Who knew the most controversial subject on a random day in 2019 would be John Wayne?
The True Grit star was known in the industry for being a jerk even back when he was the biggest movie star on the planet, but for the most part people only remember the films which live on years after his death.
That’s why some folks on Twitter were shocked to see some truly deplorable quotes, not from behind closed doors, but from a published interview in Playboy magazine.
Video: Trevor Noah’s Thoughtful Take On Liam Neeson
Even for the sensibilities of 1971 they’re pretty gross, but for 2019? Yeesh!
Wayne said in response to a question about racial discrimination:
“With a lot of blacks, there’s quite a bit of resentment along with their dissent, and possibly rightfully so. But we can’t all of a sudden get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks. I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don’t believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgement to irresponsible people.”
Whoa! It is one thing to use insensitive terminology which eventually was seen for its offensiveness. This ain’t that. He totally said he believed in “white supremacy” because he thought black people weren’t educated enough. Damn.
Lest you think he misspoke, he confirmed when pressed on the issue:
“The academic community has developed certain tests that determine whether blacks are sufficiently equipped scholastically. But some blacks have tried to force the issue and enter college when they haven’t passed the tests and don’t have the requisite background.”
Wow. Ick. And when he spoke about films he considered “perverted” he had a charmingly homophobic answer for what he meant:
“Oh, Easy Rider, Midnight Cowboy, that kind of thing. Wouldn’t you say that the wonderful love of those two men in Midnight Cowboy, a story about two f**s, qualifies?”
However, he sad he firmly believed “healthy, lusty sex” between a man and a woman should definitely be in movies.
Yeesh.
Well, they don’t make movie idols like they used to. Thank goodness.
The reaction to the unearthed quotes is actually pretty inneresting. Obviously there were those whose minds were blown…
Jesus fuck, John Wayne was a straight up piece of shit
(Playboy interview, May 1971) pic.twitter.com/okfG1iZb0U
— Matt Williams #BlackLivesMatter (@pixelpreaching) February 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/MannyMontana/status/1097871464282214405
And we have an airport named after him and I fly out of it all the time. As a “fag”, as John Wayne puts it, This is how I know the gods truly hate us.
— Alex Limos (@Alex_L_92806) February 20, 2019
But they soon became surpassed by folks who already knew — and found the whole thing hilarious!
https://twitter.com/RonFunches/status/1097907106185764865
::confusion:: My parents told me John Wayne was racist trash when I was a kid. Elvis too. It's not new news.
— N. K. Jemisin (@nkjemisin) February 19, 2019
"Muthafuck him and John Wayne"- Public Enemy https://t.co/DtYaiXs36B
— #PriscillaSlater Died In Police Custody (@FeministaJones) February 19, 2019
This John Wayne thing is funny. We go one day without having someone to cancel and twitter is like "let's go to the archives."
— Robby Slowik (@RobbySlowik) February 19, 2019
And of course right wingers defending him…
But you know what? Screw their tweets. Imagine the worst. Sprinkle the word “snowflake” and add threats of violence. You got it.
Anyway…
Did YOU know how gross John Wayne was??
[Image via Paramount/WENN.]
Related Posts
