Jodie Foster was on the Daily Show tonight

[1911 guy]

Bread and games.

We as a society have let ourselves become consumed with "bread and games". Whenever the populace got uneasy, the Roman Empire would pass out free bread and hold games to distract the people. It worked, right up until the Vandal invasion.

Who cares what an actress thinks of firearms? She only matters because people are dumb enough to give her a voice. She's as unimportant in the grand scheme as I am pontificating about economics. Hell, I sometimes struggle to balance my checkbook. She simply needs to be told by her fans what the rest of us working stiffs get told by those who sign our paychecks. "Shut up and get back to work."

 

[Neo-Luddite]

There are so many actors--like Ms. Foster--who I really enjoy watching act. Why do they feel a need to risk that relationship between artist and patron?

 

[eflatminor]

I suspect she lied because she didn't seem quite that stupid

If she doesn't believe guns should be in the hands of human beings, then that means police and military should also be disarmed. My question to Ms. Foster is: Who is going to enforce such a law and secondly, who is going to protect this country from forces outside the US that don't feel the same way about weapons?

Now, I suspect she really lied and believes only military and police should have guns. As we all know, history shows us again and again how that policy works out for the people.

Lastly, if her comment was really meant as an existential hope that the world should be a place in which guns were never invented, then I wonder if Ms. Foster wishes to move down a notch or two on the food chain. Yea, it's too bad we don't still loose children to packs of wolves.

 

[REOIV]

She's such a smart person I can't help but think that what she means is that

In a perfect world no one would own guns mainly because there'd be no need.

If no one was a 'bad guy' then there is really no need for guns.

Of course this is overly optimistic and assumes that all of humanity could ever rise above its base instincts.

Essentially if the world was a utopia with no war, conflict etc.

And since she feels that way, she is leading by example by not having guns and advocating people be better to each other.

Again a celebrities personal beliefs are just that, beliefs.
Until they use their status as a celebrity to pass laws to remove rights etc, I don't really care what they think.

Course this could be cognitive dissonance on my part and me trying to rationalize how someone that smart could be that stupid about something so basic.

 

[The Unknown User]

I think it's funny people get so bent out of shape when someone exercises a given right only because it doesn't match their viewpoint.

Good for her. She's exercising her rights, the same as any one of you who carries.

 

[hankdatank1362]

Here's a brief clip of the interview with Ms. Foster: http://us.video.aol.com/player/launcher?ar=us_en_video_748x541_full&pmmsid=1970105&lg=1&referer=http%3A//television.aol.com/franchise/top5

 

[Bula]

Is this another money crazed Hollywood idiot exploiting something they so adamantly oppose? How about this Jodie Foster, lets take all the guns out of every Hollywood movie? I think I'd rather see a robot with a gun than to see you all over TV 'getting even' then saying, "guns are bad". Well Jodie apparently they are only bad when they don't net you $8 million dollars to make a movie.

 

[AJ Dual]

The best poetic justice would be for her movie to have a serious "Archie Bunker/All In the Family" or "Born in the USA" effect.

In "All in the Family", Carol O'Connor's character was supposed to be a foil for all that was supposed to be rejected and opposed in the 1960's and 1970's, Instead millions of Americans didn't get the satire, and worshipped the character, wondering why it took so long for TV to put someone on who thought just like them, and it came at a time when it seemed as though America was falling down all around them. Instead of being a huge vehicle to push America to the left, "All in the Family" simply became a mirror in which each side saw what they wanted to see.

(Granted Archie Bunker also put forth a large amount of racism and sexism, but IMO they were often used as cheap throwaways for Rob Reiner to better use Archie to ridicule conservatism, capitalism, and patriotism…)

And Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" is a post Vietnam anti-American screed that tries to deconstruct the American Dream, and the song's powerful refrain "Born in the USA" is intended to be the ultimate in dark ironic twists.
Instead, the vast majority of Americans ignore the intended meaning of the lyrics and just focus on the refrain as being upbeat and patriotic. So much so it got used as the keynote song for the '84 Republican convention… (L… O… freaking... L…!)

So I've got my hopes that Ms. Foster's new movie will simply play to most people as "Criminals getting what's coming to them", and the whole intended subtext of "I've become a monster just like those criminals because I went and got a gun" will be lost on the majority of people.

 

[Colt46]

She has robot bodyguards?

Lord knows her fellow man(who happens to have elevated her to fame and fortune) can't be trusted to carry a deadly weapon. Nice to know she's superior enought to know what is better for the common man than the actual common man knows himself.

 

[WuzYoungOnceToo]

I think it's funny people get so bent out of shape when someone exercises a given right only because it doesn't match their viewpoint.

Good for her. She's exercising her rights, the same as any one of you who carries.

I think it's funny when people criticize others for expressing their opinions about someone else's opinion (especially when the latter opinion is that the former should be stripped of a basic right.)

Sounds like there's some potential for infinite regression there.

 

[Geronimo45]

"I don't believe that kind of power should be in the hands of feeling human beings.....maybe robots or something"

Isn't the Daily Show a comedy show? Maybe that remark's a joke on the Terminator.

"If you carry a gun in your pocket it changes how you walk, how you think and how you meet people"

'Tis true, sometimes. If you wear an ankle holster, you don't do a lot of running. A lot of folk are less likely to go into places and situations where they might have to use their gun. Etcetera. These things are not necessarily bad.

'Course, it all boils down to not going overboard when some Hollywood gal decides that guns are only for her bodyguards. Not a big deal. Besides, coming out pro-gun might get her thrown out of cocktail parties. All about priorities.

 

[camslam]

Sheesh... silly celebrities think they know everything.

That is a bold face lie! - Celebrities KNOW they know everything.

Just ask them.

p.s. I don't begrudge anyone their opinion, but it is probably less than 5% of the celebrities that make statements about things that actually understand the issue or have done research on it. Open your mouth all you want, but at least have the facts.

 

[WuzYoungOnceToo]

Isn't the Daily Show a comedy show?

Well...you know that, and I know that...but have you seen the survey stats on the number of young people who cite it as their favorite source of "news"?

 

[Kentak]

What are you going to do? Boycott your dentist if you somehow find out he or she is a member of the Brady Bunch?

Are you going to interview everyone you do business with to ascertain their political and gun views? The plumber? The supermarket manager?

I would avoid a movie with an explicit anti-gun theme, simply because it wouldn't resonate with me. But, the views of the actors are secondary. There are a few exceptions I have for actors that have *crusaded* for positions I disagree with, rather than simply expressing a view when asked in an interview.

BTW, I think Foster is an exceptional actor.

K

 

[Legionnaire]

p.s. I don't begrudge anyone their opinion, but it is probably less than 5% of the celebrities that make statements about things that actually understand the issue or have done research on it.

Same could be said of most people ... thank you George Gallup. Public opinion polls that ask ignorant people to comment on a sophisticated matter--like asking the average American what they think of current fiscal policy--basically reveal that a majority of respondents don't know what they're talking about! Drives me nuts! I know lots of folks (self included) have opinions on things we don't know much about. But we should be honest enough to recognize them as ungrounded predispositions and not treat them like well-researched, grounded positions.

 

[Sniper X]

I and others here have said it before, ANTI celebs should NOT be able to make money off movies with guns in them. They should not hire celebs who are anti to use a gun in a movie. Just my daily rant.

 

[Cincinnati Slim]

Jeez...lighten up, it a COMEDY show !

"I don't believe that kind of power should be in the hands of feeling human beings.....maybe robots or something"

and Jon Stewart replied something to the effect of...

"Yea, like that RoboCop thing, er, that worked out really well..."

C'mon folks, let's not take stuff out of context here, this is a Comedy Show ! People say ridiculous, sarcastic, exagerated stuff to get laughs.

Lighten up...Y'all are taking this WAY too seriously !

Pay close attention to what candidates may say leading up to elections; that's really important, serious stuff. The Daily Show is suposed to be satire, you know funny. And by the way , hate to burst anybody's bubble, the show after it, The Colbert Report, is not actually a right-wing pudit like Bill O'Reilly, It's a put-on, another satire intended to MAKE FUN OF other shows.

If you don't think it's funny Ok then, watch something else. But you may want to have your doctor check to see if your funny bone is missing or if you need more irony in your diet.

Slim

 

[WuzYoungOnceToo]

Public opinion polls that ask ignorant people to comment on a sophisticated matter--like asking the average American what they think of current fiscal policy--basically reveal that a majority of respondents don't know what they're talking about!

It also doesn't help that the poll questions are more often than not worded in such a confining and hyper-simplistic manner that any sort of intelligent and meaningful answer is pretty much impossible anyway.

 

[Legionnaire]

Yup. Some polls tell you more about the person asking the question than the answers tell you about the respondent.

 

[jlbraun]

For all we know, she has carried a gun in her pocket.

Given that she had a crazy stalker that tried to take down a sitting President, I would say it's reasonable to assume that she has carried in the past.

 

[Im283]

I really do not worry about Foster's political views or her thoughts on RKBA.

I think she is a fine actress and can say I have enjoyed her abilities in most every movie I have seen her in.

She has a right to say what she wants, same as me.

I wish I had seen the entire bit of her on the Daily Show. From the little clip from an earlier post she did not seem afraid of guns, at least not like the host did. And she is entitled to answer questions about her views when being interviewed.

 

[WuzYoungOnceToo]

C'mon folks, let's not take stuff out of context here, this is a Comedy Show !

That's the theory, anyway. Unfortunately the reality paints a somewhat different picture, and has for a few years now:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/02/apontv.stewarts.stature.ap/

I'm sure Stewart and the producers of the show don't intend it as a real news source, but that doesn't alter the fact that it's being considered as such by a large number of young (but voting age) people. Even more telling, they also look to Saturday Night Live for their political information.

Scary.

 

[WuzYoungOnceToo]

She has a right to say what she wants, same as me.

Why do some people always interpret criticism of an opinion as the position that the holder of that opinion doesn't have the right to express it?

 

[Colt]

Why do some people always interpret criticism of an opinion as the position that the holder of that opinion doesn't have the right to express it?

This is the new trend.

Used to be that everyone was equal, but that their opinions could be wrong.

These days, if you attack someone's opinion, it's interpretted as an attack on the person.

That's why when you say that Jodie Foster's opinions on guns are insane, everyone rushes to tell you that she's entitled to her opinion, and ask "Who are you to judge HER?"

You didn't judge her, you judged her opinion.

 

[Radjxf]

Actors are simply Pro-self promotion and anti-everything else IMO. Most seem to be liberals. Nearly all live in an insulated world much different than ours. Nearly all have ARMED guards (guess guns aren't all bad). I could not care less what any of their opinions are on anything. I enjoy their movies, and 'try' to disregard their opinions as most probably aren't in the upper eschelon of human intelligence. However, there are a few that I refuse to pay good money for anything they do: Sean Penn, Danny Glover, Rosie O'Donnell, Jane Fonda....