Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Think before going to war, says Clint Eastwood

Think before you shoot, Clint Eastwood says of war: interview | Toronto Star - Peter Howell:

January 13, 2015 - "Clint Eastwood is angry.

"'I think that’s a stupid analysis,' the American Sniper director growls from New York, when asked about the buckshot his new movie is taking, from critics who believe he’s celebrating war, killing and jingoism.

"David Edelstein of New York Magazine calls the film, opening Friday in Toronto, 'a Republican platform movie' even as he praises it as 'a crackerjack piece of filmmaking.' Lindy West of the Guardian newspaper bemoans 'simplistic patriots' who applaud Eastwood’s portrait of Navy SEAL shooting ace Chris Kyle, played by Bradley Cooper.

"'Pardon me for sounding defensive, but it certainly has nothing to do with any (political) parties or anything,' Eastwood, 84, tells the Star.

“These fellows who are professional soldiers, Navy personnel or what have you, go in for a certain reason. Their commander-in-chief (U.S. President Barack Obama) is a Democrat and the administration is, and there’s no political aspect there other than the fact that a lot of things happen in war zones'....

"Eastwood insists he’s not the warmonger or right-wing poster boy he’s often made out to be.... He points out that even though he’s directed several war-themed movies and appeared as an actor in others, he’s more dove than hawk: a pragmatic libertarian rather than a red-meat Republican. Eastwood opposed both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, because he’s seen enough conflict in his life.

"'I was a child growing up during World War II. That was supposed to be the one to end all wars. And four years later, I was standing at the draft board being drafted during the Korean conflict, and then after that there was Vietnam, and it goes on and on forever ....

"'I just wonder ... does this ever stop? And no, it doesn’t. So each time we get in these conflicts, it deserves a lot of thought before we go wading in or wading out. Going in or coming out. It needs a better thought process, I think.'"

Read more: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2015/01/13/think_before_you_shoot_clint_eastwood_says_of_war_interview.html
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