Legendary Actor Gary Oldman Outs Himself as a 'Libertarian'
Also Upset That He Can't Call Nancy Pelosi the C-Word
UPDATED JUNE 25: Oldman has apologized for remarks in the interview about Jewish influence in Hollywood. Standing firm so far on characterization of Rep. Nancy Pelosi as a "cunt…a fucking useless cunt." Read more here.
Via Reason.com's movie reviewer Kurt Loder comes word that legendary actor Gary Oldman—we loved him as Sid Vicious, Joe Orton, Lee Harvey Oswald, Dracula (film and pinball game!), Beethoven (the piano player, not the clumsy but lovable pooch), Dimmesdale, Sirius Black, Jim Gordon, and so many more (like the wacked-out drug-dealing wigger Drexl Spivey in True Romance)—has outed himself as a libertarian in a Playboy interview. Some quotes culled from that Q&A:
PLAYBOY: How would you describe your politics?
OLDMAN: I would say that I'm probably a libertarian if I had to put myself in any category. But you don't come out and talk about these things, for obvious reasons.
PLAYBOY: But there are a ton of conservatives in Hollywood, and libertarians too. Bill Maher has called himself a libertarian.
OLDMAN: I think he would fail the test. Anyway, unlike Bill Maher, conservatives in Hollywood don't have a podium.
PLAYBOY: Fine. We'll give you one. What would America look like under President Hillary Clinton?
OLDMAN: What can I say? I feel we need some real leadership, and it's nowhere in sight. Look at what's happening right now. John Kerry going off to China to talk about North Korea? What's that going to do? The ludicrousness of it. What a waste of money. You're going to go to the puppeteer and say, "Can you help me with the puppet?" As far as Hillary, I guess I feel like my character in The Contender, Shelly Runyon. He doesn't want Joan Allen to become president; he just believes she isn't the right person for the job. It's nothing to do with the fact that she's a woman, but he uses a bit of dirt on her to bring her down.
What prompted that particular exchange? This one:
OLDMAN: More and more, people in this culture are able to hide behind comedy and satire to say things we can't ordinarily say, because it's all too politically correct.
PLAYBOY: Do you have something in mind?
OLDMAN: Well, if I called Nancy Pelosi a cunt—and I'll go one better, a fucking useless cunt—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.
PLAYBOY: You see it as a double standard.
OLDMAN: It's our culture now, absolutely. At the Oscars, if you didn't vote for 12 Years a Slaveyou 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.
Read the whole thing, which is interesting and profane throughout. And filled with a lot of old-manism from the 56-year-old who views the future with trepidation and seems generally and genuinely pissed off about helicopter parents, political correctness, and, well, just about everything. Also includes interesting bits on his life as an actor, by the way.
