Why I Don't Like Jodie Foster

I've never been a fan of Jodie Foster. Fine, I know she's supposed to be the thinking man's sex symbol. You know, because she's clearly intelligent, has real acting skills, is plain but beautiful - meaning that any guy who wants to seem sensitive-but-still-not-gay can claim he's into her for who she is (as if he knows). But she doesn't "do it" for me.

I don't even like her as an actress much. That's a personal preference, by the way. I get that she has an impressive resume with a couple of well-deserved Oscars under her belt (not that I've seen The Accused, but I had no objections to her win for Silence of the Lambs). But something about her mannerisms and typical choices of role really annoys me, and so I generally steer clear of her movies unless they come highly recommended.

Here's a bit of vindication for my impression. From an interview with Entertainment Weekly ahead of the release of her latest film The Brave One:

Here's my commentary: I don't believe that any gun should be in the hand of a thinking, feeling, breathing human being. Americans are by nature filled with rage-slash-fear. And guns are a huge part of our culture. I know I'm crazy because I'm only supposed to say that in Europe. But violence corrupts absolutely.

Brilliant! So it's fine for unthinking, unfeeling people to have guns, apparently - just so long as no one with a conscience or sense of purpose gets one?

And then there's more of the standard ignorant crap about how violent Americans are supposed to be. I'm getting really tired of this line. Partly I'm sick of it for the simple factual reason that Europe is now overtaking America on most indicators of violent crime save murder - so what used to be true just isn't anymore. This opinion is dated. But even in the "good ol' days" when Europe was "safe" and America was "violent," the violence in America was almost entirely a product of the cities. Meaning that it's counterintuitively blue-state America that's violent, not the heartland. How is that relevant? Well, because most of the people who go on about how much better Europe with its gun control regimes supposedly is (i.e. most of the people who talk like Miss Foster is talking here) live in these cities. Which is to say, they really ought to know better insofar as the handgun bans in Chicago and Washington DC have been spectacular failures, and insofar as the general prevelance of guns in the heartland doesn't seem to be inspiring the kind of violence that they apparently think gun possession causes.

But the gem in this is buried in the last line: "I know I'm crazy because I'm only supposed to say that in Europe." Christ, give me a fucking break! If there's one thing about the left that's even more annoying than all the other things about them that are already sufficiently annoying, it's this faux persecution complex. Does she honestly think it's in any way shocking for the average American to read that a Hollywood star thinks she's too sexy for this country? Because I have the impression that the Hollywood glitterati never say anything else, myself. More to the point, when has anyone ever been drummed out of Hollywood for saying that Americans are too violent? It's as though she's never heard of PMRC before.

Alright, end of rant. I was thinking about going to see The Brave One, but this sort of takes some of the charm out of it. Granted, it isn't the actor's opinion that matters. She's just a hired hand. Still, if her commentary in any way resembles the point of the movie (which a trusted commentator on Samzidata reassures it doesn't), then it's not something I want to spend money on. I'm willing to listen to reasoned argument for gun control, but until the day I can be persuaded to change my opinion on the issue (unlikely), I'd really rather not waste my time with pro-Brady propaganda. Self-defense is a basic human right. If you're gang raped and beaten nearly to death, as Foster's character was in this movie, and you DON'T want vigilante justice, you're probably not civilized.