Yesterday we heard Matt Damon, who is currently in Australia promoting Jason Bourne, praise their mid 90s gun control measures and government gun buyback program, which effectively eliminated mass shootings in that country. Damon wishes we could implement similar gun control measures in America, as do so many people. I’ve been hearing about Australia’s gun control measures and am glad that Damon brought more awareness to that model. As you know, Damon has rarely minced words when it comes to politics. He was one of the first celebrities to openly criticize then Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and he really called it accurately but it was too early for people to accept. Now Damon has some choice words about Donald Trump except it’s pretty much what a lot of people have been saying about him for months. Here’s what he said in a recent interview in Australia. You can watch the full interview here, it’s 18 minutes long and he has a good rapport with Alicia Vikander, but you can tell they’re not close. At one point he made a reference to the fact that she’s replacing Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider, although “Angie’s younger than I am.”
How does Ben Affleck keep you grounded?
It was like winning the lottery with your friend at the same time.Do you ever get hassled by other parents [for being famous]?
No, especially in LA you throw a rock and you hit another celebrity… they’re pretty cool.You are incredibly buff in this movie. Is it harder now to get in shape?
It’s brutal and it’s no way to live so I’m saying to all my 45 year-old guys out there, it’s not worth it. You deprive yourself of anything you really want to eat or drink and go to the gym all day long every day. It’s very different from being in my 20s.Is this one of your favorite movies?
Yes, just personally the impact it had on my life and my career, it changed everything for me. Before I did the first one of these… nobody thought of me as an action person. The fact that Doug [Liman] took a chance on me and gave me this part, it really changed the trajectory of my career.You are Jason Bourne we’re glad you’re back
Until they revamp it with some young guy. That’s what they do. Look here comes Tomb Raider [gestures to Vikander], Angie’s younger than I am. I’m at peace with it.Is there any possibility that Trump could get in in November? What is going on in America?
Nate Silver’s website has it at 20% chances, which is frighteningly high. I just don’t feel like he has the temperament, not even close to the temperament necessary to have that amount of power he’s just too petty and thin skinned. These are very scary times and there’s this kind of understandable retreat into nativism and isolationism and people are upset and feeling that the economy is not working for them. But, to protest by electing him I think would be a disaster. But that’s just – that’s my opinion.Romney had about 62 million votes I think and lost in 2012. I think Trump’s got about 13 million in this primary. I don’t know where the other 50 million votes are going to come from. That’s a lot of people pushing the self destruct button.
Interviewer mentioned Brexit and how worrying it is worldwide
It looks the most like the history that I’ve read about of any time that I’ve been alive for. It looks like we’re 80 years in the past.
[From Sunrise Live via The Daily Mail]
I check Nate Silver’s website, FiveThirtyEight, all the time for the Presidential projections but I take some comfort in the fact that Hillary is winning in a landslide instead of finding it scary like Damon. However Brexit brings it home just how close Trump is to the Presidency, and what a disaster that would be for the country, the world and even the people who will vote for Trump. Let’s just examine Trump in terms of the things Damon is criticizing him for – being petty and thin-skinned. (That’s not even considering his racist disaster of a platform.) He’s already banned most foreign press from his rallies, he also decided to ban The Washington Post for daring to cover him critically. He routinely launches personal attacks against anyone who dares criticize him, and his official Twitter account recently posted an arguably anti-Semitic image of Hillary using a Star of David. His campaign’s social media director defended that, claimed was just a “sheriff’s” star, and went on to state that he can’t be anti-Semitic because his wife’s family is Jewish. He also claims to have lifted the image from an anti-Hillary Twitter account when it’s since been sourced to a white supremacist message board. These are the kind of people Trump has working for him, but worse than that we already know what kind of person Trump is, what kind of laws he would try to enact, and how he would handle diplomacy – by telling other countries to eff off. It’s like a bad dream.
Petty and thin skinned is spot on.
Yes, “petty and thin-skinned” is right, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg. More important would be: racist, sexist, jingoistic, shockingly hypocritical, dizzyingly ignorant of international concerns, cruel to people with disabilities, dishonest in the extreme, cozies up to white supremacists, encourages violence against protestors at his rallies…there’s way too much to itemize, and “petty and thin-skinned” is nothing compared to the rest.
How can skin that thin, still look like old luggage. 😐
“Pushing the self-destruct button”, that’s spot on. Random point Alicia has a new haircut, it’s cute.
Damon is right. I like everything he’s been saying lately. He doesn’t resort to mansplaining, which is nice. And I also take more comfort in the projections than alarm. For now, anyway.
In general I do not value what celebrities have to say about politics or other issues – but I make an exception for Matt Damon. Dude is smart and well informed.
Yes he’s much smarter than Team America would have you believe
I still say his name like they do in the movie – can’t help myself!
But Bush was a two term president and he was a moron.
I heard Matt Damon criticising America’s gun laws a couple of days ago and then today I saw a giant picture off him, on the side of bus, pointing a gun. It was in an advertisement for the new Bourne film. It felt wrong.
He’s in a movie, an action thriller, a fantasy. The UK has made movies that are thrillers, yet they have very strict gun laws. People know the difference between a thriller action movie and real life as far as gun control.
They aren’t the people you need to worry about.
@True enough, Dangles.
Yeah, except, no. Look at the research into violent media. Violent media absolutely does contribute to desensitization to violence and may contribute to the normalization of it. I see no reason why celebrities who take part in violent media shouldn’t be called on the carpet for it.
@Sam, who wrote: “Yeah, except, no. Look at the research into violent media. Violent media absolutely does contribute to desensitization to violence and may contribute to the normalization of it. I see no reason why celebrities who take part in violent media shouldn’t be called on the carpet for it.”
Then people should call out ‘all’ celebrities and not just the ones they don’t like, especially if they use “a study on violent media” as an excuse to do so. You can’t call out Matt Damon without calling out Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Jeremy Renner, Robert De Niro, Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Michelle Rodriquez, Clint Eastwood, J.J. Abrams, Christopher Nolan, Leo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Justin Theroux … oh heck, 99% of the Film Industry. All the people writing the scripts, editing the scripts, etc. Not to mention all of the authors writing suspense novels, mysteries, sword and dagger fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien, and a host of classic novels.
Jayna is right … what Matt Damon does on screen is make believe, and the vast majority of people ‘do’ know the difference. If you ‘Blacklist’ actors/actresses, writers, etc. who portray characters that use guns on screen or stage and oppose/speak out against the use of guns in their ‘real’ lives then you’ll have to call out all of the actors/actresses who portray pimps and prostitutes, drug addicts, sexual deviates, alcoholics, smokers, and physical or sexual abusers because I can promise you that most of the actors/actresses portraying ‘those’ characters on screen or stage oppose and speak out against those actions in their private lives as well.
Bush was a 2-term president because a) the first term was obtained for him by a giant party apparatus, from dynastic power to Fox News (and other media complicity) to the Supreme Court vote and b) power of incumbency/fear of change in time of turmoil (turmoil created in large part by his presidency, so go figure).
But we still have to fear DT and not only Election Day but who and what he will get worked up between now and Election Day.
Love Matt in this interview.
You were supposed to.
@Jayna …
Me too! 🙂
He has matured into quite a man from the baby-faced boy he was in the 1990’s.
The most valid criticism I’ve heard so far.
I like what Matty D. said about reboots as well. The most useless reboot in recent years, in my opinion, is the “Spiderman” reboot(s). What is up with that? It was way too soon for the first reboot, and now they’re about to do another one. Sad.
And yes, Trump is a petty, thinned-skinned egomaniac with Daddy issues. He is really someone who shouldn’t have his finger on the red button.
The spiderman reboot is about studio’s contract with Marvel. Or rather, not wanting to give it back to Marvel whilst they can still make money off it.
Contractually, as long as they reboot within a particular time-frame of the previous film, they keep hold of the franchise. If they don’t, it nullifies the contract and goes back to Marvel. I wouldn’t be surprised if Batman studio has a similar contract with whoever owns the original IP hence the reboots.
IIRC, the same studio that has Spiderman also has Fantastic 4 under the same conditions and consequently reboots are inevitable.
@LAK
I did not know that. Interesting…. Though sucks for us. If only super hero fan boys/girls stopped paying their hard earned money to watch the same rubbish again, my goodness, that would be a lot of good money spent on different kinds of interesting films from other genres as well as from different perspectives. It’s what we need.
I personally am bored of watching this sci-fi/action theme come around every holiday season. And they take over mostly all screens. Ugh.
I watched the video of Hillary and Obama campaigning together last night. It was awesome. Obama’s speech was electrifying and got people so pumped for Hillary. He is an amazing orator. And they got some great digs in at Trump.
no mention of the open letter to Drumpf’s son-in-law from a Jewish writer for his publication, The Observer?
she ripped him pretty nicely.
hope the link is ok.
http://observer.com/2016/07/an-open-letter-to-jared-kushner-from-one-of-your-jewish-employees/
Thanks for the link, doofus. Good for Dana Schwartz . She (I assume Dana’s a woman) was on point in her arguments against Trump and his anti-semitic rhetoric. I wonder if Jared Kushner has the balls to answer that open letter, either publically or privately, or if Dana will lose her job over this. I hope Dana stays safe and keeps the Observer’s reader informed of the outcome of this issue.
I know we talk about how complicated family loyalties can be but when your father-in-law is a bigoted ignoramus who is already tearing the country apart, how can you as a moral creature and patriot stand by his side?
Not only stand by his side but the press is reporting that Jared Kushner is the gatekeeper for the campaign. Yup all roads lead to Jared. I hope he can sleep at night.
Brrr. The problem with unscrupulous power-hungry people is that they can do these things and still sleep at night. It’s the scrupulous who toss and turn.
Brexit is obviously about another country and its issues but … the thing it has hopefully taught some people (especially young voters who didn’t bother) is that they actually need to vote. There’s nothing more scary than complacency. Nobody should assume Trump will lose, especially when his followers seem motivated – that’s a dangerous way of thinking.
Um well Bremain was ahead in the polls until the exit polls came back so you never know. As an American I’m fully aware of how stupid people here can be. So yea like Damon I’m worried
And not only that but he’s up against a candidate who has significant shortcomings in the public eye — many who vote for her will vote knowing that, and in hope that voting for the straight ticket will work downstream and restore some semblance of decency and productivity to Congress, as well as enable sounder choices for the Supreme Court. Those things make it worthwhile.
Even if Trump does nothing but sit on his butt and sign the bills the Republican-controlled congress puts on his desk his presidency will be a disaster. The right has been chafing for over 50 years now to kill Medicare, Social Security and recently, the Affordable Care Act. A complete and utter disaster.
Now that I live in Canada being an American, we are like 20+ years behind other countries with rights and social issues/policies. It is very, very sad.
Hi Andrea, another American-Canadian here. USA could be ahead or at least up to date with a complete overhaul of political leadership. Yet too many Americans are afraid of things that are absolutely normal in many other countries that have not done anything to harm democracy, rights or freedoms.
not only “not harm”, but actually IMPROVE.
Nate Silver is so sexy. Numbers, umph.
At first I read this as ‘he is just too pretty’, and I was like, whaaaaaat…?
I’m glad I’m not the only one who read that at first.
This Wimpy matt Damon is doing all this make believe shit in the movies who cares what he thinks America should do with our guns to protect our family’s all of us do not have big body guards protecting us I served in a special unit in the navy I whish he would try it with me I would watch him begging to go home he is just another rich pussy celebrity if he hates guns why does he make his living shooting and killing let him go over seas and fight for real with all the people that are trying to kill Americans I say boycott matts movies . I would love to see him working at mickey dees
@Odell, who wrote: “This Wimpy matt Damon is doing all this make believe shit in the movies who cares what he thinks America should do with our guns to protect our family’s all of us do not have big body guards protecting us … ‘
We have an armed Militia to protect our families in the United States … they’re locally called ‘Police’ and are State/Nation-wide known as the ‘National Guard.’ So is (as I suspect) that’s what the Founding Fathers meant by a ‘Well Armed Militia,’ we’re good.
Trump and the truth have never met.