Teresa.Oliveira

Uma das coisas curiosas que me dizem é que “eu tenho medo de comunistas” só porque os pêlos dos meus braços se eriçam tipo gato em alcatifa quando oiço “por uma política patriótica de esquerda”.

O problema são as condições do sistema e o resultado do comunismo, não são as pessoas serem más pessoas. Eu não tenho medo “dos comunistas”. Eu tenho amigos comunistas, eu conheci comunistas simpáticos e com menos de 60 anos, eu acho o Jerónimo de Sousa bem intencionado e honesto.

Também acho idiota assumir que os nazis eram “más pessoas”. De repente uma nação de psicopatas extremistas? Uma geração de doidos? Não acredito e as entrevistas aos tipos em Nuremberga comprovam-no. Grande parte é algo hipócrita e outra parte estava genuinamente convencida de estar a fazer algo de bom e nunca pensou muito no assunto e falo de 2ªs e 3ªs linhas de Hitler, imagino ao nível do soldado de uma SS a executar civis.

O preocupante é ver que pessoas normais podem ser nazis e ver como todas as experiências que se fazem nesse campo demonstram que muitas pessoas podem tornar-se altamente frias e crueis com um sistema que dê os estímulos e as recompensas adequadas para isso. Esse é o alerta.

O meu ódio ao comunismo não é diferente do meu ódio ao fascismo ou a outras formas de extremismo, porque criam as condições para essa opressão de uma forma quase matemática. Quando me dizem “o PCP por cá podia não ser como a URSS, a China, Cuba, Coreia do Norte” etc. é o mesmo que alguém me dizer que se os neonazis portugueses até mereciam uma oportunidade porque  aquilo na alemanha correu mal. Como se não fosse algo intrínseco às ideias em si.

Por exemplo, para vocês, boas pessoas, o facto do Bloco de Esquerda propor um cabaz de peixe em que se mete lá fanecas e outras espécies de menor valor comercial, para oferecer aos portugueses um cabaz mais sustentável nutritivo e ecológico não é muito grave. Que o Governo decida pelos pescadores, peixeiras e portugueses a constituição ideal de um cabaz de peixe regulado, parece só uma piada.

Eu vejo nisso o princípio de uma coisa muito má. Começa por alguém no Bloco de Esquerda achar que não só compreende as dinâmicas do mundo em que vive, como que lhe compete substituir-se a esse equilíbrio e determinar o resultado com um racionalismo extremo. Daqui vamos para coisas como a”ocupação do território” em que, como sugeriu Catarina Martins a propósito dos médicos, lhes fossem dados incentivos não monetários para que fossem ser médicos na santa terrinha que o estado lhes propõe, mas podíamos ir para a mentalidade de António Costa que encaminharia refugiados para uma zona do país para trabalhar na agricultura.

Esta forma de pensar, obviamente, tem gradações, mas resulta inevitavelmente em opressão das liberdades individuais e em sistemas que no fim são piores, geram menos bem estar para todos.

Comigo, isso não passa em claro. E é por isso que sim, tenho medo do comunismo como do fascismo, mas não diabolizo as pessoas que acreditam neles, muitas vezes porque estão imbuídas de um sentimento de revolta, de luta, de ética. O paradoxo é que às vezes quanto mais convencidas estão de serem boas pessoas e estarem do lado do bem, mais perigosas se tornam.

TimeOut London scored a really great exclusive interview with Daniel Craig this week ahead of the premiere of Spectre (which comes out next month). Is it just me or has Daniel become so much chattier this time around? For years now, Daniel has been a curmudgeon with the press, barely muttering two-word answers and sitting down for only a handful of in-depth interviews. But the advanced publicity for Spectre has found a new-and-improved Daniel, in that he really won’t shut up. Seriously, if you want to read the full TimeOut piece, go here. He talked and talked and talked. Of course he’s still a curmudgeon, but the piece goes on forever and you actually get to see his humor and how much he wants Spectre to succeed. And how much he really, really does not want to play James Bond ever again. Some highlights:

He wants Spectre to be a success: ‘God, hubris is a terrible thing in this business. I just pray the movie is going to be great.’

His Bond contract after Skyfall: ‘Well, I was contracted to do another one. That was all set up. But at the studio there was a real keenness to get it done as soon as possible. In fact, there was a conversation at one point that went: “Let’s film two movies back to back.” I just went: “You’re out of your f–king minds.” In the nicest possible way. They’re just too big.’

He has to care about how Bond looks: ‘It’s a drag. The best acting is when you’re not concerned about the surface. And Bond is the opposite of that. You have to be bothered about how you’re looking. It’s a struggle. I know that how Bond wears a suit and walks into a room is important. But as an actor I don’t want to give a f–k about what I look like! So I have to play with both things. In a way that works, as that’s Bond: he looks good and he doesn’t give a f–k what you think he looks like!’

Whether he’s showing off his body this time around: ‘Am I getting my kit off in this movie? Yes, I’ve been working out for six months. Of course I’m getting my kit off!’

The internet is evil: ‘I don’t go on the Internet any more. I think if you’re famous, the Internet is evil. I really think that. If you’re famous, it makes you paranoid. Or it makes you more paranoid than you already are. Because if you’re famous and you go on the Internet for half an hour, you realise people are talking about you. It doesn’t matter how strong you are, some of that will make you paranoid. I just don’t do it anymore. It’s the enemy of creativity.’

Bond’s relationship with women: ‘I think it’s okay for him – not to be misogynistic, that’s too strong a word – to find women a little difficult, shall we say? That’s a character thing. If you start judging him completely on that, I think you’re lost. And that comes with casting. What you do is, you do your best to make the parts for the women in the movie as strong and as interesting as possible. Otherwise, I’m like: forget it. Because that world, as far as I’m concerned, doesn’t exist any more. Characters like that exist. People do think like that, so there’s the conflict. Put that in a movie. Bond still wants to have sex. I still think he wants to f–k anything with a pulse. It’s about how the women change him. That, for me, is interesting.’

Doing another Bond movie: ‘Now? I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on…. At the moment, we’ve done it. I’m not in discussion with anybody about anything. If I did another Bond movie, it would only be for the money.’

Who should play Bond after him: ‘Look, I don’t give a f–k. Good luck to them! All I care about is that if I stop doing these things we’ve left it in a good place and people pick it up and make it better. Make it better, that’s all. Literally I’d say two things [to the next Bond]. Firstly, it’s your decision. Don’t listen to anybody else. Well, do listen to everybody, but you have to make the choice at the end of the day. It’s your bed to lie on. And don’t be sh-t! Don’t be sh-t. You’ve got to step up. People do not make movies like this any more. This is really rare now. So don’t be sh-t.’

[From TimeOut London]

Regarding the slashing-his-wrists stuff, as I’ve said before, I think after Skyfall, the studio wanted Daniel to make two more Bond films. Spectre took a lot out of him, and right now he and the studio are probably waiting to see how successful Spectre will be before they make any decisions about another film. As in, if Spectre is another massive success like Skyfall, they’re going to make Daniel do another film. I also kind of enjoy the fact that Daniel is basically saying that if he makes another one, it will just be for the money.

Photos courtesy of WENN, plus ‘Spectre’ posters.

Zoe Saldana covers the January issue of Flare magazine to promote Out of the Furnace, which looked really good (great cast including Christian Bale and Woody Harrelson) but bombed at the box office. This photoshoot is basically “Zoe posing weirdly with various chairs.” She’s a beautiful girl, but the angular poses she chose for this shoot are a little awkward looking. Maybe the photographer wanted her to pose this way.

Before we get to the interview, I wanted to mention a discussion that Zoe did with Collider that’s been itching at me for a few weeks. Zoe went off on a rant about awful blockbuster movies are compared to indies. She said, “There’s a lot wrong with doing blockbusters. Let’s be real. And I’m a part of a lot of them, but these are stories that are great.” Zoe was attempting to talk up her roles in low-budget films that are “artistic” as opposed to “entertainment.” Still this is the same actress who starred in Avatar plus Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, which fit the very definition of “blockbuster” and cumulatively earned over $3.6 billion. Zoe doesn’t mind taking blockbuster-sized paychecks, does she? She needs to sit down.

Zoe’s similarly full of herself in this interview with Flare. I appreciate her points about being a strong woman, but the way she says things rubs me the wrong way:

She’s a lady: “I’m a lady. My mother, my grandmother and my great-grandmother raised ladies. We don’t breed skanky, coquettish, giddy little girls. We breed women.”

She lost her dad at age 9: “My mom was sad a lot. Losing the love of your life when you’re young, and you have three freakin’ kids…At the end of the day, that warmth that fills your bed is not there.”

On girl power: “Women aren’t wimpy. They don’t complain all the time. They can open up jars! They can f—ing save the day! They can support their whole family. They can support their men. Half of my friends make more money than their male partners.”

Stop whining, ladies: “Women who are very whiny annoy the f—ing crap out of me. It’s impossible for my sisters and me to hold a conversation with a woman who is incompetent. It’s one thing to be uncertain, a little insecure and scared, and another thing to be lazy. I can’t deal with mediocrity and incompetence. And you see it in people’s eyes.”

Don’t take work home: “I’m an artist. I love going to work — researching and conceiving a character with my director is my favourite time — but as soon as I get home and open up that bottle of wine or sit down with my family, I’m not talking about work.”

Standing up for herself on set: “You’d see all the boys together, and they’re discussing the scene and what’s going to happen. You just go, ‘Yeah, but…’ and they say, ‘Oh, but we already discussed that.’” There are three possible reactions, she says: rolling your eyes, “because men think they know better”; laughing; or, she says, “sitting and watching while everybody feels uncomfortable around you, and feeling really good about yourself because you stood up for yourself, you mattered, you voiced your presence.” Saldana has no problem pulling a mentor or male authority aside, she says, laying out for me her usual plan of attack: Her “heart racing and sweating buckets,” she declares, without blinking, “I’m not happy.” And then she states her case: “I understand everything you’re saying, but these are the terms we agreed on, and that is why I got on a plane and came out here, and I decided to have your back, and now I don’t feel like you’re having my back. This character is invisible. She’s completely irrelevant, and she should be more.”

On criticism: “There’s nothing anybody can say or think about me that I will give a sh-t about. Honestly.”

Her Nina Simone movie still has no release date: “It’s very abstract. It was sort of like a love song to Nina. At the end of the day, no matter how the movie is received, I’m not going to regret anything.”

On New Year’s resolutions: “I stopped doing them It’s like heading to a party and telling your friends, ‘I’m not going to drink, you guys.’ Meanwhile, you’re the one who blacks out! Let’s be real. Oh god, it’s usually me.”

[From Flare]

On the point about women earning more than their men, I assume Zoe is referring to her own quickie marriage to artist Marco Perego. I think it’s great that Zoe earns more than her man, but she needs to realize that in a lot of professions, men still earn more than their female counterparts. That’s just a reality. It sucks.

Zoe’s remarks about not caring what other people say arrive after the journo mentioned criticisms of her Nina Simone role. I think Zoe does care because who wouldn’t? Especially when one is such a sensitive “artist.” Oh well. It will be interesting to see if the movie ever sees the light of day.

She has a point about New Year’s resolutions though. They never stick.

Photos courtesy of Flare

Yesterday we covered the tale of Tom Cruise continuing to get his lifts in a wad over Life & Style’s “abandoned by daddy” story. He’s still suing Bauer Media Group and sounds pretty obsessed whereas he’s made threats over other tabloid and magazine stories but quickly dropped his complaints. Here’s the thing: the original L&S story was true in the sense that Tom hadn’t seen Suri for 13 weeks. Did they have to use “abandoned” in the cover story title? No. That was purely sensational wording and distasteful when it comes to Suri’s future well being.

Some of you don’t understand why I’m not siding with Tom against the tabloids. I’ll admit my bias against the main crusader of the COS, but I still think he’s wrong to ask for $50 million from the court. If it was merely a question of Tom being picked on by the tabs, that would be one thing. Yet Tom uses the tabloids for his own purposes. Remember when he invited a Star reporter to witness his dramatic swimming pool reunion with Suri last July? This was the same time period when he did all those silly pap walks too. One could argue Tom had no control over getting swarmed by photogs, but he’s proven to us over the past year how he’s perfectly capable of visiting with Suri on the down low. Tom wanted to get papped with Suri last summer, and he wanted the tabloids to see what a loving father he is. Let me tell you, that was one glowing report from Star. You see … Tom loves the tabloids when they play his game.

As an example of Tom’s game, this week’s issue of the Enquirer paints a curious story about how Tom is so worried over his 18-year-old son, Connor. Of course Connor spins record by the name “DJ C Squared,” so he’s a regular fixture in many Hollywood nightclubs. Tom is quite concerned because there’s smoking, alcohol, and pretty models all over the place in these clubs. Tom also thinks Connor’s friends, including Alex Pettyfer, are a bad influence. Well that confirms my suspicions about Alex going CO$, but honestly, there will be vodka where DJs perform. The article goes on to say, “Tom’s worst nightmare would be having one of his kids go down the same path as Lindsay Lohan or Miley Cyrus.” HA. See what a loving father Tom Cruise is?

Here’s some more juicy stuff from Radar on Tom’s deposition for the L&S lawsuit:

On the “Abandoned By Daddy” cover: “I mean, come on, that is absolutely disgusting. That is absolutely disgusting. And I have to tell you with everything … Listen, I am a public person, I absolutely understand. For me there is … I tolerate a tremendous amount and I’m very privileged to be able to have the life that I have, and I believe that. But there is a line that, that I draw for myself, and that’s it.”

Did Katie divorce Tom “in part to protect Suri from Scientology”? “Listen, I find that question offensive. I find it, those statements offensive. Like with any relationship, there are many different levels to it. You know, I, I find it very offensive. There is no need to protect my daughter from my religion.”

Ms. Holmes has never indicated in any way that was one of the reasons she left you? “Did she say that? That was one of the assertions, yes.”

Is Suri currently practicing Scientology? “No.”

Is Katie a suppressive person? “That is a distortion and a simplification of the matter. I don’t want to just give an oversimplification of religious doctrine.”

[From Radar Online]

Awww, isn’t that cute? Tom’s pretending like he doesn’t know what a suppressive person is. I guess he forgot all about that propaganda video where he laughs hysterically about SPs at 4:25 (for a full 90 seconds). This deposition is really something else. It goes on for 48 pages, and Radar has now released MORE. Damn, this is getting good. This part is about how Tom didn’t see Suri from the end of July 2012 until Thanksgiving (when he worked most of the weekend anyway). The Liftmaster … he is squirming:

Why didn’t he see Suri for over 100 days? “Listen, when there is a divorce — if you look at this also in terms of Suri coming to me and certain agreements that you have, when a divorce occurs thing change. And it’s more complicated, as everyone know when that is, when that occurs, and there are certain agreements; now you have to ask for permission and organize schedules to make things happen. So it wasn’t — it’s not an ideal scene. It’s not an ideal situation.”

He parents Suri by telling “wonderful stories” on the phone: “You have to work at it. I’ve gotten very good at it. I’e gotten very good at it. I tell wonderful stories and they like hearing it.”

Does that substitute for a real visit? “No, it doesn’t. As I said, I’ve gotten pretty good at communicating and I also find that, you know, Suri, you know, is a very happy child and confident and has a good sense of herself.”

Why he chose to skip a scheduled Suri visit to spend 24 hours at a CO$ event in October: “It was an important event. I felt it was important.”

Is Tom partially responsible for that skipped visit? “No. There are many different circumstances. One, first of all, at this point when you’re looking at — you can’t compare Reacher to All You Need Is Kill or Edge of Tomorrow (movies he was working on at various times). And the situation, you know, when you’re thinking of your child and thinking what is the best thing for them, and of course, respecting Katie’s wishes in terms of Suri’s scheduling, the nature of making that film, the nature of having finished one film, and kind of — agreements change, you know. As I said, things change. Things change. Certainly what doesn’t change is the love I have for my daughter, the fact that I didn’t abandon her emotionally, physically, or otherwise. And in terms of how I feel about her in terms of the responsibility that I feel towards my child is not — is not waned in any way.”

[From Radar Online]

What do I get from this part of the deposition? Blame Katie. She divorced Tom, who could no longer force Katie to spend weeks at a time following him around the globe. This lawsuit is only making Tom look bad. He’s only saying things in this deposition that will haunt his reputation for years. If Tom thinks winning the suit will make people stop booing him at Dodgers games, he’s very mistaken.

I just wanted to include these photos of Connor because he’s growing into a very good looking young man. Too bad about the CO$ taint.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN

Wentworth Miller is gay! This really surprised me. I knew him mostly as “the dude from Prison Break” and it seems like that’s pretty much all he is career-wise (see his IMDB here). He’s also English (shocking!) and 41 years old (WTF?!). And now we know he’s gay too. He came out in a really awesome way as well: he wrote an open letter to the organizers of the St. Petersburg International Film Festival (in Russia) declaring that he would not attend the festival because of the country’s new anti-homosexuality laws. Here’s more:

Wentworth Miller took a stand — and a big step — on Wednesday, Aug. 21, when he came out as gay in a letter to the organizers of the St. Petersburg International Film Festival in Russia. Citing the country’s headline-making anti-LGBT legislation, the 41-year-old Prison Break star said he could not “in good conscience” attend an event in a place that would promote such discrimination.

“Thank you for your kind invitation. As someone who has enjoyed visiting Russia in the past and can also claim a degree of Russian ancestry, it would make me happy to say yes,” he wrote in the letter, posted to GLAAD’s website. “However, as a gay man, I must decline.”

Wentworth went on to note that he took issue with Russia’s anti-gay laws, which include a ban on the adoption of Russian-born children to national and international same-sex couples.

“I am deeply troubled by the current attitude toward and treatment of gay men and women by the Russian government,” he continued. “The situation is in no way acceptable, and I cannot in good conscience participate in a celebratory occasion hosted by a country where people like myself are being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly.”

“Perhaps, when and if circumstances improve,” he added, “I’ll be free to make a different choice. Until then.”

“Wentworth’s bold show of support sends a powerful message to LGBT Russians, who are facing extreme violence and persecution: you are not alone,” GLAAD spokesperson Wilson Cruz said in a statement after the letter was posted. “As people from across the globe continue to speak out against Russia’s horrific law, more celebrities and corporations should follow his courageous lead in openly condemning Russia’s anti-LGBT law.”

[From Us Weekly]

It was a bold and amazing thing to do, but let’s not pretend that Wentworth Miller’s declined invitation is going to really change things in Russia. Maybe if ALL of Hollywood decided not to promote their films in Russia out of allegiance to the LBGT community, maybe that would be something. I’m sorry, I’m really not trying to be Debbie Downer on this nice LBGT-Pride story. It is awesome that he came out. It is awesome that he spoke out against Russia’s crazy anti-gay laws and spoke up for the Russian LBGT community. Yay.

You can read Wentworth’s full letter here at GLAAD.org.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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