Sunday, April 06, 2008

R.I.P. Charlton Heston

Cheston has left the building. Does this mean we can pry the gun from his cold dead fingers now?

I don't know about you, but I like the Omega Man Chuck Heston the best. Kicking it in the velour track suit, chest hair flowing, rocking the sub-machine gun, blasting zombies and playing chess against the bust of Napoleon with a sifter of cognac. That's unfiltered awesome.

Yep, Heston and guns are as inextricably linked as ... uh, Heston and apes. Unfortunately, my most vivid memory of Heston the NRA guy is that whole scene with him at the end of Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. I thought Moore made an interesting and compelling argument about the detrimental impact of guns in American society, and then blew it at the end of the movie with his unfair ambush interview of Heston. You may not agree with Heston's views on guns, but the man was obviously not at the top of his game mentally and the "interview" was, I thought, unfair and disrespectful.

Sorry about that Cheston, you deserved better. Still, thanks for defending us from zombies, apes, pharaohs and centurions. I am forever grateful for that. Rest in peace, man.

2 comments:

Bret Starr said...

Soylent green is people. It's people.

The Whited Sepulchre said...

All the other great films aside, my favorite Heston role was in Wayne's World 2.
Wayne goes into a garage and the actor playing "the mechanic" is an obvious amateur. Wayne breaks character, asks the director (and audience) for a better actor in the role.
Heston immediately steps into view, wearing the same clothing as the mechanic, and emotes all over the screen.
Freakin' hilarious.
Heston also supported Civil Rights long before it was fashionable. I believe you can tell how deeply a celebrity believes in his/her causes by the amount of career flak they catch for supporting that cause. Heston was willing to take it.
R.I.P.