Clint Eastwood on the "kiss ass" and "pussy" generation of political correctness

excerpt from interview with son Scott at
http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a46893/double-trouble-clint-and-scott-eastwood/

ESQ: Your characters have become touchstones in the culture, whether it’s Reagan invoking “Make my day” or now Trump … I swear he’s even practiced your scowl.

CE: Maybe. But he’s onto something, because secretly everybody’s getting tired of political correctness, kissing up. That’s the kiss-ass generation we’re in right now. We’re really in a pussy generation. Everybody’s walking on eggshells. We see people accusing people of being racist and all kinds of stuff. When I grew up, those things weren’t called racist. And then when I did Gran Torino, even my associate said, “This is a really good script, but it’s politically incorrect.” And I said, “Good. Let me read it tonight.” The next morning, I came in and I threw it on his desk and I said, “We’re starting this immediately.”

ESQ: What is the “pussy generation”?

CE: All these people that say, “Oh, you can’t do that, and you can’t do this, and you can’t say that.” I guess it’s just the times.

ESQ: What do you think Trump is onto?

CE: What Trump is onto is he’s just saying what’s on his mind. And sometimes it’s not so good. And sometimes it’s … I mean, I can understand where he’s coming from, but I don’t always agree with it.

ESQ: So you’re not endorsing him?

CE: I haven’t endorsed anybody. I haven’t talked to Trump. I haven’t talked to anybody. You know, he’s a racist now because he’s talked about this judge. And yeah, it’s a dumb thing to say. I mean, to predicate your opinion on the fact that the guy was born to Mexican parents or something. He’s said a lot of dumb things. So have all of them. Both sides. But everybody—the press and everybody’s going, “Oh, well, that’s racist,” and they’re making a big hoodoo out of it. Just fucking get over it. It’s a sad time in history.

ESQ: What troubles you the most?

CE: We’re not really … what troubles me is … I guess when I did that silly thing at the Republican convention, talking to the chair …

ESQ: I didn’t say it was silly.

CE: It was silly at the time, but I was standing backstage and I’m hearing everybody say the same thing: “Oh, this guy’s a great guy.” Great, he’s a great guy. I’ve got to say something more. And so I’m listening to an old Neil Diamond thing and he’s going, “And no one heard at all / Not even the chair.” And I’m thinking, That’s Obama. He doesn’t go to work. He doesn’t go down to Congress and make a deal. What the hell’s he doing sitting in the White House? If I were in that job, I’d get down there and make a deal. Sure, Congress are lazy bastards, but so what? You’re the top guy. You’re the president of the company. It’s your responsibility to make sure everybody does well. It’s the same with every company in this country, whether it’s a two-man company or a two-hundred-man company… . And that’s the pussy generation—nobody wants to work.

ESQ: You’ve campaigned for office. If you were going to write a stump speech for this election, what would you say?

CE: “Knock it off. Knock everything off.” All these people out there rattling around the streets and stuff, shit. They’re boring everybody. Chesty Puller, a great Marine general, once said, “You can run me, and you can starve me, and you can beat me, and you can kill me, but don’t bore me.” And that’s exactly what’s happening now: Everybody is boring everybody. It’s boring to listen to all this shit. It’s boring to listen to these candidates.

ESQ: What would you like to see change?

CE: I’d say get to work and start being more understanding of everybody—instead of calling everybody names, start being more understanding. But get in there and get it done. Kick ass and take names. And this may be my dad talking, but don’t spend what you don’t have. That’s why we’re in the position we are in right now. That’s why people are saying, “Why should I work? I’ll get something for nothing, maybe.” And going around and talking about going to college for free. I didn’t go to college for free. I mean, it was cheap, because I went to L. A. City College—it wasn’t like going to a major university. But it was okay. And then, you know, I didn’t finish, because I decided to become an actor, ruin my whole life. [Everyone laughs.]

ESQ: What do you think of Hillary?

CE: What about her? I mean, it’s a tough voice to listen to for four years. It could be a tough one. If she’s just gonna follow what we’ve been doing, then I wouldn’t be for her.

ESQ: But if the choice is between her and Trump, what do you do?

CE: That’s a tough one, isn’t it? I’d have to go for Trump … you know, ’cause she’s declared that she’s gonna follow in Obama’s footsteps. There’s been just too much funny business on both sides of the aisle. She’s made a lot of dough out of being a politician. I gave up dough to be a politician. I’m sure that Ronald Reagan gave up dough to be a politician.

• This topic was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by bnw.