Apr 9, 2008

From the pen of Charlton Heston


The LA Times ran a selection of excerpts from letters they had received over the years from Charlton Heston. He sounded off on topics mostly dealing with entertainment and politics.

From feeling threatened by Spike Lee to lamenting an unnamed female star's feeble grasp on the translation of "e pluribus unum" to gloating over how he "helped get Ice-T fired" after the rapper released Cop Killer, it's an interesting glimpse into his personality. Heston's reasoned rants humanized him for me, even though I deplored his politics.
The cultural and social fabric of the country is fraying around the edges... A while ago, I was at one of those silly "A-list" parties and fell into conversation on all this with a stunningly beautiful, famous star (not a bad actress, either) who said, "Well, look what it says on the dollar bill: 'e pluribus unum.' From one, many."

"Actually, you've got the Latin backward," I replied. "It translates, 'From many, one.' As in one nation . . . indivisible?" "No kidding?" she said, amazed. "Well . . . whatever." And there you have it. We live, increasingly, in a "well, whatever" nation. God help us all.

"Another Day in LA" by Joe Girandola, 2008
Duct tape on paper/image courtesy of Black Maria Gallery, from the current exhibit "Hollywood Apocalypse"