Charlton Heston, who died today, aged 83, was a great actor. No one will ever take that accolade away from him. He was a champion for civil rights before it was fashionable. No one can take that away from him either. And after the 2000 US Presidential campaign, it seems no one, not even Al gore was going to take that gun away from him either.
Charlton Heston leaves a mixed legacy. The amount of great films he has been involved with is endless. His acting style was undoubtedly brilliant. The longevity of his marriage – 64 years- within the craziness of Hollywood, is to be applauded. He saw acting as a job, not something that will get him invited to the swankiest events at the swankiest places, rubbing shoulders with fabulous people. He personified masculinity. He was a man’s man.
However, his political affiliations became more conservative as he got older, and he became a staunch republican, and the ‘man’s man’ started to flex more than just the muscles in his body. He will be remembered for many things, but unfortunately, he will be remembered for aggressively fighting for the rights of gun owners, even while massacres involving guns were happening, and still happen, throughout the United States.
Now I completely understand the right of the sport shooter who is not a psychopath, simply wanting to enjoy his or her sport. But Mr. Heston’s utter insensitivity in raising his gun above his head at the National Rifle Association’s 2000 convention, when crazed sickos are slaughtering hundreds of innocent people, shows that deep down he didn’t really care about controlled gun laws, and only played into the hands of rednecks. If he did care, he would have worked with government to come to some sort of healthy balance. Instead he went on the warpath against those who criticised him, and started to show a very scary conservative side. Quite a switch from the days when he opposed McCarthyism and racial segregation. In his later years, he opposed affirmative action, political correctness and went on to say that, “white pride is just as valid as black pride or red pride or anyone else’s pride.”
Some would say that we must be kind to Heston and celebrate all his achievements, which have been many. I agree. Some would also say we must be kind to the memory of the man, as he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease in his latter years. However, suffering from a disease does not get one off the hook for things they have said. Alzheimer’s or not, he was a strong man with strong views, and I am sure he himself would not have wanted them glossed over.
At least now we can take that gun from his ‘cold, dead hands’.
Enjoy your day.
