Let's Spend A Little More Time Leaving Everybody Alone: Clint Eastwood and Me

Although I have only a vague memory of it, it might be first time to see Clint Eastwood in the movie "For A Few Dollars More," when I was a small child. At that time cheap Spaghetti Western movies were broadcasted on TV in Japan again and again, and I was crazy about Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef.

And then I've watched "Dirty Harry" so many times on TV. The first his movie I watched in a theater was "Escape from Alcatraz", when I went to Junior high school.

I have been a big fan of Clint Eastwood almost for forty years. After "Dirty Harry", constantly he made good movies, for example "The Gauntlet," "Pale Rider," and "Bird", though, he was considered as a second grade action star.

After he won the Academy Award for "Unforgiven," suddenly he became considered as one of masters. Of course I was glad, but at the same time I thought that he hadn't changed at all. I love his Western movie "Pale Rider" much more than the Academy Award winning "Unforgiven." Before "Unforgiven", he made many good movies, and after it, he continued to make good movies.

His latest movie "J. Edgar" wasn't successful, but I think that it is much better than most critics said it was.

I read an interview about "J. Edgar" on the GQmagazine, and he talked about business and movies as follows.

GQ: Speaking of business, the movie kind: One thing you've both seen grow is a public obsession with box office. By Sunday afternoon, everybody knows how everything did. These days, when you have a flop, does it hurt more to have it—

Clint Eastwood: —broadcast all over the place? You know, it's really crappy. If it doesn't do well that first weekend, screw it. But you make a film to make a really good film, and if people don't embrace it, there's nothing you can do. You've always gotta remember that a lot of great movies didn't do anything. Everybody would like to have the business that some of these turkeys do, but would you be proud to have your name on them? Not particularly. Would you love to have the bank account? Sure. I made a good living. But that was just lucky. If I'd made a mediocre living, I would have felt the same way.

As Clint Eastwood said, I guess that he "loves to have the bank account" but he purely "makes a film to make a really good film." I believe that "J. Edgar" will receive a higher reputation than it receives now.

Edgar Hoover was a gay, so Clint Eastwood talked about gay marriage in this interview. I completely agreed with what he said.

GQ: You've described yourself as a social libertarian. What does that mean to you?

Clint Eastwood: I was an Eisenhower Republican when I started out at 21, because he promised to get us out of the Korean War. And over the years, I realized there was a Republican philosophy that I liked. And then they lost it. And libertarians had more of it. Because what I really believe is, Let's spend a little more time leaving everybody alone. These people who are making a big deal out of gay marriage? I don't give a fuck about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?! We're making a big deal out of things we shouldn't be making a deal out of.

Yes! Anybody should get married to anybody who they want to get married to. That's it!

I, myself, am a libertarian. I learned everything from his movies.