Adele and she was clamoring about doing a duo with Chris Brown. Jonah Hill just recently used the F word when calling out a papparazzi. It got maybe one or two days of play and it went away. He did the apology tour and everyone forgave him. Same thing with Justin Beiber. He got slammed for about two weeks straight and his using the N word was defended by other blacks in Hollywood (seriously Whoopi needs to take a seat and ultimately he was forgiven by his mentor Usher). So if Usher is okay with Justin Beiber he is fine now. Seriously that was all over tweeter and on some comments to any article about him.
FWIW I definitely don’t think anyone should excuse what Mel Gibson said but it’s been at least a decade now and he has paid for it in spades. His life pretty much looks shitty. He is not a power player anymore in Hollywood and if it wasn’t for RDJr. and Jodie Foster for taking him under their wing I think he be shit out of luck. I 100 percent don’t agree or condone his views on the Holocaust at all.
@Eliza never heard of that guy will look him up.
If he had been more specific in saying that people in Hollywood who are power players and bigots are persecuting people like Mel and Alec and therefore hypocrites, he would be making a valid point. But he’s not. He’s whining that he can’t say what he wants to say without repercussions and that everyone who tells him not to say racist things says them too. Everyone. He also excuses Mel because he was drunk. Drunk means you get to say whatever you want and can’t be held accountable.
Well I can only speak for myself regarding how I view the hypocritical power machines in Hollywood based on lawsuits, widely told stories and news. Many who have railed on Gibson are guilty of equal or worse behavior. If you get a chance look up Ari Emanuel’s long history of racism, bigotry and misogyny.
I think those are people who Oldman is speaking about.
If Mel was drunk and raped someone, would he be excusable? I would say NO.
There is an expression in Latin ‘in vino veritas’, meaning that alcohol makes other people see your true colours. I only got drunk twice in my life but I didn’t utter racial slurs or attack other people.
Oof.
His point that a lot of ppl that get offended have their own group they are racist toward reminded me of my old boss. He is An orthodox Jewish man and he was the most racist person I ever met yet he would accuse others of being anti-Semites every time he didn’t get his way. I worked for him almost 20 years ago and have yet to meet a bigger hypocrite.
I haven’t posted here in a long, long time, partially because of comments like this, but I feel compelled to post to ask: what point are you trying to make here? Because you knew one Orthodox Jew who was a bad person, that excuses Gary Oldman and his bigoted buddies justifying sweeping, discriminatory, offensive statements toward a whole group of people, including those “Jews who run Hollywood?”
My grandfather, another one of those Orthodox Jews you’re trashing, was mugged by an African American person. Despite that, he was hugely active in the civil rights movement in the 60’s (as were many, MANY other Jews, by the way – look up “Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman” on the Internet) and would never have dreamed of judging an entire group of people by the one negative experience he had.
I guess you and Gary would get along just fine, though.
Ugh, as a black person I really hate when jews (and other non-blacks) say they had this BIG part in the civil rights movement (and let’s be honest, they did so at a safe distance and were not killed or tortured because of it), like they did it because they wanted to ‘help’. Yeah some did, but mostly it was to gain their own privilege and power as jewish people in the frickin’ 60s when they were still considered to be K***s. So spare me with your B.S please.
Jews can be just as racist as anyone else…Israel anyone? Want to talk about forced sterilization of the Ehtiopian women that happened just a few years ago?
Why do I bring it up? because it annoys me that one person mentioned her racist jewish boss and you just had to come in all defensive and say “welp, not all of us and what’s your point anyway? Oh and my so and so got mugged by an African American”.
You are just as a bad as those who try to silence women’s voices by saying “notallmen”.
And yes, jews do run Hollywood. It’s simply the truth. It was created by two jewish brothers and is majority run by jews. So? I don’t have a problem with that and it’s not anti-semitic to say that it is.
Rarely do we see stereotypical jewish characters in the media today and that is no coincidence, however, I don’t blame them. But I do wish they would stop stereotyping and creating harmful stereotypical characters about other minority groups that aren’t as privileged.
I was going to respond point by point to show how literally everything you said was either a lie or a total distortion, but you know what, why bother? You’re obviously happy with your ignorance and your hate – so enjoy them.
NN- Errr…. Didn’t you just call Jews an anti-Semitic slur???? Irony??
What? I said they were called the K word ( as a slur) during the 60s becasuse they were not yet considered ‘white’. I am talking about ashkenazi jews, who happen to be the most privileged minority group in America.
And Faye – What hate are you talking about? It’s so sad to me that we cannot be honest with eachother anymore, even when that honesty comes with fact.
What lies? There are no lies in my comment and you know it.
Oh and I have family members who were THERE but I guess they are lying too huh.
NN,
You show yourself to be an ignorant racist and a bigot, bigtime. You can join Gary and his ilk in their hate filled self-righteousness.
Nn- no you didn’t. You said, “when they were still considered to be k***s. You didn’t have to use the slur. You could have worded that different, but you didn’t. You used the slur. You should’ve used the wording you just used. But you didn’t.
Is “Jews run Hollywood” antisemitic?
…And this is exactly what I am talking about.
You being reactionary instead of actually reading my comment and understading it is the problem.
And let’s face it, it is triggering, no doubt and I do realize that and there is no way I could have worded that because you’d still react the same way no matter what because that’s what usually happens when you mention jews and racism. You want and have the privilege that white skin gives you but when YOU are called out you still want to run behind your protective “but I am a minority just like you and holocaust” – No, sorry, that won’t cut it with me. I give no one a pass on racism. Yes, that includes other black people.
I find it telling that you disapprove of how I worded my comment (as if to police me on how I can go about commenting) instead of adressing my actual point.
NN…have a look at this please. It may temper your view a bit. It confirms your point on how the Jews have left the ghettos of America, and the financial disparity between the two cultures. But it may also shed some light on our shared history that maybe you aren’t aware of.
http://www.pbs.org/itvs/fromswastikatojimcrow/relations.html
Actually, I’m not Jewish, and you assuming I am based on me calling you out on a slur is just as telling. Yes, you could have worded that without using a slur. In fact, you did in the very next post you made? So why couldn’t you have done that the first time?
And to address your content, you were basically painting an entire swath of people as only being involved because they wanted to profit. Stereotype much? Because I’m sure as a black woman you hung out with lots of Jews in the 60’s.
And while I agree that there are a lot of horrible stereotypes perpetuated by Hollywood, you’re attributing that solely to one race of people. Yes, there are a lot of Jews in Hollywood. There are also quite a few other people as well, who I’m quite sure are part of the problem, but you seem to only have an issue with one type.
Wow Faye! I never said I agreed with everything GO said. His comment legitimately reminded me of my old boss. HE resembled the comment. Him alone. I mentioned he was Orthodox Jewish bc it was relevant to the point GO made about different ppl being racist toward different groups.
I was not trying to be offensive to a whole group of ppl.
Thanks, Shannon.
No one is denying the contributions jews have made and our shared or similar struggles.
I think as soon as we give one ‘group’ a pass then no one will take us seriously. I simply give no one a pass on their racism. I have naively done before though and quickly learned my lesson.
This isn’t me ‘hating’ or resenting the skin privilege the majority of ashkenazi jews receive and climbing up the ladder a visibly black person never could…it’s me saying “let’s not pretend one group is better than anyone else when it comes to racism and let’s call out ALL forms of racism”.
I mean, I deal with intra-racism more than anything else….this coming from black males (intra-racism and sexism or misogynoir as it’s called). And I use much harsher language when I discuss it because it’s something that hits closer to home.
@sighs
it seems like you keep misunderstanding me which is unfortunate because I wasn’t saying YOU are jewish at all. I was adressing it as in ‘you’ all (anybody who is jewish).
There is no need to be snarky when I have family members who were there and know what they are talking about.
If it offends you I can’t do anything about that, can I? It’s the truth.
I don’t have issues with only one type, I was simply answering the comment that basically said #notalljews which is the same tactic used by men who want to silence women by saying #notallmen.
No shit it’s not all men! Duh. We know that.
Nn- I’m really not trying to be snarky. I think it just bothered to see that word in a post about racism. Truce.
Blah blah…blah blah blah…
Dayummmm Gary…Love ya but you done stepped in the proverbial shit pile of backlash.
Not even sure Batman can save you after this.
Can’t believe he used Mel and Alec to make his point. I don’t think either one of them is “joking” when they rant and say their racist, bigoted, misogynist crap.
I swear 2014 must be the year of saying stupid shit.
They’re not joking, they have a much documented history of this behavior. It’s not joking, it’s what they are.
Nope, they weren’t joking AND they have never truly apologized for what they said either (or at least apologized with REAL sincerity).
Mel apologized but his assholery continued after the apology.
This is a direct quote from Mel’s apology
“I am a public person, and when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena. As a result, I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words.”
Whether his words are honest and heartfelt or simply PR agent written, THEY are in stark contrast to Gary’s reasoning.
Man I love him, this interview saddens me a bit. He is one of the finest character actors. I kinda get what he’s saying, like they are wrong but the people calling them out are hypocrites and he dislikes that more. In some case I guess that’s true, but one can’t just yell out racist, homophobic slurs and expect everyone to be okay with it. I too dislike Nancy Pelosi.
It’s a blessing that he’s such a good character actor. There’s that adage…never meet your heroes, they’ll only disappoint you!
Happy hat, I suspect you speak the truth. I’m saddens mostly because my friends and I have invented a few games based around Gary Oldman, one where we joke that he can play anyone including the ship in Titanic, the whale in Free Willie, and all 6 of the Jolie Pitt kids.
No, I am sorry Mr. Oldman, but no. I for one have never stooped so low as to call anybody a bigoted/racist/homophobic slur. I have calld someone a f***kwit or a jackass, yes I have but if I am angry I do not resort to anything that disgusting. And no not everyone has done that so please speak for your damn self. I am so sick and tired for people making excuses for that shit, you do not get a pass because someone made you angry, or flashed a camera in your face, or because you got drunk. Hell I have been drunk and gotten angry at someone but a derogatory slurs didn’t come out of my mouth then. I am disappointed in you right now Mr. Oldman, for shame.
Puerile reasoning. Oh Gary, looks like you’re a bigot and now on my blacklist. I’d hate to know what you think of women and what it’s okay to call them. So many actors come across as morons and unevolved human beings. Disappointment.
Joe McCarthy is back, ladies and gents!
In the part of the article about satire/free speech, he refers to as Nancy Pelosi the c-word. I suppose he thought he was making a point but to me that was just doubling down on his assholery.
Oh and why do the bigots always bring up Bill Maher? Isn’t it pretty much agreed that Maher is a misogynistic asshat? And yeah, Maher did call Sarah Palin the c-word also and he was called out for it and I do agree he should have been called out more. But this, wah-wah, so and so did this too and didn’t get the same amount of backlash shit is getting old.
People who are terrible usually think that everybody else is secretly just as terrible as they are. I guess that is the only way they can maintain their self image as “good people.”
Also, anybody who doesn’t know the difference in harm between saying “those f*cking Germans” and those “f*cking Jews” is a straight-up idiot.
ITA with this post, @Soporificat (great poster name, by the way).
His comparison is stupid, and not even true. I’ve never heard any Jews trashing contemporary Germans – Nazis, certainly, but as you said, you can hardly draw an equivalency there. My grandmother survived Auschwitz, and the loss of almost her entire family in the Holocaust, and I’ve never heard her talk about “f*cking Germans” except when referring to Nazis (and certainly not with language like that).
@ both Soporificat and Faye, I was coming on here to write this!!! And why is there this belief that people who have been persecuted need to bend over backwards and be benevolent to the people who have committed unspeakable forms of violence towards them?!?!?!?
Agree 1000%. Very well said. I lost an entire branch of my family to Auschwitz, but no one in my family holds “Germans” responsible. They hold Nazis responsible.
@Soporificat,
I think that’s absolutely true. Everyone wants to believe they’re a good person. To maintain that belief, lots of bigots defend their position with “I’m just saying what the rest of you are thinking! I’m just being honest, ya bunch of hypocrites.”
People are free to say what they want Gary, but there are repercussions. Not everyone says that crap and are hypocrites. I have no pity/sympathy for Mel, Alec or Gary if he gets s***.
I like people revealing their true selves so I know not to waste my money with them.
I agree.
I used to be a huge fan of Gary Oldman’s. No longer. I’m glad I know not to spend any more $ on anything he’s in.
Yes, this is one of the things I love about about freedom of speech: knowing exactly what people think and feel and being able to act accordingly. Not everyone says or thinks these things, Gary, and I won’t be spending my money on you anymore.
What an idiot!
I hate when people try to speak for every living soul in the world to try to prove their non- point. No, everyone does not use those words because some of us have a grasp on history and are sensitive to the history of other cultures. Ugh!
My face hurts from cringing.
The ugly truth.
The point he was making everyone has said terrible things and not be defined by those actions.
Great interview. Finally someone willing to say what’s on their mind besides armpits and drunkness.
I actually agree with him. He is saying that everyone in Hollywood goes around saying that shit (not that it is right) and they don’t get called on the carpet for it. He brings up the example of Bill Maher saying that comment to Seth McFarlane (who is super not politically correct) and how he didn’t get skinned alive. Hell look at everyone trying to apologize for Justin freaking Beiber about how he was just 15 and Canadians just use that word and even blacks there think of themselves that way. People excuse it for those that they like/want to root for but criticize those that they don’t care for at all. Shit gets old.
Frankly if you are going to be a racist piece of crap I want you to be called out on it. Look at Jonah Hill. He did the whatever apology and was forgiven. However, no one is slamming him about it afterwards. People still keep bringing up Mel Gibson and it has been years. That said Mel Gibson still sucks lol.
That’s very true. I don’t agree with a lot of what he said, but the hypocrisy thing is true. There are various celebrities that get caught using slurs, but only some seem to be career-ending. He loses me though when he says we’ve all said them (no) and instead of judging just some, judge none. If he had said stop picking and choosing, don’t let anyone get away with any of them, acknowledge our internalization of stereotypes and work to become better, then maybe his points would have been better. But it really seems to be that he’s saying since everyone does it, let’s stop caring about it.
“The point he was making everyone has said terrible things and not be defined by those actions.”
No, they haven’t, not even in the heat of the moment or drunk.
And once again, Mel and Alec have a long documented history of both words and actions, so at some point they became defined by those actions.
Not the two examples you want to use when trying to make a point about hypocrisy.
ETA: And Seth McFarlane and Bill Maher and others do get called on their words and actions. So he’s conveniently ignoring facts to suit him.
Seriously. McFarlane still gets shredded for some of the things he said at the Oscars.
Sometimes I miss the days before the Internet — it was easier to pretend that most of the people I admired weren’t giant assbags.
Please. McFarlane may get shredded here but he is seriously in demand in Hollywood. His is wealthy due to American Dad, Family Guy. His movie Ted was a blockbuster which is why you had people like Charlize Theron and Liam Neeson signing on to do A Million Ways to Die in the West. Hell Seth even dated the Khalessi and was knocking boots with Charlize for a while. People tend to ignore every stupid racist thing you say when you have power. If McFarlane becomes a nobody in Hollywood then everyone will start saying how much he sucks. Frankly I agree. Hollywood is full of a bunch of hypocrites.
“Please. McFarlane may get shredded here but he is seriously in demand in Hollywood. ” Mel was seriously in demand when his true personality started showing through. It took awhile, and he had to go to an even darker place than McFarlane, but he doesn’t really work much anymore.
Yeah Gibson is done in Hollywood. I wish that he would take Terry Richardson, Woody Allen, and Roman Polanski with him. If Alec Baldwin keeps it up I bet he will start to see a downward trend for his demand too. At least he lost his hosting gig.
However, I honestly think that McFarlane is excused because he is a comedian so they are allowed a certain wider berth to say offensive things by disguising it as comedy. I loathe Family Guy and wish that Fox would take that mess off the air.
I think in the short term Hollywood will keep you around as long as you are a major money maker and player. They can and do excuse anything it seems.
That’s really disappointing I’m not even angry just sad. I’ve been a fan for years and years and the man is one of the greatest actors of all time. He’s also really misrepresenting what Mel Gibson said. It wasn’t just a random slur it was a whole long anti-semetic diatribe. The police didn’t target him they release all tapes of arrests as a matter of law so he wasn’t being singled out just exposed as a creep.
While I agree with him to a certain point, the problem with MG & AC is that they seem to have learned nothing from the ramificatons of their behavior & seem to lack self-awareness. Being a racist/sexist/homophobic twat is never ok.
Oh Gary, the more you talk, the less f*ckable you become.
@Monkey Towz – I totally disagree with his rant, but I agree with you on him becoming less and less f*ckable the more he talks. I’ve completely lost the ladyboner for Gary because of his remarks. So offensive to so many people. And I have no place in my parts for men who call any, and I mean any, woman a c*nt.
Nothing kills lust more than racism/sexism/homophobia & cruelty.
“the problem with MG & AC is that they seem to have learned nothing from the ramificatons of their behavior & seem to lack self-awareness”
I would argue their problem is with self-control rather than self-awareness. Both Gibson and Baldwin yell their way into trouble when they are emotional. They more or less behave themselves when calm.
@ Sam, you make a good point. I meant that it seems these guys would have learned not to use these words when they get angry. I don’t know. I’m not a psychiatrist. I just wish people would know better than to resort to that kind of insult. There are so many great swear words that encompass all the assholes of this world, no need for bigotry.
Yikes.
Just like the hypocrisy on this site for erasing my comment saying I agreed with his stance on hypocrisy. That’s all I wrote, without being offensive or racist. I guess the consensus on this site is that if you express an opinion different than the norm, you get quietly erased. Erase my comment all the same, your site falls right into his point.
So after going on a deranged rant about how everyone is a racist hypocrite and how this means that we should all just be as public about it as Mel and Alec, he feels the need to end by qualifying that there’s no such behavior in HIS history. So he’s as cowardly and hypocritical as everyone he’s criticizing! What a moron.
Ugh. The reasoning that the things Mel said are jokes, and everyone is too sensitive, is just idiotic. It doesn’t persuade anyone who isn’t already on your side. Way to be lamest type of internet troll Gary.
He didn’t say that they were jokes. He was saying in my humble opinion that people that slam Mel and Alec Baldwin for things that they said needs to shut it since they are just as racist and nasty when making comments when no one is around that films them. Heck I don’t blame him. Hollywood seems full of hypocrites. Look at how many stars are still good friends with Terry Richardson though the guy is a freaking sexual predator (Jared Leto, Jennifer Anniston, her fiancee whose name I can never remember). However those people would be the first to say rape of course is wrong and it’s despicable that it happens. I mean everyone knows that R Kelley is a freaking pedophile and he is still out and about making music and no one is doing a thing. I don’t blame Gary O for calling them all a bunch of hypocrites.
He literally said “Take a f***ing joke”. Did you not read that?
I just think he’s angry he’s not smart enough to get away with views he holds, because he isn’t able to express them in persuasive or artful way, like the people he says get away with it (maher, stewart, macfarlane). Which is another wrong headed thing entirely.
Starrywonder
Gary isnt calling for a crackdown on all the bigots of the world, you know! He is saying leave us bigots to our bigotry.
And now a little excerpt for your pleasure………….. “Alec calling someone an F-A-G in the street while he’s pissed off coming out of his building because they won’t leave him alone. I DONT BLAME HIM. SO THEY PERSECUTE”.
(emphasis mine)
Yes but Jonah Hill did the exact same thing a few weeks ago. He came out all humble and said well the guy was antagonizing me and everyone forgot about it. He had a movie coming out so he came out apologizing. If he didn’t I doubt he care about it and just ignore it. Jonah Hill’s go to slur was F-A-G which apparently a lot of people in Hollywood seem to be okay spewing when no cameras are around. This isn’t to say that Mel Gibson is not a racist piece of crap. He is also a Holocause denier which makes my skin crawl. I am just saying that i actually do agree with Gary Oldman here that people in Hollywood and even fans decide how much they are going to put up with regarding their idols before they start to tear them down. I still don’t get why anyone is still a fan of actors who make movies with Woody Allen. No matter what you think went on with him and his now wife he is disgusting but people want to excuse it due to genius. However, if Woody Allen was not making Oscar baity roles for Hollywood I doubt that they have much to do with him. Hypocrites all of them.
I am not sure you read my post. If Gary was saying “oh there is a double standard, now come on lets round up Jonah Hill, Woody Allen and the rest of the dredges humanity” that would be different.
But he ISNT saying that.
He is saying “oh theres a double standard. Now leave me and my hateful bros alone. We should ALL get a pass.”
@Aurora I see what you are saying but I read the article above and I could have sworn he brought up talk show hosts like Bill Mayer and others saying things that are similar but getting a pass?
I really think he’s saying all should get a pass and complaining that some do and some don’t. That’s the reason why some of us agree with his pointing out the hypocrisy. What he should be saying is no one should get a pass, but he’s not.
Yep, Gary…everyone knows privellaged white men are the *true* victims *sigh* (and another 90’s crush bites the dust)
The struggle of privilege is real ya know! WAh wah wah
BREAKING NEWS: rich old white man with anger issues defends other angry rich old white men’s anger issues. If you are a women, black person, gay or Jewish and target of rich white old men’s verbal/physical abuse, please follow the angry white man’s instruction to “Just get over it”.
Preach!!! Hitting the nail on the head, girl!
THANK YOU. THIS.
This upsets me. I LOVED YOU, GARY.
Rich old white dudes sure do hate being held responsible for their actions.
It’s not just rich old white dudes.
oh come on, the whole rich old white dudes does not apply in this nation anymore.
Eh, I’m not ready to cast him out. I always new his politics didn’t jive with mine and, while he’s way overboard here, there is something to be said about the hypocracy of an industry that condemns people for words, and gives an Oscar to a convicted child rapist.
Plus I’ve had to reconcile that Robert Downey Jr adores and supports Gibson. People are not one thing.
Yikey yikes, but Ellen made that same joke at the Oscars about the Academy being racist if “12 Years a Slave” didn’t win Best Picture…
Right.
If we’re going to go there…let’s go ALL the way.
I don’t give anyone a pass, including other black people who use the N word (I am black), gay/lesbians/tran etc, liberals, other ‘people of color’, feminists, comedians….the list goes on.
No one gets a pass and I am equally offended by all and I do believe it’s important to call it out when we see it, and that yes, we do disapprove of racism… yes-yes-yes, even hipster racism.
Hey people said the same thing about “The Help”. As a black woman personally I did not care for the Help. Way too much white savior nonsense for me to enjoy. However, I did love 12 Years A Slave. I also though I love Sandra Bullock really could not stand “The Blind Side” and the newest Reese Witherspoon (white people save black people) movie is getting a pass by me.
I hated The Blind Side. I felt they only took that kid in because they were football fanatics. His brother was homeless and needed help too.
Mayame. I know. The whole movie was a bit offputting. Especially if you read the real story that the family didn’t even take him in right away. He was sleeping on a few people’s couches for a while so to just focus on that one family was not true to what was going on. But whatever. Hollywood has to spin it that way.
I would’ve agreed with you before I’d seen the film. But after finally watching it recently, I have to disagree. It is a fantastic piece of film making. I loved the richness of history, character, storytelling. To me it was about so much more than racism. Or what I believed racism to be by its simplistic definition. It’s the cruelty that lies in men which seeks out to exploit other less fortunate human beings. For the horrible characters in the film, it wouldn’t matter really on what basis they got to exploit you, as long as they got to exploit you. If it’s not your skin then it’s your religion, or your birthplace, or the birthplace of your ancestors, or your accent, or your sex, or your lack of money.
I also learned a lot about the culture and daily reality in that historical time period. It made me want to know more and explore it further.
So yes, the film definitely deserved the Oscar.
LOL. “Mel Gibson is in a town that’s run by Jews and he said the wrong thing because he’s actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him….” Sorry, Gary, you just proved the point of everyone who’s upset about all of this. A comment that reveals a persistent, clearly bigoted view is not the same thing as someone using a particular word, or making fun of something in a comedic context where the intention is clear. Your comment reveals a persistent, bigoted assumption that Mel Gibson lives in a town “run by Jews.” Really? Love to see you prove that one, Einstein.
thank you. you said it better than I could have, but that comment bothered me, too.
Just my opinion , but I suspect GO is drinking again. This is how he gets when he falls off the wagon. Angry, argumentative, and kind of irrational sounding. Also, he’s sabotaging his career with this BS.
I had the same idea..
I hope you’re wrong in that, but I have to say, these comments seem really out of character, at least in the way he’s expressed them. I’ve read a LOT of his interviews and he’s gone to great lengths, especially since rehab, to think before speaking, to be circumspect and sensitive…Interviewers have even comment that he’s quiet and thoughtful and charming. This angry ranting is very unlike how he usually presents himself and one can’t help wondering why the filters were off during this interview…
If Hollywood is indeed “run by Jews” than Jewish people, please feel free to not hire this man any longer.
Why are so many of Chris Nolan’s favorites complete psychos? Christian Bale. Morgan Freeman. Now Gary Oldman.
Whoa now, I don’t think that kind of generalizing is any healthier than Gary’s attitude. We know that Bale badly lost his temper once at work, and never once used any kind of a slur. I assume you know his mother basically admitted in a later interview that the whole incident with her was founded on a lie? While Freeman made some controversial comments, he’s to my knowledge never lashed out in homophobic or anti-Semitic anger. By grouping it all together you desensitize and devalue. It helps nothing and no one.
Christian Bale flipped out on set. I highly doubt that was his first time. As for the “incident” with his mother, it doesn’t matter what caused it. He flipped out on them and it was enough to get arrested. Victim-blaming, much?
Sorry, but Morgan Freeman has no business on that list psychos.
No, @Lydia it was not enough to get him “arrested”, in he way you mean. UK law as a matter of policy requires police to arrest the subject of a complaint before questioning them. He was never charged, never bailed, and never appeared before a judge. In other words, it wasn’t enough. Yeah he lost his temper on set, full on melt down…and never used a single racial, sexist, or slur of any kind. How is it the same as Oldman’s bizarre issues? The Internet is classic for making these bizarre connections. Oh Bale and Freeman had stuff happen too! Pattern! Not really. If everything is as bad as everything else then nothing has any meaning or context.
I think that she may be tacitly referencing the sketchy sexual ‘relationship’ that he has purportedly had with his step-granddaughter since she was a teenager. Allegedly. It came out slightly ahead of the full thrust of social media about six years ago, and his PR team must have jumped on it because the rumors disappeared as soon as they surfaced.
Wow, you guys really need to get off your high horses. Moralizing, self-righteous… how aren’t there more saints with all of you around????
@Chris,
They are waiting for you over at Red State. Don’t dawdle.
What do Red States have to do with this?
No Gary.
We do ***NOT*** all say these things.
And on that note Celebitchers, I am retiring from reading about these batshit crazy and utterly vile people. It is just too toxic. They are not worth my time.
And I’m going to follow your lead here. Not sure if I’ll succeed but I’ll try to stop clicking on said posts.
As a mostly lurker, I’ll miss both of you 🙁 But I totally understand.
Oh, I won’t leave CB (at least, not for now) — just won’t click on posts like this one anymore. I’ll try to stay away from them. Like Miss Jupitero said, it’s just too toxic.
Right now, I’m going to step away from this thread — there are some World Cup games waiting for me to watch them… 🙂
@eve
You are wise 🙂
I’ll come crawling back at some point. But I just find this kind of crap really, really disheartening. I feel like I have been poisoned just by reading it. There is a enough ugliness in the world. I do not understand what would possess anyone to defend it.
Because it suits them. Simple as.
Errr speak for yourself Gary.
Jesus fucking Christ. No words.
This makes me more sad that Mel and Alec combined. I thought Gary was a good and smart guy 🙁
I can understand his double standard argument to a certain extent. I can understand him wanting to defend his friends. I didn’t like it when people were ripping on Jodie Foster for standing by her friend when he (Gibson) went off the rails so to speak.
But Gary has to understand those arguments are one thing but saying those things publicly (and often in Baldwin’s case) whatever the reason (emotional, alcohol etc) is unacceptable and society is right to call them out, beat them up (not literally) and shut them down.
The N word’s never been acceptable in my lifetime and I’ve never used it. The F word, well, it was a less offensive, more of a nickname at one time, now it’s not and so I don’t use it. I don’t even use it for it’s other definition – that of cigarette (“Can I steal ones of your fags?” just doesn’t work now). The ‘other’ F word is just a swear word, and a very versatile one he can have at it. But he needs to stop confusing the two issues at hand. It’s just enabling bad behavior and poor attitude and sending a really bad message.
I support the American approach to hate speech. Hate speech is legal, unlike in some other countries, but American society censures those who engage in it. Social pressure can be a much stronger enforcer than the law.
That being said, I also think it is unjust and counterproductive to treat slurs or racism as unforgivable taboos that forever cast the offender outside the realm of redemption. That kind of rigidness is what causes anti-P.C. backlash.
Hollywood is full of hypocrites.
Many of these same people who vilify and black-ball Mel Gibson also worship at the altar of Roman Polanski & Woody Allen.
+ 10 billion
^This.
Here is a perfect example of a Hollywood hypocrite who has tremendous power in the industry.
Ari Emanuel. Ranted on about Mel Gibson. Wanted him out of Hollywood, never to be hired again. Fine. Gibson earned that, however, Emanuel is well known for his racist remarks and has been sued for them. He has also said nasty to things to other Jewish agents in fights that would be considered taboo if anyone else said them. He is also a misogynist and has a reputation for treating women poorly. He has also made nasty comments about Muslims, yet he is one of the most powerful men in Hollywood and the first to call anyone else out on bigotry and racism.
Good argument. Would’ve been great if Gary had made it, instead of using hypocrisy to excuse bad behavior of his friends. No one should get a pass on s**t like this.
Ari Emmanuel is absolutely a hateful man, but it is dangerous to use one person as a paintbrush to color an entire race or culture. There are hateful people everywhere, but I’d like to think that those who disagree with these types of extreme views far outweigh those who agree.
Ummmmm excuse me but where on EARTH did I paint an entire race or culture with one brushstroke? I used Ari Emanuel as an example of a POWER PLAYER in Hollywood who is the first to scream about others bad behaviors BUT never accepts accountability for his own awful comments or behaviors.
I have no idea why you even made that comment. If the insinuation you are making and correct me if I am wrong, is that he is Jewish, that had nothing to do with it. He IS an awful person and was used by me as an example of a complete and utter hypocrite. He even makes bigoted comments about Jewish agents he dislikes. That was my point. He is powerful yet no one calls himout on his actions like he freely and vociferously did to Gibson.
+10
+1
Wow, I used to like Oldman. Glad I read the article. Don’t like him anymore. My point is, even if a integral, decent person has said those derogatory things before, they realized that what they said was wrong and then they change and never do it again. I don’t go around saying that stuff, & I get annoyed & don’t keep company with people who practice those particular behaviors. This sure is a let down to read, but now I know how he is & refuse to support h anymore. Can’t believe he said that, if an academy mover didn’t vote for 12 YAS they would’ve been considered racist. Tired of that crap. The best actors & actresses won. I also hate the attitude that says , movies about slavery shouldn’t be made anymore or else blacks have ‘chips on their shoulders’ or that they are on a ‘high horse’ this crap is ridiculous. I believe that a person who think that slavery movies shouldn’t be made have a chip on their shoulders because they believe that history shouldn’t be told, fools. I think Gary is just mad because he hasn’t won an Oscar. He needs to go somewhere & Fu(k Off!
Also, most movies based on history win Oscars, if they’re well done, anyway. I don’t go around calling Whites, Jews, Native Americans, or any other race derogatory names. That kind of stuff is for folks that don’t have a good working conscious.
What the heck is going on this year? I’ve never heard so much ridiculous bullsh*t…we started with the Duck Dynasty scandal and have been sliding ever deeper into the mire. I can only shake my head at this latest awesome display of ignorance. The man has twisted himself into a moral pretzel.
It does seem like a lot doesn’t it? I don’t know. It could be that this is what social media and the internet has brought us to. We see and learn a lot more about celebrities thoughts and actions a lot more than we ever used to. On the other hand, it could be that on some topics (emphasis some and I don’t mean racism), the PC thing has gotten out of hand so the pendulum is swinging back hardcore. Either way, I cringe. But at the same time, I try to see the positive in the conversation that it causes.
Oh god, some of you have really got your knickers ripped over this! He said it, doubt if he will apologize, move along nothing to see! He’s not the first and won’t be the last and by slandering each other on here, is it really any better!
” let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted when I am contradicted,” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ah Waldo. The King of calendar quotes.
@ Chris,
Love me some Emerson. He was the man.
🙂
Sorry for say this, but I laughing hard by some reactions here. Seriously people, do you have Gary Oldman in a high standard as a person? I agree with Sixter, the real Gary Oldman is the same man of the interview, like a British equivalent of the Texan conservative voter stereotype. His streak of failled marriages (Like Kelsey Grammer), his tantrums against studios and his political incorrect views were in public light. But somehow, during Harry Potter/Batman time new generation came with high standard of him as a smart and sensitive man. Not doubt he’s a great actor, but people, you saw him with blind eyes.
@ Roger,
For some younger folks, as myself, Harry Potter was our first time being exposed to Gary Oldman, so a lot of us would be shocked. Grew up to love him as Sirius Black then saw him on The Book of Eli, so my genuine shock is understandable.
@Roger
+1000
I’ll go with the great Maya Angelou on this one, “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.”
I hate his HTC commercials.
Hello everyone, I am a new to to posting, but a long time reader. I thought I should add my two cents into this discussion. So lets just say I know a little bit about some of the industry in Hollywood, and the truth is a lot of people such as agents, get away with saying the most crazy racist things. If you ever walk into a place like that, you will notice that most people are white, and there are maybe one or two minorities. I am not saying that indicative of them being racist but, people in higher up positions freely say whatever they want.
What Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin said were wrong, however, if you work in certain places in Hollywood, its not unusual to hear racial slurs and insults. I think it is all wrong, but there is certainly a large amount of hypocrisy that goes on with the treatment of Gibson specifically.
And for the people that say Jews run Hollywood, it is true. Most of the people that founded the studios were Jewish, and are to this day. Its not bigotry to say that, it is the truth.
What the hell.. I cannot believe this! I’ve always loved Gary, why did he have to ruin it all?! I am a non-Jewish German and some of the peeps I used to hang out with at school were Jewish. I remember them having quite a dark sense of humour and they occasionally made some ‘jokes’ about the Holocaust. Not saying that’s wrong or right, my point is that even though they wouldn’t have been offended if I’d made those ‘jokes’ as well, I could never ever find it funny in any way and I always thought (and still think) that even if I wasn’t part of the Holocaust myself, the history of my country forbids me to make jokes about the suffering of so many millions of people. I have never ever thought of anyone as a let alone called somebody a f****** Jew! It’s just absolutely outrageous to think that this is acceptable!! And I would most certainly not call somebody a n***** if they cut me off driving. That’s got nothing to do with political correctness, it’s f****** (see, I do swear..) human decency!!!!! ARGH!
Sorry Gary I don’t say hateful things. I understand disliking hypocrisy but if you are going to say something hurtful others have a right to react. And if you are going to be an angry drunk people don’t have to accept that behavior, period. And if you are going to be “brutally honest” others still have the right to dislike what you are saying. He comes across as being a bitter man.
@NN said it all
Amazing posts.
Well then, my adulation for the man plummeted. I mean, I knew he was a Republican but still.
Mel has a history that added up that you can’t ignore. It’s not just one thing that happened and why his career never bounced back. He’s also a zealot. I think he has bipolar disorder also. Get mental help and probably AA.
Alec never learns his lesson and continually plays the victim. His anger is getting worse. Grow up.
Gary’s tone and thought process reminded me of a more muted version of Mel It wasn’t a reflective discussion about it. The sinister and racist undertone to many of his comments is disturbing.
His facts are wrong. His reasoning is distorted. And so his defense of these guys wrong and distorted too.
He’s mixing apples and oranges and lesbians. E.g., Jon Stewart WON’T say that about Pelosi. That’s a fact. Using the word “lesbian” is not the same as calling Pelosi **********.
He sounds like other confused, irrational bigots. And this WILL come back to bite him.
You want to get really depressed? Look at the comments section of The Daily Mail, all of whom applaud him for his refreshing lack of “hypocrisy.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2665666/Gary-Oldman-urges-people-Mel-Gibsons-notorious-rants-explosive-Playboy-interview.html
I’m not particularly upset; I always thought he was massively overrated. But I hate the attacks on “liberals,” on PC, etc. that this kind of trashy talk legitimates.
That’s not surprising. The DailyMail readers tend to lean to the right.
DailyFail psychos are Tea Party level nut cases. I ignore the Yahoo, Youtube comment section for the very same reason.
I’m surprised that so many of you haven’t sung along with todays rap songs, or told any rabbi jokes.
+1
Well…I haven’t. I hate rap. As a black woman I find it disgusting because it’s intra-racist and sexist.
And rabbi jokes? Never. I don’t actually find those type of jokes funny.
It’s not exactly newsworthy to say that prejudice exists in society. It shouldn’t take a reference to the rampant inequality between races, genders and religions to clarify that point. Society is sexist, racist, bigoted and all the rest, and it is wrong for us to deny this and denigrate those who break the unwritten law of silence with which we all abide. I don’t think Gary Oldman was saying that prejudice is ok, i think he was saying that prejudice exists and as long as it does exist, who are we judge anybody else. Also, you don’t have to use slurs to be racist! I don’t see this as the great Mel Gibson/Alec Baldwin defence of 2014, rather, it is a grumpy old man’s assault on hypocrisy. I mean, One singular moment could create a pattern of unconscious thoughts which affect a lifetime’s worth of decisions. It’s a difficult issue and it demands much personal scrutiny. Personally, i hope not to add to that problem, though i can’t 100% say that i won’t. The issue is not black and white, yes or no…
Well Gary…thanks for killing the fantasy. It was so much better when ya kept your mouth shut. :sigh: Alas I we shall always have Dracula/Sirus Black/many other parts where your acting talent shined through. Damn I hate ‘candid’ interviews.
I get that people sometimes say dumb things, in the heat of the moment…and fine if you want to defend that. Fine, if you want to sit there and say we’ve all done that. Cause yeah, I’m sure we have. But, making a statement that we all have said those exact words….uhhhhh no. I sure as hell have got pissed before, but I haven’t gone around using the N word or calling people fags.
I have always loved Gary Oldman as an actor. He is outstanding. I don’t know him personally & never will. I will continue to watch his movies. After working in the Entertainment Industry, in my own way, I understand where he’s coming from. It doesn’t matter if I agree or disagree — I still think he is a fine actor & don’t feel it is necessary to jump on the bandwagon & condemn him for all eternity. Sometimes people really do throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I’m so incredibly disappointed. I always admired this man’s skills. Why on earth would he go ahead and make a public statement like this? I’m shocked.
Gary Oldman Rules!
I remember Gary Oldman when he was still cool, in movies such as Dracula (with Winona Ryder). If you’ve ever read “With Nails” by Richard E Grant, you’ll know Gary had/has a very troubled relationship with alcohol. I’m just saying this to point out why he might be sympathetic to those who have similar issues. But no, I’ve never used the n word or the f.j. phrase. I’m sorry, but everyone knows Mel Gibson has substance-abuse issues and is anti-Semitic. Alec Baldwin probably has some sort of mental condition as well and while he won’t admit it, he’s a bigot.
Gary Oldman seems like he wants to belong to an era of hellraisers when people still thought that was cool. Nope, sorry. Not cool. Everyone’s scrutinised these days like crazy with cameras everywhere and one little slip gets you in trouble with marketing/the studio/etc. And being anti-pc doesn’t being you’re a hellraiser anyway, Gary. It’s not necessary about being PC or not, but understanding that what you say matters and is a direct reflection of what’s going on in your head.
I totally agree with him and in my personal experience, I find the ones who are the quickest to cry “racism” or “bigot” (or whatever) and pass judgment are usually the biggest hypocrites. People say things about other people. If people think someone is being judgy or prejudiced or whatever, they feel that somehow gives them righteous license to be judgmental and prejudiced themselves. That’s the hypocrisy he’s talking about. Some people can say mean things and get away with it because they cloak themselves in “comedy” – as if that’s a pass. And some people say means things and people don’t care because they don’t like the person being insulted and so, well, then it’s somehow okay. It’s inconsistent, riddled with caveats and doble standards and – at least for me – people have become just too damn touchy and take themselves far too seriously.
Yet people can make ageist comments about him like calling him Old Man and that type of bigotry is OK? Attack is comments sure but why bring his age into it?
@ Chris,
I think people attacked him because he downright agreed with the derogatory attack on others committed by his friends. Folks of good character on this site, and I don’t believe that everyone has good character on this site, wouldn’t refer to aged celebs as old. However, when the celebs say disgusting prejudice things, I think commenters begin to say negative things about the celeb. I don’t believe that the commenters are being prejudice against Gary’s age, they’re just being, negative, in a more direct manner, towards him because they are angered by what he said.
Which is partly the point Gary Oldman was making. Sometimes people say -ist things just to be negative, not because they’re necessarily ageist, racist, sexist, etc.
God, I really, really hate when people use the “everyone is obsesed with being PC” argument. Perhaps I’d take this interview more seriously if he didn’t sound so pissed off, catering to that ridiculous tough man macho stereotype so many men’s mags like to exploit. Why do people have to be so cynical all the time? Is it that impossible to think someone truly beleives in equality and fights discrimination?
Despite the ridiculous generalisations he makes I think he has some arguments. I do feel like people are too quick to call on the -ism card, being a latin woman who has been subject to a lot of discrimination. I don’t think shouting out a slur instantly makes you a racist, if you analyze the circumstances. With Mel and Alec it’s different, though, as their bigot behavior has been repeated several times.
I think Gary, Mel and Alec just have to evolve. Times have changed, guys. Perhaps in your days most people did indeed think like that. But that’s no longer the reality of things.
I give this guy credit. He can say what he thinks, we live in America and therefore, have something called FREE speech. Mel Gibson can say what he wants, and alec Baldwin can say what he wants too. Noone has to agree with it. I do agree though that we are too politically correct. We are too worried about offending. This nation needs to drill for oil and be free from the middle east, but we wont because of the enviromentalists and offensive backlash that would leave. I don’t care if gays get married, I don’t really care about any of that, but I do believe some things need to change, and change quickly.
I can’t breathe or drink oil.
If you destroy the in environment having oil is pretty irrelevant. Right now we cannot completely divest ourselves of carbon based fossil fuels because of acient infrastutures ( especially in America) but nations need to hughly expand their reliance on alternative sources of energy to lessen the need for oil.
Short-term, expedient thinking is what got us here, we need to start thinking long- term.
why cant you do both? why cant you drill for oil, whildst doing other things to work towards a safer energy independence? besides that, I don’t believe in your “destroy the environment” argument. This is one big ole earth. If the united states doesn’t drill, and china does- the environment is still being destroyed. We wouldn’t do a pipe line, we himmed and hawed, and guess what? cananda decided to do the deal with china and will be all the better for it. More energy independent. Im sorry, I would rather have that that be engaged with this horrible middle eastern countries and relying on them for ANYTHING at all. but then again, we just let 5 of their people walk out of prison so who the heck knows…
If someone says they’ve never said anything offensive, they are lying.
I typically avoid these celebrity ‘quotes’, because they typically obliterate any mystique and wonderment that they may have possessed with asinine proclamations that reveal then to be all too human, and sometimes the the most basic amongst us.
Before his supposed ‘reinvention’, Oldman indeed was known as this hot-headed, opinionated, sometimes violent iconoclast, albeit exacerbated by alcoholism. He built his reputation on this, and it has often been cited as the reason that he’s only been able to go so far in Hollywood. He wouldn’t play the game. This is why he has such a cult following, including myself at one point. I was rooting hard for him during his Tinker Tailor Oscar campaign.
Methinks, however, that that rough-hewn individualism was more informed by his WASP-y entitlement than a stubborn refusal to be owned by or to genuflect to commercial interests. Incredibly disappointing.
I’ve never been the type to deify entertainers and artists, but I do hold out a modicum of hope that they are least reasonably evolved human beings. It’s arguably unfair for one comment in the media to besmirch one’s reputation indefinitely (provided that is indeed an aberrant occurrence and not the rule), but some many of them of late have been painting themselves as dreadful people with more money than sense.
Maybe this is the lesson that humankind needs to avoid placing celebrities a pedestal.
I agree with this so much.
But I also believe that each indiscretion is inflated 1000 times with celebrity and as you’ve stated, it can become an indefinite mark whereas with the average Joe and Joanne, they can learn, recover and move past a lot of that. Justin Bieber will be 40 years old and we’ll all still remember his ridiculous wardrobe choices and his childish little douche face – unless, of course, he does something akin to parting the Red Sea and does it in a way that doesn’t seem contrived, and contributes with his own budget and and and… I just think the balance is off with celebrity penalties.
I think it’s possible that we over-estimate the glory of being in their position and under estimate the sacrifices they take to get and be there. So we punish mercilessly for human indiscretion and behavior because we only want those who fit our ideal to enjoy that life-style.
I keep reading that people are taking his commentary to mean that he accepts racial slurs because everyone uses them. People really think that’s what he means…. And that depresses me because that’s missing the whole point.
Is Oldman an a-hole once in a while? I’m positive he is. As we all are. And for those who suggest they’ve never thought a racist thought then I know, without a doubt, that their pants are on fire. Whether or not you’ve blurted out your ignorance in front of a bunch of paparazzi while being arrested – well… I’ll bet you haven’t because you’ve never been under that sort of 24 hour scrutiny.
Either way – he’s NOT saying it’s ok to be racist or a bigot even if you might believe everyone else is. He’s saying that we’ve all said hateful things and that much of society is throwing stones in glass houses. The hypocrisy is what’s eating him. He’s angry at our self-righteous attitudes.
He’s mad because we’re shredding those that say, under that constant surveillance, the things we many think and say in the private moments that, as a society, we take for granted. We are not innocents… and he’s P.O.’d because we’re acting holier than thou.
I agree with you. I also think people have a natural tendency to scrutinize people they don’t like more than people they like for the same behaviors.
He used examples of people who were caught up in repetitive behavior of anger, vitriol and slurs. And no, not everyone is a recidivist in that way, if we were to accept that everyone is prejudiced to begin with. The problem with celebrities is that they have no issues with the adulation, love and worship, but do not wish to be called out on their shit. When one, ONE gets up and condemns the misdirected worship and states that they DO NOT deserve it as they are no better than anyone else on the planet and that they are extraordinarily lucky to be in the position in which they reside, with an immense amount of entitlements, and a platform to speak on important issues, when many regular people have NO voice with influence, then we’ll talk.
I don’t agree that we all do it. I curse people generally when they piss me off but never curse them with an adjective that points to their race or sexuality.
Now, I do wholeheartedly agree with his points re Maher and Stewart. There is a level of hypocrisy there where you can comfortably get away with casual racism and bigotry because it’s funny and perceived as breaking boundaries.
A privileged man crying for the “good ole days” when you could dehumanize another person by calling them derogitory names. Boo hoo rich man, cry into your millions that all the “Jews who run Hollywood” helped you earn. This homophobic, anti-semite lunatic can join the ranks of Mel & Alec as outcasts.
In the last two days I have seen people go ballistic on US Weekly and People Magazine over Lauren Conrad for walking out of a restaurant in Cabo San Lucas because she said they discriminate against gays. I know all to often what the PC argument is all about and I think Gary Oldman is an example of that notion. This argument I think is a mask for people like Oldman and the like to say bigoted statements and get away with it under the guise of political correctness.
I know the anti PC crowd talks about their First Amendment rights being trampled on but the first amendment only applies to the government and the First Amendment does not protect free speech from rational criticism by citizens of an opposing view.
+1,000,000
actually, he just practiced free speech, so yes, it does apply to citizens. the Dixie chicks also practiced it when they said fuk bush at a concert….and then their fans practiced it when they in turn destroyed their career by no longer purchasing their music.
LOL Bridget, the right to free speech only protects you from the government. That’s why you can still get fired for calling your boss an asshole, say, or saying something racist on the job.
He’s right, they were wrong for what they said, but they are human get of their backs.. just because you don’t use slurs doesn’t make you a better person.. everyone’s different..
Gary Oldman makes me sick. He is a disgusting racist who is just trying to hide behind “political correctness” and the idea of hypocrisy. He would only defend these men if he himself shared the same views. And no, not everyone says those things. I certainly haven’t and I wouldn’t tolerate anyone sharing racist views in my presence. This man is clueless and vile.
Fact is, the only mistake Gary Oldman made was expressing his opinion publicly. I tend to agree with most of his comments thus far. I look forward to reading the article in full. He’s right… so many people are hippocrates, phony’s, who hide behind closed doors. He’s getting criticized for speaking his mind ? Nobody said you have to agree with him… but do respect his right to Freedom of Speech.
He’s not being criticized for speaking his mind but for what he said.
its one in the same
…
Ummm…No, I’ve never the N word or any negative phrase toward Jews. I used a slur against a Chinese person when I was 7 because I heard my brother say it and I didn’t realize it was offensive. Fortunately I said it in private to my mom and she told me it’s not a word we use. I have used the short version of ‘the other f word’, but not frequently and not in a negative way (my boss, who is gay, says that it is less offensive than the long version, so I guess that’s good! Usually I was referring to a cigarette anyway).
I’m not politically correct, but I don’t really see the harm in trying to not be hurtful. That being said, as a Christian I find no one really cares about sparing me offense by not using the name of my God as a curse.