Liam Neeson

[DeeLicious]

has he killed his own career?

[klazomaniac]

No help back then. Just a divided country with the British army on the streets (must have been an awful time)
And anger in the hearts of those that lived through it is one I never want to experience.

I'll wage a bet he called the Protestants 'Orange B*******' back in the day also.

He was angry and naive. But he is also just relating a story of his past.
One of which he is ashamed.

[klazomaniac]

I'll try again as Some of my thread went missing.

A troubled mind today would receive copious amounts of counseling from Doctors and care workers.
But there was no help back then. Just a divided country with the British army on the streets (must have been an awful time)
And anger in the hearts of those that lived through it is one I never want to experience.

I'll wage a bet he called the Protestants 'Orange B*******' back in the day also.

He was angry and naive. But he is also just relating a story of his past.
One of which he is ashamed.

[Mamyalynne]

There's a few ways to look at this - if it's some sort of PR stunt given the nature of the new film , then it was ill conceived - the same goes if it's a straight up lie.

However if it is a true account then it illustrates very well what the sheer impotency of pent up rage can do when someone you love is hurt.

It may be illogical and futile but such anger is burning and destructive.

I don't think this is a career killer for him.

[Calicogirl]

No idea what his PR people were thinking allowing that to be recounted, but my bet is that if she'd said 'some white bloke, some traveller, some guy with a London accent' etc etc etc, he wouldn't have bothered to go out with a cosh hunting him or his kith down. There is an underlying racist tone to the whole thing, even if he does regret it (and I think if he doesn't now he will certainly come to as his career disappears down the drain, and it has a deep seated histo-social foundation too. You can see society's desire to 'protect' and withold white women from black men ( even in consenting terms never mind rape) all the way through art, politics, social under currant and language, so yeah I think it's racist. I think it's absolutely racist. I'm just not sure Liam Neesom thinks it is, or can even begin to understand why it is.

[Khandro]

M. //I don't think this is a career killer for him//

neither do I. The guy didn't actually DO anything; since when has
thinking something, even if it's bizarre, been a crime?

[spathiphyllum]

Calico " You can see society's desire to 'protect' and withold white women from black men"

Do you think? I'm not sure i see that, but rather the opposite in the modern day, but then again i've always been a part of, and involved with the counterculture of todays society.

[ummmm]

Why are people talking about his career? He's retirement age and I'm sure he's not relying on his UK pension.

[spathiphyllum]

rather than mainstream norms and projections.

[spathiphyllum]

Actors don't retire, they just mature like a fine wine.

[Calicogirl]

Exactly they just evolve into their next casting type if they're A list or fizzle out and end up doing panto in Scunthorpe if they're not.

[naomi24]

//my bet is that if she'd said 'some white bloke, some traveller, some guy with a London accent' etc etc etc, he wouldn't have bothered to go out with a cosh hunting him or his kith down.//

Unless you’re determined to look for racism, that shouldn’t be assumed. As he said "there's something primal when you become angry.”, so the chances are that whoever was responsible for the crime his urge for revenge would have surfaced.

[andy-hughes]

It appears that the interviewer caught Mr Neeson in a reflective and confessional mood, which I think he may now regret.

To drag up a past incident and make it a 'race issue', is to look for a problem where none actually exists - another product of social media self-inflicted outrage.

[murraymints]

Khandro there IS a difference between stupid and downright racist !

[murraymints]

his choice of words will damn him...

[Calicogirl]

Yes I agree Naomi the desire for revenge if someone hurts someone we love is sometimes overwhelming, but I think the racist angle comes into play because he wasn't targeting the perpetrator but rather the whole racial group of the perpetrator. He could have attacked a vicar or a drugs counsellor or a social worker or someone who counsels rape victims in targeting any black male, so that is why I think there is a 'learned racism' if you like as I'm sure Liam Neesom would regard himself as a racist, but when any f us are pushed to extremity our truest values rear their ugly heads and a lot of them just aren't pretty.

[Calicogirl]

'would NOT regard himself as a racist'- apologies it's early :(

[andy-hughes]

Calicogirl - // … but I think the racist angle comes into play because he wasn't targeting the perpetrator but rather the whole racial group of the perpetrator. //

This is an actor speaking rather too freely about an incident from his past, leading to thoughts of which he admits he is ashamed.

You can overthink and overanalyse these things - this was in the past, nothing is to be gained by fretting over it now.

[Mamyalynne]

I touched on the fact that rage/anger is illogical - we can try to psychoanalyse whether that means he has racist traits if we wish - but frankly that's not my game.

[murraymints]

Andy that's a bit naive....given the current "me too" mentality in his profession it WILL be jumped on even if it was in the past !!

[Calicogirl]

Yes but andy in the US any form of public racism, even regretted and recanted is the kiss of death in the film industry, and I personally think his whole team must be absolutely mad to have let this happen.