"What color is the guy? I'm gonna go kill the first black person I see." sounds like a total regular ass thought. Are you serious with this shit?
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Liam Neeson's real-life rape/revenge tale (See Staff Post)
- Thread starter Jeremy
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*coffee hits*
Wait wait wait wait wait HOLD FUCKING EVERYTHING
Dude was prepared to just dent in the skull of the first black person he could find out on the streets because a woman he knew was raped and he says metoo is over the top?
EDIT: revised to be more accurate on the form of violence that asshole intended
So it's like he never addresses it because he thinks it's okay or at least not important?
I'm glad i'm not regular enough to want to beat someone to a pulp just because they happen to share a skin color of a bad person.
No way you can defend that kind of thinking, however we don't know his state of mind back then. Someone he loved was raped and he didn't know how to handle it, thankfully he understood he was doing a terrible thing, and did not hurt anyone.
That doesn't excuse he had obvious racist views back then, because he targeted an innocent Black person out of revenge. I can only hope he understood that and changed his views.
That doesn't excuse he had obvious racist views back then, because he targeted an innocent Black person out of revenge. I can only hope he understood that and changed his views.
come on man, dont compare actually looking for someone to beat up, to twitter bad jokes
He makes it sound like the only reason he didn't murder a random black person is because nobody gave him an excuse to. And the moral of his story is "it's really cool in my movies, but revenge is bad". I don't think you get to tell the people who don't see this as a redemption arc that they can't tell reality apart from fiction.
I would consider planning and conspiracy to murder more than a "mistake".
but he wasn't trying to fuck up "anything and everything" he targeted a very specific group of people based on one thing only. I'd not call this normal thoughts and if you think this way that's scary.
I believe this still all falls under revenge fantasy, he was looking for someone who looked similar enough so he can visualize his revenge through murder, this is psychotic and dangerous and I would suggest he'd get a mental evaluation at this moment
gonna call this out, but you know what, you're 100% right these are regular ass thoughts to a whole lot of folk.
I can understand wanting to kill somebody. Its the just for being black part that gets me. Like... what?
I don't know why some people are so concerned about PR. While this is a very concerning topic that needs a more appropriate time and place, I'm fucking sick of fake whitewashed prepared PR statements. I'd much rather celebrities give their raw thoughts, and then leave it to us to judge, discuss, and (hopefully) help rehabilitate and gain some insight from.
That said, it's awful that he had those racist thoughts in the first place. It's those impulses, however brief or small, that leads to lives being lost and people being hurt. I'm not going to applaud him for something that should seem ethically obvious, and the onus should NEVER be on the people who's race is affected to "accept" it. But this is something is absolutely that needs to be discussed, because I guarantee you that Liam's past mentality (with less extremes, obviously) is something that plagues at least 90 percent of people; from hardcore racists like the kkk, to the "I'm not racist but" crowd, to even harmful passing thoughts from people who are socially leftwing. While I'm glad that he at least seems remorseful and disgusted at how he acted, now that this can of worms has been unleashed, this needs to go beyond personal therapy and more directly address others who have these same thoughts. There's absolutely room here for a leeeengthy discussion about how we as people should better how we process these feelings and catch ourselves from generalizing entire races and resorting to random acts of violence. I hope Liam continues to receive the help he needs (the fact that this is still bothering him tells me that he isn't complete "over it" yet, even if the racist thoughts have seemingly subsided), I hope he's able to take the more thoughtful comments constructively, and I hope he's able to at least give a net positive contribution to this topic after further sit downs.
That said, it's awful that he had those racist thoughts in the first place. It's those impulses, however brief or small, that leads to lives being lost and people being hurt. I'm not going to applaud him for something that should seem ethically obvious, and the onus should NEVER be on the people who's race is affected to "accept" it. But this is something is absolutely that needs to be discussed, because I guarantee you that Liam's past mentality (with less extremes, obviously) is something that plagues at least 90 percent of people; from hardcore racists like the kkk, to the "I'm not racist but" crowd, to even harmful passing thoughts from people who are socially leftwing. While I'm glad that he at least seems remorseful and disgusted at how he acted, now that this can of worms has been unleashed, this needs to go beyond personal therapy and more directly address others who have these same thoughts. There's absolutely room here for a leeeengthy discussion about how we as people should better how we process these feelings and catch ourselves from generalizing entire races and resorting to random acts of violence. I hope Liam continues to receive the help he needs (the fact that this is still bothering him tells me that he isn't complete "over it" yet, even if the racist thoughts have seemingly subsided), I hope he's able to take the more thoughtful comments constructively, and I hope he's able to at least give a net positive contribution to this topic after further sit downs.
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Making inappropriate jokes on twitter is the same as trying to murder people because of the colour of their skin.
I thin the problem is not even if he changed or not actually, but the fact that he can think "let's tell that story in a movie interview" without immediately realizing it could be a HUUUGE problem, means.. he's still not completely aware of how bad that was.. That's the worrying part here i think.
Let me take an other exemple. If it happened, He would probably not say something like "ha when i was 20 i wanted to rape a 12yo kid but then now i think that was bad so it's ok" Nobody would say something like that or nobody would never want to talk to you or work with you anymore, of course.
But in comparison, saying, I wanted to kill a black guy cause a black guy raped someone i loved" is something he thinks is not that bad that he should absolutely not tell anyone ever in his line of work. hm..
Let me take an other exemple. If it happened, He would probably not say something like "ha when i was 20 i wanted to rape a 12yo kid but then now i think that was bad so it's ok" Nobody would say something like that or nobody would never want to talk to you or work with you anymore, of course.
But in comparison, saying, I wanted to kill a black guy cause a black guy raped someone i loved" is something he thinks is not that bad that he should absolutely not tell anyone ever in his line of work. hm..
"I was raped"
"Please tell me it was a n-word"
Is how it comes across when skin colour is the first and only level of investigation you do into the perpetrator. Sounds like he got the nod, grabbed the bat and went out hunting for a black person to beat to death. Still lucid enough to know that he'd need the black person to provoke him first mind.
I can get it being decades ago and people can change but how are you going to look down on people still judging him for that shit, particularly those that were the target of his wanton rage.
"Please tell me it was a n-word"
Is how it comes across when skin colour is the first and only level of investigation you do into the perpetrator. Sounds like he got the nod, grabbed the bat and went out hunting for a black person to beat to death. Still lucid enough to know that he'd need the black person to provoke him first mind.
I can get it being decades ago and people can change but how are you going to look down on people still judging him for that shit, particularly those that were the target of his wanton rage.
If it's a white guy in both scenarios, everything is equivalent. What really is an attempt at lynching in the grand scheme of things, really?
Neeson should clarify his thoughts further. You cannot drop something like this in a press junket. Its obviously bothered him and his psyche to this day, and he seems remorseful of actions he did.
I do think he needs to release a statement and clarify. Some people change from being shitbags. It's rare but it happens. But the on us is on them to show us how and why.
I do think he needs to release a statement and clarify. Some people change from being shitbags. It's rare but it happens. But the on us is on them to show us how and why.
Yeah I guess you make a good point. It's problematic he never addressed this in the interview and now I guess at best we will get a less authentic generic statement from him about how his mind was in a dark place and the colour of the perpetrators skin wasn't a factor in his hatred.
I still don't think it's a case of once a racist always a racist though and will wait to see his next statement is like before labelling him an abhorrent racist.
I'm glad you learned a valuable lesson. Making shitty jokes is not the same as walking down the street wanting to murder someone because of the color of their skin, for a week.
Exactly. The fact that it's all spoken about in such a casual setting to promote a fucking movie says it all.
Let's gloss over the fact that you had this hatred of black people so intense that not only was that the first thing you asked when your friend was raped but that you went stomping around in a rage for a full week looking for a random black man to beat to death. Back to the movie talk!
The fact is that people don't care about black lives. At least not as much as they care about their favorite white celebrities or their Hollywood movies.
Not to diminish the black aspect of this but I can certainly understand the mindset of "someone fits the profile of someone that hurt someone I care about".
I don't think Neeson shares this if he is not genuinely remorseful about every aspect of it. He can be judged for that sort of logic even entering his mind, without question. Ultimately, only he is the one that knows how his thought process worked, the way he recounted it certainly didn't alleviate any racism concerns.
I don't think Neeson shares this if he is not genuinely remorseful about every aspect of it. He can be judged for that sort of logic even entering his mind, without question. Ultimately, only he is the one that knows how his thought process worked, the way he recounted it certainly didn't alleviate any racism concerns.
I don't know what "coffee hits" means, but I otherwise had the same thoughts. How in the fuck?
I wonder why he thought it was a good idea to share that story in the press tour to promote his action movie
Also worth bearing in mind is that while he brings up the context of the Troubles to explain why that idea of revenge was normalised to him, he doesn't actually specify when the attack occurred - and thus, implicitly, how far removed it is from him as a person; inversely, what level of stardom he had to potentially back him up. There is no indication if this took place in the late 70 after coming back from Uni, or the late 90s after coming back from Star Wars - merely that it had happened after he 'returned from overseas'.
What? People are assaulted everyday and their family and friends don't arbitrarily start hunting anyone that might share one physical trait with the assailant. And that's ignoring the racial component because something tells that had she mentioned the assailant had blonde hair, looked average height, or wore glasses Neeson wouldn't have done shit
What do you think his response would have been if she had told him a white guy raped her?
Liam.
Dude.
Like.
Sometimes we become better people and it's not necessary to broadcast it to the world.
Dude.
Like.
Sometimes we become better people and it's not necessary to broadcast it to the world.
Wanting to kill the first black person you see != making dumbass tweets
This is what I am thinking.
According to Era, no one is allowed to grow. No one is allowed to become a better person over the years.
Y'all know you're casting stones in glass houses. Your judgement has not been infallible. Maybe you never wanted to go on a racist, murderous rampage but I bet there's shit you aren't proud of.
Maybe Liam thinks that by recounting this tale he can have a postive impact on other misguided people.
Oh I mean it's a monday morning and I'm finally awake so now it's time to bite down
This is an awful attempt to make light of the situation so I guess by your standards it's time to throw you in jail for murder conspiracy
If Neeson were genuinely remorseful about this I don't think he would talk about it at all.
Just imagine if he had gotten what he wanted. Then not only does his loved one have the trauma of rape to overcome, but the guilt of an innocent man's murder being done because she told the wrong person about the crime done to her.
Anyone saying they understand murderous rage under the circumstances, think about the secondary effects of your bullshit.
Anyone saying they understand murderous rage under the circumstances, think about the secondary effects of your bullshit.
Woop-de-doo, Liam didn't murder a black person 40 years ago. He's soooooo nice.
Should we bake him a cake?
Yeah, idk. It really says something about privilege that you can just drop this shit off the cuff in a press junket and everyone will pat you on the back. Such growth. And it's February.
And his explanation started with a version of that society meme.
I do like that he's bringing attention to the darker parts of people's hearts, and calling attention to how quickly racist thoughts can develop for people. But I don't think this was the venue. I do wish that his change wasn't only implied and that he'd explain how he feels about race relations now. And maybe he could recognize that not everyone gets racist urges from life-shattering events.
And his explanation started with a version of that society meme.
I do like that he's bringing attention to the darker parts of people's hearts, and calling attention to how quickly racist thoughts can develop for people. But I don't think this was the venue. I do wish that his change wasn't only implied and that he'd explain how he feels about race relations now. And maybe he could recognize that not everyone gets racist urges from life-shattering events.
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You know there's a reason the site you're posting on isn't neogaf right
He's shown no proof of change though.
Y'all are real quick to dismiss his failed attempt at lynching a black person.
There's nothing fucking glass about my house. Wanting to hunt down a random black person isn't some childhood mistake that everyone makes. What's convinced you he's changed or grown? Because he says he has?
I mean, what the fuck can you even say to this?
I know I'd stay the fuck away from anyone sharing such a story.
And really, if he moved past it or not, his reaction was fucking reprehensible.
If he knew who the guy was and went after him ready to kill for a week, then maybe I could muster some understanding, but to go: OK I'm going to kill the next Black guy that looks at me funny, because a friend was raped by someone with the same skin colour. Piss the fuck off.
I know I'd stay the fuck away from anyone sharing such a story.
And really, if he moved past it or not, his reaction was fucking reprehensible.
If he knew who the guy was and went after him ready to kill for a week, then maybe I could muster some understanding, but to go: OK I'm going to kill the next Black guy that looks at me funny, because a friend was raped by someone with the same skin colour. Piss the fuck off.
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