Posts Tagged ‘Charleton Heston’
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When I learned Charlton Heston had passed away over the weekend, I was kind of shocked. I don’t know why. After all, it’s perfectly within the scope of reason that an 84 year-old man suffering the later stages of Alzheimer’s might be lost to us at some point.
Yet, when confronted with the reality of the situation, it’s tough to accept. It seems that in some for or another, Charlton Heston had always been known to me. Admittedly, as little time as I spend thinking about Heston specifically, you never really prepare yourself for the idea of a world without the guy.
Depending on your own beliefs, it could be easy to characterize Heston as a villian for his gun control stance in his later years. Personally, I never agreed with it and found his appearance with the NRA in town days after the Columbine massacre tasteless. How much of that was actually Heston’s idea versus the NRA pulling his strings, I suppose we’ll never know. Unfortunately, he might be as well known for his podium posturing and “…from my cold, dead hands!” speech than for any of the famous roles he played.
It’s particularly difficult for me to reconcile Heston’s pro-gun ownership position considering his history as a civil rights activist in the ’60’s. Here’s someone who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. – a strong proponent of NON violence. Where’d the gun thing come from?
I suppose you could say it was all about freedom. Freedom between men, freedom to arm yourself if you so choose, freedom from the hands of others that would try to steer your course in life. That aligns much more with my vision of who Heston was as a man.
Of course Heston leaves behind and amazing legacy in film as well. From Ben Hur to The Ten Commandments to Planet of the Apes, this guy was in more iconic movies than you can shake a stick at. Also, let’s not forget The Omega Man because The Omega Man is awesome. He makes Will Smith in I Am Legend look like a total pansy.
So, here’s to Charlton Heston. May he rest in peace.
I’m sure Heston’s passing is something we’ll be discussing tonight on The Triple Feature – as well as the weekend’s new releases. Curious that 21 held onto the top spot against George Clooney in Leatherheads and Jodie Foster in Nim’s Island. Two Oscar winners can’t take down a movie about some Dawson’s Creek rejects counting cards?
We’ll be discussing all that and more tonight at 9:00 PM CST over at TalkShoe. Be sure to listen to the broadcast live and submit your questions to the chat field. We took a few calls last week and that was a good time. We’d love to do it again!
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I just wanted to make a quick clarification about my post this morning because I don’t want people to be confused.
I didn’t mean to imply that Charlton Heston’s “…from my cold dead hands” speech occurred at any point near or around his appearance at the NRA rally held a few days after the Columbine massacre. I’m aware that those were two completely different events. I was just kind of lumping all of Heston’s involvement with the NRA into one paragraph.
I had a reader remind me of the scene in Bowling For Columbine where Michael Moore made it look like it was the same event and I just want to reiterate that I am aware that it wasn’t. I’m aware that the NRA rally was a previously planned event and a victim of circumstance as much as anyone. It probably would have been a logistical nightmare to cancel or reschedule and I appreciate the situation they were in at the time. All the same, it would have been nice for them to have displayed a little discretion and cancel the event anyway – but that’s just me. It’s in the past.
I actually wanted to talk about Bowling For Columbine a little bit, but couldn’t find a way to fit it in to my previous post.
I really think Moore gave Heston a raw deal in his interview and how he chose to portray him. When everyone else heard Moore’s name and ran the other direction, Heston accommodated him and invited him into his home. I like Michael Moore, but what he did to Heston I thought was insulting and it’s probably why Bowling For Columbine is my least favorite of his movies. I was agreeing with most of it up until the end with Heston and then I walked out of the theater with a bad taste in my mouth.
Ultimately, I just felt bad for Heston. Here’s a guy with certain convictions – maybe convictions you don’t agree with – but convictions none the less. Because of those convictions, he’s propped up by a powerful gun lobby to appeal to the macho segment of the population that identifies with his roles as a tough guy in movies like Ben Hur and The Omega Man. He’s a puppet for this organization. A friendly face to slap onto a complicated issue.
On the other hand, you have Moore, coming at Heston with his own agenda and using Heston’s own convictions against him to make him look like a doddering old fool.
Say what you will about the politics, but conviction and character are something to be admired, not to be used as weapons against those who possess them. For me, Moore’s treatment of Heston came down to a simple matter of respect. Or, more accurately, the lack of it.
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