Love the actor, hate the person: The Gary Oldman conundrum

Gary Oldman

In case you haven't already heard, Gary Oldman thinks Mel Gibson got a bad rap.

Yeah, that Mel Gibson, the one who spews the most extreme Anti-Semitism and racism you've ever heard after he's had a few drinks.

Yes, the Mel Gibson who threatened his longtime girlfriend with violence repeatedly in funny/not funny surreptitiously recorded rants.

Oldman also casually remarked recently that Hollywood is "run by Jews" and that if you didn't vote for 12 Years a Slave as last year's picture then Hollywood's "politically correct" elite considered you a "racist."

What is the obsession with denigrating so-called "political correctness"? What does that term represent other than tolerance, racial, gender and sexual preference sensitivity? And that is horribly why?

I won't waste time arguing why these statements are wrong or untrue, I'll just say I'm deeply disappointed. Oldman is an actor I have always had immense respect for. He is a consummate character and he seemed to be a nice enough guy.

Now I am faced with a conundrum I am often faced with. I find his views repugnant and yet I've enjoyed his films and, if the new trailer for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is any indication, I will continue to. I have enjoyed quite a few Mel Gibson movies in my time too for that matter.

When having these debates I always lean towards the concept that a person's craft or creativity should be separated from the individual. I am a fan of Roman Polanski as a director but I also think he was/is a rapist who deserves to be in prison instead of making major motion pictures.

This whole Gary Oldman thing got me thinking about other actors whose work I've always enjoyed, even loved, but who frankly make my head hurt half the time they open their mouths.

Clint Eastwood: That empty chair. That RNC stunt almost singlehandedly wiped away decades of good will. I always thought of Eastwood as sort of a libertarian but his appearance at the GOP's 2012 convention not only made me question his intelligence but also his sanity. I love his work as a filmmaker and a director but his off-screen behavior has often left me with a bad taste.

Chevy Chase: This man seems to live to break my heart. He has and remains my personal comedy idol. I grew up wanting to be this guy, and his onscreen persona will always be something I cherish. But off-screen there is just too much evidence to support the fact that he is an egotistical and generally mean-spirited person who doesn't play well with others, whether it be his SNL cast-mates from nearly 40 years ago or his far-too-brief stint on the sitcom Community.

James Woods

James Woods: One of Hollywood's greatest character actors is usually the best thing about any movie he is in (with a couple high profile exceptions). He seems incredibly smart and can be wickedly funny but for whatever reason the Obama administration has turned him into a reactionary nutcase. He has grown increasingly offensive with his rhetoric in recent years but alas I still admire his talent.

Tom Cruise: As I've written before, I have sort of been a Cruise defender. But reading Going Clear, Lawrence Wright's blistering expose of Scientology, has me second guessing my judgment. I think he has often been a terrific actor but he also seems totally unhinged. His egomania off-screen is always working against his performances and the success of his films. And his increasing outspokenness has only alienated me more.

Mickey Rourke: He was one of the greatest actors of his generation and yet he's been reduced to being a punchline on 30 Rock. After his promising comeback in The Wrestler, he's once again wasting his talent in terrible direct-to-DVD quality roles. This man is one of my favorite actors and yet he comes off as alternately insincere and contemptible. I lose patience with actors who repeatedly admit to taking roles purely for the paycheck. Especially in his case, when he's capable of so much better.

Jon Voight: This may be the most off-putting of them all. Voight was a great actor and movie star. His work in movies like Midnight Cowboy and Deliverance is impeccable, and he's done excellent character work in recent years too. But for some reason he drank the conservative Kool-Aid and started parading around on television claiming that our president is trying to indoctrinate our youth to become Communists. Color me confused.

I am obviously someone who wears his political views on his sleeve, but that said I don't have any real issues with say Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone or even Schwarzenegger, all right-wingers, but also all pretty tight-lipped and reasonable about it. Sure, Schwarzenegger was a governor and pretty proactive conservative but he was good-natured, which goes a long way with me.

What rubs me the wrong way about Oldman's remarks is there's an anger behind them which is a little troubling to me. All the people who you watch or listen to and enjoy are not going to live up the image you hold in your mind -- that's obvious to any adult. But it's still a bummer.