How Clint Eastwood Didn't Make My Day

by Madeleine Kando

First off, I have to confess that I have always been a Clint Eastwood fan. His spaghetti westerns are my all-time late-night favorites. How can anyone not fall head over heels with his 5'oclock shadow under his broad rimmed cowboy hat? The mix of indifference and concern in his crow-feet lined eyes? His tall frame with a hint of a stoop which makes his masculine body even more attractive? As I was watching my idol deliver his speech at the Republican Convention yesterday, all of this vanished in a puff of smoke. It was replaced with a sense of complete befuddlement.

My first impression was that Eastwood had had one too many before he climbed on the podium. He slurred his words, interrupted himself for no apparent reason and seemed to be talking to someone that only he was able to see. Then, I realized that everything he was doing was rehearsed to a T, albeit not necessarily to the liking of his sponsors. The sole purpose of his speech was to bash Obama. Isn't it wonderful when you bash someone else? You don't have to come up with any ideas or vision of your own, just bash the other guy and the crowd goes mad.

I was hoping to find a rational explanation for why this intelligent, talented, handsome man was speaking on behalf of the biggest idiot this century has produced, and why he had degraded himself to the level of a buffoon.

As Clint Eastwood was 'crying' for the millions of unemployed, as he was bashing Obama for not bringing home our troops, for not closing Guantanamo Bay Prison and for being a lawyer and trying to, oh what sin, weigh both sides of an argument, I kept wondering what had made my hero turn into such an old, bumbling, empty windbag.

At the end of his speech I relished the thought that not only was this former admirer disgusted with his performance, yes it WAS a performance, not a speech, but that he had taken all of the much needed attention away from Romney himself.

Icons of the silver screen should respect their boundaries. This one had been given the opportunity to step away from being a good actor, a good director and had bungled big time. It still amazes me how fame, glory and money can inflate someone's ego to the point where they are only aware of their own importance. God forbid Eastwood should look at the real world, the world outside of Hollywood that most of us live in. Now THAT would make my day. leave comment here