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Charlton Heston's Impact On Sci-Fi
An anonymous reader writes "As you're probably already aware, Charlton Heston passed away yesterday. Wired has a piece looking back at Heston's extremely notable work in the sci-fi genre, with roles in films like "Planet of the Apes" and "Soylent Green". 'Heston also roared out some of sci-fi's greatest and most memorable lines, bringing his macho swagger and over-the-top intensity to the screen in movies like 1973's food freak-out flick Soylent Green and the Planet of the Apes series. In a pivotal scene from 1968's Planet of the Apes (see clip), Heston's character, time-traveling astronaut George Taylor, utters the first words spoken by a human to the simian rulers of a bizarro future Earth: "Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!'"
It's hard to get much better than Planet of the Apes (even the sequels were decent). Heston was decidedly great even in his Biblical films though, such as the Ten Commandments and Ben Hur.
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
He also fought for our rights to carry phasers and other types of disintegrator rays.
I can't think of a single person in hollywood today who's voice alone has his presence. Even hearing him read cop killer was something.
An I.T. motto in the hands of an idiot is a dangerous thing...
Out of all the adaptations of Matheson's novel I am Legend , Heston's The Omega Man was probably the most entertaining. It certainly stands tall above the dreck Will Smith starred in last year.
*Pries the musket from his cold, dead hands*
Heston seemed like he was an eternal presence. From watching the 10 commandments on TV as a kid, then seeming The Omega Man late one night when I was about 12 (back when broadcast TV used to show movies late at night). That eye rolling dialog delivery, jutting jaw, big flashing teeth and the fact they he couldn't keep his shirt on for more than the first 10 minutes of any film made him an icon.
Then again, you see him in the Orson Welles film "Touch of Evil" to see he could underplay it when he wanted to, he just chose not to. In honour of Chuck, I think The Omega Man is due a screening in my house this evening.
I'm not going to say what I hope happens to your grave!
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
Extremist? Not really. Sure, he was against gun control in most forms, but he was also pro-union and pro-civil rights. He was not the right-wing nut that some people claim him to be.
One of my favorite stories from him was when, during the Rodney King riots, one or more fellow actors (he would not name them) called and asked if they could borrow one of his guns. He said, no, you can't, but you're welcome to come over to my place until things settle down.
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
Let's not forget his acting in "Wayne's World 2" as "Good actor."...
It was the height of irony when Charlton Heston appeared as an ape in the "Planet of the Apes" remake...and gave an anti-gun speech.
"The fight for freedom has only just begun." - Geert Wilders
I've enjoyed watching most every film Heston's been in (might want to exclude "Earthquake" from that list, though). He brought a commanding presence to his roles that is quite rare.
I tend to ignore an actor's political statements, however (whether or not I agree with their sentiments). If I refused to watch any movie that included an actor that I'd seen make a fool out of him/herself, there'd be no point in my owning a DVD player - the pickings would be slim indeed.
#DeleteChrome
Oh, I wouldn't mod you down. Everyone's entitled to an opinion, no matter how silly.
I think you'll find a lot of actors with kinda bizarro political views on all sides of the spectrum. And a good number of them are quite politically active.
I'm old enough to remember some people saying such sentiments about John Wayne when he died. I'm sure some people on the other side of the political spectrum will say similar things about Jane Fonda, or Streisand when they die.
In short: They're pooterheads.
These are actors. Yes, they've been politically active. Lots of people are. But unlike Reagan or Schwarzenegger they've not run for political office.
Yes, you may disagree with them. But, Isn't singing and strumming happy tunes to their death a bit much?
To blatantly steal a quote from Sergeant Hulka in Stripes "Lighten up, Francis."
NRA extremists
How do you define an 'NRA Extremist'? Is it anybody who believes the citizenry should be able to defend itself from a tyrannical government? Is it the kind of person who is 840 times less likely to commit gun crime than the general population?
My God, it's Full of Source!
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The appellation "extremist" has little meaning nowadays. It is used primarily to smear those who hold unpopular beliefs ("Oh, you don't think like the rest of us? YOU MUST BE AN EXTREMIST!") rather than being reserved for those who truly do advocate extreme positions.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
As I was watching the various "video obituaries" on all the news programs, I couldn't help but see Troy McClure in all of Heston's roles.
Define fascism any why you like...you will anyhow.
But history tells a different story. It was in both Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy a combination of state and corporation. Corporations did what the state told them to or were taken over outright. Fascist were more then socialists in name. State takes over corporations in fascism as in all forms of centrally planned economies (in mixed economies like Europe and the USA some industries are run as government planned and often owned monopolies). When corporations take over the state it's called 'Corporatism'.
For examples of corporations running states outright a jaded eye could look at the recent history of sub Saharan Africa or the history of the English empire. Not pretty either but nothing like the body count leftism in general has built.
'Progressivism' as it's currently defined is simply the latest name for old school socialist thinking. Socialism does have an inherent concentration of power issue. Government run industries are almost always monopolies.
In any case as long as we keep ourselves well armed we as Americans will be too expensive to govern with too heavy a hand. That was the ultimate purpose of the second. It had nothing to do with hunting, everything to do with enabling at least the threat of the next armed revolution.
Go to the range folks. The gun is useless if you can't practice gun control.
Charlton Heston would have wanted you to go to the range soon. I'd say to take your kids with you, but this is /. Damn am I on topic? WTF am I doing?
Take a safety course if you're getting your first weapon. Start with a 22LR pistol or rifle.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
I call dibs on the gun.
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
It allowed a small group in Waco, TX to fend off the federal government for nearly 2 months.
If you mean that a SINGLE person cant defend itself against the military, you are correct. But who ever suggested that was the case?
I'm for gun control and no huge fan of Jefferson, but any American who believes in the idea of a separation between church and state (which derived from a non-official letter between Jefferson and the Danbury Baptists Association) should at least acknowldge his beliefs on an armed populace:
Personally, I find it bizzare how you easily misunderstand things.
No need to be Republican - it's important to admit when people on your side are being dishonest. (And "Bowling for Columbine" misrepresented Charlton Heston's actions and basically everything else it portrayed.) One could argue that the party of Lincoln fell so far because Republicans wouldn't call out Republicans for ethical lapses, and it'd be sad if the Democrats followed them any further down that road.
And, here is the contradiction: if gun advocates really think that a well armed populace can hold off the US military, then they also should think we ought to get out of Iraq NOW.
We'll never be able to subdue a well armed insurgency, right?
They'll fight to the end and win, right?
They have to believe these things, otherwise their main reason for having a "well armed militia" to defend against government oppression is just a bunch of hoo-ha.
The USA is an extremist nation. It always has been and always will be. Let's face it. Life in the early USA sucked and the only reason anyone in their right mind would want to come to this freezing, savage filled continent would either be due to immense greed or some immense political or religious belief.
.50 caliber rifle... and I love my country that I have the right to have all this cool stuff, just as much as I love it that someone else on the left wing can have the right to their own dumb ideas about socialism and one world UN government.
There is not a single page of American history where the country cannot be divided up into those sets of people - greedy people, religious fruitcakes, and political maniacs. They built the colonies, rammed through the American revolution, wrote our constitution, and continue to drive our present political discourse.
Folks look for moderates in the USA, and there aren't any. Everyone has one opinion or another that is radical about something, it is just that, because everyone's radicalism averages out at a survey level, it only seems like the USA is a rational country.
Americans love radicals, always have, and always will. Thomas Jefferson was a radical. John Brown was a radical. Both Roosevelts were radicals and Wilson was a radical and Kennedy was a radical. Johnson, Carter, Bush.. those guys weren't radicals, but the country hated them. Clinton wasn't radical, but he definitely fell into the greedy camp - greedy for power, greedy for the ladies.... and nobody ever really -liked- him... just, they thought did a decent enough job. Now they loved Reagan, and they love Obama...
So yeah, I like Charlton Heston. I'm a member of the NRA and damned proud of it, and I love my AK-47 and my AR-15 and my Barrett
This is my sig.
and you think owning a gun is going to allow you to defend yourself against the US military ?
It sucks for we USA but that seems to be working just fine for the insurgents in Iraq. 20 billion dollars a month in occupation is being spent trying to suppress an insurgency that is armed with little more than homemade explosives and automatic weapons. If that does not give you an idea as to the efficacy of the right to keep and bear arms in keeping out a government that you do not like, then nothing will.
This is my sig.
It's not that he really hurts his causes. He does create a large uninformed population that takes what he has done as "truth" without actually critiquing what he is really presenting.
> What will they say about Slashdot? All I can think of is that the first page of the guest book at the way will be full of "FRIST PO$T!!1!"
They'll probably say "NETCRAFT CONFIRMS IT."
"Slow down, Cowboy! It has been 3 years, 7 months and 26 days since you last successfully posted a comment."
Eh, I think you give them both too much credit. The last Republican congress spent like drunken sailors (and we didn't call them on it) and the Democrats are keen to put the government in charge of everything (like they do a great job at anything...) and take away people's freedom to make their own choices (hardy a high moral ground). They're both power-mad and enabled to be so by their parties (which Washington warned against). I have no idea how to get rid of them, though. On the Senate you're right - they're supposed to represent the States, but that got scuttled so now we have weakling states (since they have no say nor recourse) and large-scale homogeneity among them.
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"Reasonable discussions" with gun prohibitionists usually revolve around "which additional class of guns are we going to outlaw today?"...which is why most in the pro-gun crowd aren't too interested in having a reasonable discussion. In fact, the entire gun-control argument is one pretty much entirely based off of sensationalist hysterics. It's a shame he wasted it on something so destructive. I rest my case. Why should I bargain away my rights with the likes of you?
Against gun control? Pro union? Pro civil liberty and equality? Seems that above all else, he was pro-freedom.
No need to drag the phony conservative/liberal left/right political dichotomy into things...
That's a bit hard to do because his most insidious, dishonest points are ones he denies making at all. His subtle edits and omissions of facts lead the viewer to an erroneous conclusion that was never explicitly stated.
It's been a long time since I looked into this, but iirc Moore manipulated Charlton Heston into saying something which could be seen as racist (neglecting to mention that the man actually marched with MLK Jr!), implied that Heston led a rally in Colorado in response to Columbine (it was planned well in advance), and that Heston used language which, given the situation, was quite inflammatory (those snippets were actually spliced together from several different rallies). He made many other, less topical, manipulations of fact.
I am a Democrat, and I am disappointed that so few Democrats complain about Moore.
Of all the US gun nuts Heston scared me the least. He seemed like he would actually give you a meaningful conversation on gun ownership (to me, the biggest point of gun ownership is safety).
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
"Good riddance... one gunhappy moron less"
Don't forget to include "civil rights moron." AC, you can be such an idiot.
There are no loopholes. It's either legal or it's not.