Liam Neeson admits in interview to wanting to exact revenge for his friends rape
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https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/liam-neeson-interview-rape-race-black-man-revenge-taken-cold-pursuit-a8760896.html
READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE FIRST.
It begins as an explanation of how his latest character turns to anger. “There’s something primal – God forbid you’ve ever had a member of your family hurt under criminal conditions,” he begins, hesitantly but thoughtfully. “I’ll tell you a story. This is true.”
It was some time ago. Neeson had just come back from overseas to find out about the rape. “She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way,” Neeson says. “But my immediate reaction was…” There’s a pause. “I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person.
“I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I’d be approached by somebody – I’m ashamed to say that – and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some [Neeson gestures air quotes with his fingers] ‘black bastard’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could,” another pause, “kill him.”
Neeson clearly knows what he’s saying, and how shocking it is, how appalling. “It took me a week, maybe a week and a half, to go through that. She would say, ‘Where are you going?’ and I would say, ‘I’m just going out for a walk.’ You know? ‘What’s wrong?’ ‘No no, nothing’s wrong.’”
He deliberately withholds details to protect the identity of the victim. “It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that,” he says. “And I’ve never admitted that, and I’m saying it to a journalist. God forbid.”
“Holy shit,” says Tom Bateman, his co-star, who is sitting beside him.
“It’s awful,” Neeson continues, a tremble in his breath. “But I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, ‘What the fuck are you doing,’ you know?”
All three of us know – Neeson, Bateman and I – that this is a distressing admission. “I come from a society – I grew up in Northern Ireland in the Troubles – and, you know, I knew a couple of guys that died on hunger strike, and I had acquaintances who were very caught up in the Troubles, and I understand that need for revenge, but it just leads to more revenge, to more killing and more killing, and Northern Ireland’s proof of that. All this stuff that’s happening in the world, the violence, is proof of that, you know. But that primal need, I understand.”
He continues, more generally, about violence on screen. His tone changes. We’re back, suddenly, to a normal junket interview. But this had not been the average confession to make. As he had admitted, it’s horrible, awful. Is it possible to hear that said out loud or to read those words and not judge? Then again, think of the circumstance – he had learnt someone close to him had been raped. No one would ever want to have to confront that in their own life. Do other people react that way?
Really don't know how to react to this one.
I had a somewhat similar experience regarding the subject of revenge. I witnessed my father being attacked in the middle of the street during Christmas 2017, his entire lower jaw had to be repaired and put back together after someone physically assaulted him. We sat in the living room eating dinner while he was stuck drinking soup from a cup and having to deal with pain medication. I felt so consumed by a fantasy for violent revenge as fustration and anger sank in when the police weren't able to identify or locate the attacker despite there being photographic and video evidence along with eye witnesses giving statements.
I don't know if I sound like I'm rambling (to which I apologize), but, it's a seriously hard feeling to get over especially when you're there in the moment. I didn't know what to do so I just took my phone out and started recording, didn't honestly know if attempting to break up the fight was going to stop it or make it worse. The attacker could've had a knife or some kind of weapon and I felt conflicted about not doing anything else beside just staying out of it.
People are gonna read the headlines and conclude that Liam Neeson is a KKK member because of this, aren't they?
Already happening on twitter. so yeah, pretty much.
Well, I mean, given that he wanted to "enact revenge" by murdering the first random black guy he came across, he seems to be downplaying this shit significantly. A lot of people have struggled with the desire to personally take down someone who has harmed a family member or friend. That's one thing. It's a totally different thing to want to go kill a random person just because someone who harmed someone you know happened to be the same skin color.
Well I guess if you miss the point this hard to make it about how he's actually a giant racist, I guess there's only one possible conclusion?
He spoke about an emotionally traumatizing time, and his response to it. In the end, no one was harmed, and his message was "Wasting time on revenge is bad". So shitting on him for something he didn't actually do, while pushing a message of peace and forgiveness seems like you've just lost the plot of the novel.
Genuinely don't know what people want anymore. Real human experiences are not allowed to be shared if they're dark, because we can't talk about that. None of what he said advocates for violence or vengeance. But sure, lets just re-write what he said.
Did we read the same article or does one of us have extremely severe reading comprehension issues?
It's absolutely clear to me that he WAS a racist at the time. I never said he is now - all I said is that he seems to be completely downplaying the racial element of his story, and framing it merely as a cautionary tale against seeking out revenge.
I can understand his position, someone you love has been hurt in one of the worst possible ways and all you know is someone "black" did it, you would be eyeing up every black man in your local area wondering "was it him?" and all the while thinking what you would do if it was.
Same would go for any distinguishing feature, "he had a scar", "he was wearing a blue hat", "he had a southern accent" any of these things you'd be looking for because someone with one of those things did something SO terrible to someone you deeply care about that, as Liam himself said "There's something primal" a threat has hurt one of your own and it's still out there, and it could be any black/ginger/midget you pass in the
street.
I don't think it was racially charged, it was an emotional time, he had one clue to go on, and went on that. And at the end of that, before anything happened, before anyone was hurt, he figured out "wow this is a waste of my time and effort lets do something else".
If it's being framed as a cautionary tale, that's a good thing. Lets not lose the fucking forest for the trees.
He's being attacked by people pretty viciously over this shit, and I think it's because people intentionally just want to read the most "attacking" version of this they can personally interpret. I don't know how we as a society, are going to make it through "racism" if this is our reaction to a genuine human interaction that was dark, and hard to share. What you're telling me, is that if you have a dark secret to share that may help other people, Don't share if even one element of that story can be used against you. Good job, we've now made it even harder to have honest dialogue in 2019.
I'm really happy for the random innocent black people in Liam Neeson's city that he found no success in indiscriminately killing them with a cudgel, I suppose? They must be thrilled as well?
I totally understand Liam Neeson. When you find out about something as sickening as your relative or a friend getting raped, few would not want to hurt the monster who did that and whoever is related to him as well. But he didn't let emotions overrule the logic; his thoughts were only just that - thoughts. He should be fucking respected for it, not being called out by some twatterinas (with blue checkmarks, no doubt).
how incompetent do you have to be to misunderstand his mindset at the time.
this confession is very deep and to just put it down to "oo this is his racism coming out" is absolutely pathetic.
my nephew was jumped by a black dude and his mum's instinct was to confront any black dude about what happened. this is an emotional, protective instinct. it's not simple, plain racism because i know she wasn't racist, it was her anger at the situation which came through in a dark, non-constructive manner.
for me, this confession is absolutely amazing and just emphasizes how real of a person and non-bullshit Liam Neeson is.
There is a growing trend of bringing up past mistakes with the insistence that the person who made those mistakes is exactly the same and hasn't changed, understood or moved on from those mistakes.
It's hysterical and dangerous, but who cares as long as they're the moral victor of the day right?
Someone you know is raped. They tell you that the person was black. You look for every person around you that isn't black, because, you're not a racist!
This is shit logic. She said the person was black, so that's what stuck. He had a slight basis for identifying (through the rage that clogs your thought process) a person that had raped a close friend of his.
Get off your high horse. Saying shit like that implies that you believe only white people can commit crimes because ~R A C I S M~.
for him to confess this is extremely brave too. he mentions relative things like the influence of culture at a very dark time in northern irish history.
he is only telling the truth about how he became consumed by this and in a way he should be viewed more a victim of the times. most individuals in general are afraid to even speak about it and this is an oscar nominated important actor of our times speaking about this shocking moment in his history and how he reflects that without any hesitation.
the social media reaction just goes to show how thin and fast they are to jump to the easy conclusion to suit their own need.
Honestly I can see why he's such a good actor in revenge movies like Taken. He probably channels that rage into a constructive way that also works really well on screen. Almost like method acting, he has actual emotion and actual experience with that kind of experience and so it must be easier to make it authentic during a movie.
The guy tried for a week to get any black person to confront him so he could beat them to death with a club, and just happened to fail to do so long enough to change his mind. This is about as no-harm-done as getting blackout drunk and speeding through red lights but as long as everyone lucks out the guy's a fucking martyr, a paragon of courage for withstanding the slings and arrows of the dastardly Social Media Outrage Culture Something Something Ben Garrison Cartoon.
People are fucking ignorant and will take what they want from it. They're going to call him a racist because it is easier to paint him as one instead of actually understanding the pain he was in.
I don't even take people who use the "racist card" seriously anymore, the bar to be a racist is so fucking low that the word has lost its meaning. Show some real context as to why he is racist and maybe we can talk.
Nah, he's a dude who was pissed off at the world and felt something had to be done about it, until he recovered and realized the mistake he was making. Right now you're absolutely a worse person than he is.
This is the kind of thing someone who's never had to confront monumental loss or rage says, by the numbers. I sincerely hope your colossal naivete lasts for as long as possible.
If there's anything I've learnt from English a-level, it's that revenge doesn't work (in most cases... ty Macbeth & Revenger's Tragedy).
It saved me from seeking revenge on multiple people who assaulted me throughout my life- which would've ruined mine (and 100%, not saying what I'd have done, defintiely their own).
It's pure politically-partisan bullshit if people denigrate this message.
Hatred and revenge isn't often rational, I remember in my youth lashing out at an old ex-bully who I had a minor hostility with rather then the other kid who threw a rock at my head and since it's hard to tell who threw what in a crowd my anger just said fuck it and zeroed in at the only target it could of sated itself.
I love how infallible everyone views themselves when stuff like this comes about
Like as a further point high enough stress is considered a mental disorder. The dude was in a very high stress moment in his life so he absolutely could be classified and mentally unwell at the time.
He was at a very low point, and it's understandable what stress can do to even the most infallible of us all. Fortunately, nothing came of this, and his self reflection of the situation brought him clarity.
..."No harm done" means exactly that. No harm done. You can't say "B-but ~IF IT HAPPENED~" because it didn't. That's why it's called "no harm done". Because harm could have been done, but it wasn't.
If you think that he wouldn't have done the same thing if the guy was White, you are an idiot.
I'm sorry but it's true.
He just found out a friend of his, someone he cares about, was fucking raped, was violated, of course he is going to be pissed and angry because someone just fucked up his friends life.
Of course he is going to be pissed, angry, and more important, irrational.
He wasn't thinking straight, he wasn't saying "oh yeah fuck Black people, fuck them all, I wanna kill them all" with a level head.
He was saying that after he just found out someone hurt his friend.
This didn't continue for weeks, this happened for a week after he found out.
How are people expected to improve when we are now not only lambasting people for things they did years ago - regardless of any attempts to change, but also lambasting them for things they didn't do years ago and clearly regret even thinking about doing?
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