CLINT EASTWOOD sorely misses his tough youth, insisting America has gone soft since.
The 78-year-old actor claims life was simpler and easier in his upbringing during the depression - when problems were solved using fists rather than a therapist's couch.
Eastwood tells the January (09) edition of Esquire magazine, "Everyone's become used to saying, 'Well, how do we handle it psychologically?'
"In those days you punched the bully back and duked it out. People were tougher then.
"I was a shy kid. But a lot of my childhood was spent punching the bullies out."
6 comments:
Even when I was a kid. but I do think there is an underground tough guy movement going on. Witness the rise of ultimate fighting.
Naval - thanks I will check your blog
Interesting post. I have a tough time with Eastwood's thinking. Part of me, on an instinctual level, agrees with it. However, his thinking here is at odds with the thoughtful, reflective filmmaking in which he's engaged since Unforgiven. What he's saying now seems to me to be the "Dirty Harry" Eastwood, which is cool, but I think his insistence that we've gone "soft" being the root of all our problems is oversimplifying the issue. First, I'm not sure America has gone "soft." Is our involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan "soft"? Is our alarming rate of gun violence (in comparison with most other industrialized countries) "soft"? If anything, sometimes I feel like we could use more calm, rational reflection, and really try and foster that, especially in men. Now, I'll bet you anything some guys would read that and say, "What a pussy!" Which is exactly the problem, I think. I'm glad we have someone in the White House now who is the opposite of the "act first, think later" example we've had the past 8 years.
That said, I'm not saying there aren't times when a bully deserves to get his ass kicked, because there are. In the end, I'm glad guys like Eastwood are around to remind us of that. I respect his experience and would love to hear from him on this subject.
Thanks, Archavist, for a thought-provoking post. Hope you don't mind my long comment. :)
Chris - that's a great comment. And I agree with many of your points but I do think men, with the exception of myself, Clint and all the readers of Tainted Archive, are becoming too apathetic and should just get on with things no matter how tough.
I definitely agree with you. There's a lot to be said for steely resolve. Honestly, I feel like watching Clint Eastwood movies when I was a teen (the Westerns and Dirty Harry movies) toughened me up a bit in ways that helped me out. I like Eastwood's grit and determination in the face of adversity. I agree with you on the "apathetic" matter, too.
I'm a huge fan of Eastwood. I totally agree with him. It's gotten much worse over the years. I'm just hoping there's a turnaround.
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