Monday, February 17, 2020

Harrison Ford Takes Some Swipes at Some of the Strange American Political Beliefs That Win Out in This Age of Trump

It seems that everyone likes Harrison Ford. After all, he played some of the most iconic characters in movie history. Han Solo. Indiana Jones. The Bladerunner.

Plus, he was in some other pretty decent movies. I liked him in Witness, a movie I saw when just a kid, although I saw it again some years back now. The Fugitive was a great movie, one of my favorites as well. There are numerous action adventure movies that he is in. I remember him being described as the thinking man's action hero, and that seems fairly accurate.

In almost all of his roles, he indeed plays very intelligent roles, to go along with his good looks. There is just something about him that exudes a certain intelligence and seriousness, even when he tends to be a wisecracking character. His characters tends to be the type of guy who's almost too good to be true, too perfect. It may sound cliche, but I also think that there is truth to this idea that he is the type of guy that women want to be with, and men want to be. Frankly, I think that accounts for some of his incredible popularity. 

My guess is that there is also some truth to this, that it is translated from his real life. After all, he is a handsome man, and he clearly exudes a certain intelligence, even arguably intellectualism. Part of it is how quiet and reserved he tends to be, in a society that tends to be loud and immature and often, frankly, overbearing. Had he wanted to, he could have been part of that fluffier, less serious aspect of society, but he was not interested, and largely remained above the fray.

Every now and then, you might hear from him in certain ways. I reported a while back about how he urged Americans to stop giving power to people who do not believe in science, a clear shot at climate change skeptics.

Well, Ford recently made comments that are sure to draw the ire of some, even though, again, he brings a certain level of repute as a thinking man, and a popular cultural figure. Still, I am going to guess that most Americans will not pay attention and/or will not understand, or bother trying to. One of the major problems with a celebrity-obsessed culture, after all, is that it tends to stop thinking about real news, and mistakes the goings on of celebrities as somehow real and relevant news.

What did Ford say?

He suggested that the United States has lost possession of it's "moral leadership" and that, in recent years, it has compromised it's once stellar "credibility in the world."

Hard to argue with that, frankly.

While out promoting his newest movie, 'The Call of the Wild," Harrison spoke out about a lot of issues going on in the country presently.

Harrison expressed his views on immigration:

“This is the history of America, it depends on immigration,” Ford, 77, said in a video obtained by HuffPost.  

He continued, “Our position is tenuous because of lack of moral leadership basically. We’ve lost some of our credibility in the world and we are anxious to regain it.”  

Frankly, that is an understatement. When the country elected someone like Donald Trump, who epitomizes the very worst that this country has to offer, it sent a clear message to the rest of the world that we Americans are not serious, that we have stretched our addiction to trying to be entertained literally to world politics, and that we were willing (in the case of millions of people, even eager) to send a buffoon, a clown, to represent us in our highest office.

Ford took some shots at the climate change skeptics, as well:

The Indiana Jones actor also touched on climate change, saying, “Science is being ridiculed by people in ideological campgrounds.” 

He added:

“They are refusing the wisdom, the discipline of science in favor of a political point of view,” Ford said, adding he admired Greta Thunberg for her activism.  

“Young people it seems to me throughout the world are taking up the role of leadership that they must do, it’s the natural way of the world,” he said. “I applaud Greta’s part in the leadership of young people.”  

Ford added, “I consider the threat of the natural world is the single biggest threat to humanity.”

Nice to know that some celebrities still have some intelligence and integrity, as well as the courage to speak out when they see their country going in a very wrong direction. 


Harrison Ford Says the U.S. Has Lost Its 'Moral Leadership' and 'Credibility in the World' by Alexia Fernandez February 06, 2020:
Harrison Ford is speaking out about his country's immigration policies while promoting The Call of the Wild

https://people.com/movies/harrison-ford-says-united-states-lost-moral-leadership/

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