Monday, February 09, 2009

"What's my motivation?"

Apparently, for Val Kilmer, it's to be a dick.

Q: You understand how it feels to shoot someone as much as a person who has actually committed a murder?

A: I understand it more. It’s an actor’s job. A guy who’s lived through the horror of Vietnam has not spent his life preparing his mind for it. He’s some punk. Most guys were borderline criminal or poor, and that’s why they got sent to Vietnam. It was all the poor, wretched kids who got beat up by their dads, guys who didn’t get on the football team, couldn’t finagle a scholarship. They didn’t have the emotional equipment to handle that experience. But this is what an actor trains to do. I can more effectively represent that kid in Vietnam than a guy who was there.

I think he should train to effectively represent a guy getting the snot stomped out of him by a bunch of angry veterans.

Hopefully New Mexicans would never put a tool like that in the big chair in Santa Fe.

50 comments:

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

What a f*ckwad.

Of course, if they do put him in the big chair, they'll get the government they deserve.

Anonymous said...

Here's a nice chair.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Sparky

phlegmfatale said...

Thank goodness we have people in Hollywood to tell us what it's like to be alive.

atlharp said...

Well I think he has a point, but not concerning violence or combat. I would posit that you must be trained to endure his films like Batman Forever or Red Planet. I mean Your standard audience members bleeds from every orifice after watching that drivel. it would take an actor to endure that garbage and come away not babbling like Micheal Moore after an ether bender.

Jay G said...

Yeah, because I'd much rather run the risk of the Starbucks not getting my latté exactly right than stepping on an IED or having a sniper shoot me in the head.

Sweet Merciful Vishnu, don't these people ever stop to actually THINK before flapping their gums???

(Please note: Above question is purely rhetorical...)

Jay G said...

Dammit, I totally pooched that comment. It was supposed to read "I'd much rather run the risk of stepping on an IED or having a sniper shoot me in the head than Starbucks not getting my latté exactly right"...

Maybe I should get some coffee...

Tam said...

"Maybe I should get some coffee..."

Don't do it! It's too risky!

Earl said...

The Vietnam Veteran Myth - remains in the heads of the actors trying to make money from our shattered punk lives. And I lost my first response to this Val Kilmer fool, which is probably a sign from above to be a better person and return my blood pressure to normal - HIGH! If I weren't so terribly old and punkish I would beat him bloody for his whole fable about who fought and why.

wv ablest

Frank W. James said...

Earl: (If that quote is accurate and true)I hereby commit to being your back-up whatever your plans are for this self-important piece of garbage.

All The Best,
Frank W. James

Anonymous said...

That's King Dickhead to you and me. That's right, Val will be king of the Bacchus parade in NOLA on 2/22.

http://tinyurl.com/cvondd

I used to live there and wish I could be in attendance for that one. With hope and change sweeping the land and all, this would be a good opportunity to reverse the old Mardi Gras parade tradition. Instead of flipping beads and dubloons at the crowd, it seems like a perfect opportunity to fling some things at the king. I'm thinking a carton of eggs would do the trick.

"I'll throw you somethin' mistah!"

Robert Langham said...

He's pissed about not getting a part in Tropic Thunder.

My brother had a scholarship to Columbia, but enlisted in the 173rd Abn instead and served.

Owen said...

Val has been a joke around santa fe since he's been coked out for years. What an idiot. He's not getting my vote.

perlhaqr said...

I'm planning on running against him. Though, as usual, I expect the Libertarian candidate to fare poorly.

I suppose we can expect to see even more of the State's budget handed over to Hollywood if he's the governor though, so, uh, that's something to look forward to.

And, I see Blogger is having some difficulties with their Captcha system this morning.

Rich in Ohio said...

Pity. I used to like him. It appears he peaked with Tombstone.

Anonymous said...

He doesn't have a prayer, he started alienating his native New Mexican neighbors as soon as he bought his spread. Kilmer is definitely no huckleberry in the Pecos Valley.

Anonymous said...

That has to be one of the most arrogant statements I've ever read. Could he possibly believe what he just said? Does he really think he has the emotional equipment to handle the experience and that the poor, wretched kids that went over and served with honor didn't? On behalf of my late father, who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, I'd like to send this message to Val Kilmer:
Screw You!

El Capitan said...

When you're surrounded by people who kiss your backside & fawn over your most inane drivel for a couple of decades you might start to believe you actually have measurable intelligence instead of being a high school dropout with a pretty face.

For similar examples of Hollywood buffoonery, see Psychology expert Tom Cruise, or socio-economic guru Barbra Streisand, or even firearms scholar Rosie O'Donnell...

Tam said...

...and my personal favorite, biochemist Meryl Streep. She testified in front of Congress!

Ken said...

True, but in Meryl's case (I wish I could track down the quote), I have a hazy recollection of her saying in 1990 or '91 that she thought maybe NRDC sold her a bill of goods (or words to that effect) when they got her to front for Mothers & Others for Pesticide Limits. The usual caveat for faulty memory applies.

I've been 20 years in the ag trade press; my first day on the job was the day after the Alar story aired (and I hadn't watched 60 Minutes the night before. I remember walking through the door into an overturned beehive, thinking "What the heck have I got myself into?" :-)

Boyd said...

Let me get this straight: young Val was all of 15 years old when the US pulled out of Vietnam. And yet, he's more familiar with the composition of our force there than common sense or historical essays would dictate?

Yeah, NM. Make your choice.

the pawnbroker said...

where tf are those fully-functional, fully-loaded prop guns when you really need 'em?

jtc

staghounds said...

Speaking truth to power,
the party of tolerance strikes another blow against prejudice and stereotyping!

Even if he believes that, even if it were entirely true and factual, there are still some things that should not be said.

What a jackass.

Anonymous said...

Hopefully New Mexicans would never put a tool like that in the big chair in Santa Fe.

And even if some of the really stupid chunks do put that unsanitary bag of slippery and malodorous substances in after Gov. King Dick... er Richardson is finally gone, well... Los Alamos is the high ground, and ballistic trajectories are well understood equations. Just sayin'...

NotClauswitz said...

It's the same old Liberal canard, that only the poor and stupid go to fight while smarty-pants go to College instead - it wasn't true then and it's not true now, not any more true then Kerry's "Winter Soldier" crap and lies.

Anonymous said...

"Hopefully New Mexicans would never put a tool like that in the big chair in Santa Fe."

As a former resident of the Land of Entrapment, I'm not holding out hope. They make the residents of my home town of New Orleans seem open-minded about voting for Republicans...

Anonymous said...

Damn. After watching him in "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" I was kind of liking him again.

I guess I should lump his opinions in the same category as the guy who fixes my burrito.

"Entertain me. With extra onions. And shut up."

Canthros said...

While it's always disappointing to find that yet another celebrity has difficulty telling the difference between the outside world and the warm, dark interior of his rectum, I gave up worrying too much about the opinions of musicians, actors, journalists and other professional entertainers some time ago, at least in the general case.

(Likewise, while it's a pleasant surprise when a resident of Hollyweird turns out to be a conservative, Republican, or other sort of right-wing crazy, it rarely pays to make any sort of emotional investment in the decision.)

Broadsword said...

Someone I knew asked a Vietnam combat vet about the accuracy of the film Hamburger Hill. "Sure" he said, "Except you'd have to spray everybody with blood and shit, and turn the temperature up to 110 degrees", or words to that effect.

John Hardin said...

Why does the public persist in believing that a professional actor is able to meaningfully comment on any subject other than acting?

{sigh... deep breath... just enjoy Real Genius and Heat, and don't think about what he's doing in real life...}

Anonymous said...

He actually said that? It's not parody?

Wow.

"Entertain me. With extra onions. And shut up."

BryanP, I'm going to steal that.

Fenris said...

Thus contributing to my theory that enough time has passed for the majority of people to have never been smacked upside the head with harsh reality. Consequently, they lack the ability to comprehend, let alone form a frame of reference, and therefore believe the world to conform to the extent of their stunted experience. In essence, belief constitutes truth; imagination dictates reality.

It seriously scares me.

Anonymous said...

Every time I think some actor is about to peg the Narciss-o-meter, they step it up to the next range.

Assrot said...

It's a funny thing. I joined the Army knowing I would be sent to Vietnam. I love my country and at the time I cared about most of the people in the USA. I wanted to kick some commie ass.

My upbringing wasn't perfect but I'd bet it was a damn sight better than Val "The Root Smoocher" Kilmer's.

I was not a dopehead or a criminal and I finished high school.

I even went to college when I got out of the service after 2 tours of duty in Vietnam.

Funny thing. I have an Associate's Degree in Pre-Med, a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, a Master's Degree in Computer Engineering and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering.

I've taken standardized IQ tests every few years all my life and never scored below 145.

I guess since I'm not afraid to tell it like I see it and am somewhat of a social misfit, I still fit Val "The Cocksucker" Kilmer's" vision of a punk that is less of a soldier than he is.

I also played football all 4 years of high school and my entire college education was paid for by scholarships.

I wonder how many folks would rather have Val "The Fucking Crybaby" Kilmer defend them as opposed to me defending them?

What say you all?

Joe

Tam said...

"I wonder how many folks would rather have Val "The Fucking Crybaby" Kilmer defend them as opposed to me defending them?"

Hey, we could send him out in the first wave. Sort of a reverse reconnaissance-by-fire...

MedicMatthew said...

Wow, that even surpasses Tom Cruise's level of douchebaggery.

Anonymous said...

Someone please hit him with a liberal "so you advocate the appropriation of minority voices by privileged white men" argument? Please?

closed said...

Actors = trained monkeys.

They are there to entertain. What thoughts go through there little heads are not important, and are actually annoying. It's too bad the studios stopped using negative re-enforcement to curb their mouths ... allowing a monkey to fling poo into the audience is the sign of a poorly trained handler.

Anonymous said...

He understands better?? Sheesh, talk about hubris. Not to mention, the guys who fought in Vietnam were not the dregs of society. I have met far too many of them to believe that one. So Kilmer is a military historian, too?? Or is the "history" he studied the kind given out at Hollywood cocktail parties???

Old NFO said...

Assrot, I too played football, was in college and got drafted- went in the Navy, finished my degree on active duty, had a pretty successful life, if I do say so myself.

I think I'll serve as backup for Earl and Frank. Anytime you're ready guys...

Anonymous said...

If he can understand it more, then he is the most qualified person to go out into battle.

As a minesweeper. Fifty meters out front. And if he doesn't dance on the field to check for mines, shoot.

How incredibly far we've gone from actors who did their job and went home. Oh how I'd love to transport John Wayne to the present and put him in front of Val.

Adrian K said...

Bloody Hell.

I was barely walking when Saigon fell in April of 75.

Indeed, born just 31 days before Nixon resigned yet I have no doubts that I have a far better grasp of the wider SE Asia conflict than that particular asshat.

What's the deal with him anyway? It's not like he's even a mediocre actor, much less a good one.

Anonymous said...

"Hey, we could send him out in the first wave. Sort of a reverse reconnaissance-by-fire..."

...and make him take point. If he turns tail, our troops get to shoot him for trying to desert.

Anonymous said...

A new benchmark, there, my good man.

Congrats for providing one of the most self-illuminating remarks yet heard, from within the ranks of our foremost fantasy purveyors.


Now I want to go wash my eyes out after reading y'r remark. It feels like somebody shit in them.

John the Red

Julie said...

what an arrogant idiot! he's now on my boycott list ...

Tam said...

Yeah, this pretty much wins the Tooly McToolerson Award for Exceptional Toolishness.

Anonymous said...

My father-in-law is a Vietnam vet (US 9th ID, 1968 - 1970). He is a small businessman, family man, and was recently made a deacon in his church. Not exactly the sort of lowlife Kilmer seems to think the Vietnam vets were.

the pawnbroker said...

excuse me tam, but the toolie award for this year (and the decade) has already been claimed by...here's a hint:

"i'm not a real potus, but i play one on tv..."

poser extraordinaire, barryo.

jtc

Anonymous said...

I say we make him a Semi-Autonomous Biological IED Detector, First Class. Single Use.

We could get him a spiffy uniform and everything and a nice flag for his burial.

Anonymous said...

I truly don't understand why anyone really gives a damn what some overpaid blowhard with an entirely overinflated ego has to say?

I just rolled my eyes when I read that. He can claim to "represent them better" but over in Vietnam, there wasn't a director to yell "CUT!", there weren't any yes-men to pamper them after a 'scene,' and finally, nobody was firing blanks.

Anonymous said...

This word "Spartan."
I do not think it means what you think it means...