We have all done something dumbass although there are some who would never admit it. I couldn’t manage to cover all the stupid things I’ve done. Thankfully, most of my dumbass moves haven’t been published for the whole world to read — as if the whole world would even be interested. Billy Connolly maybe not so fortunate. He was recently interviewed about his involvement with The Hobbit, and either Billy was drunk or really is an idiot or the reporter chose to take comical remarks and disparage him by highlighting them as if they tend toward sincere, or the reporter is an idiot too. Whatever was happening, there’s dumbass going on somewhere in this exchange about Tolkien’s work:
So, how many times has Connolly read The Hobbit? “I’ve never read The Hobbit. Never.” What about Lord of the Rings? “Never read Lord of the Rings,” replied the 69-year-old Scottish actor. “I could never read Tolkien. I always found him unreadable … I didn’t read [the books], and I normally don’t like people who have! The people who love it, they’re kind of scary. They talk all this gobbledygook and they think of it as the Holy Grail.”
Yeah, I’m gonna go with drunk. :D Surely Billy knows it’s dangerous to make sarcastic remarks to a journalist. Okay, I will give him the idea that some of the Tolkien fans do spout things unrecognizable to 99% of the population, and before I took the time to seriously read Tolkien and get to know some of his fans, I was also prejudiced and thought it was odd. But at least I had the good sense to keep my mouth shut about it, and I’m not even beholding to any of them for part of my living.
Wait! Billy sobers a bit, er, I mean comes to his senses toward the end:
How, then, does Connolly plan to deal with Tolkien fans who will lob at him obscure questions about The Hobbit for the rest of his life?
“Usually I just make stuff up because I don’t know what I’m talking about,” Connolly admitted. “But invariably, there seems to be a sector of the press that is consumed by The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and it’s indicative of that notion, that it’s the Grail. So whatever I say is rubbish, but then I become answerable for it! People get all upset, they get terribly upset about anything that has to do with it, as if it were real! It’s a story! Just relax! It’ll go away and you’ll be just fine. Don’t panic.”
read the rest here if you dare :D And don’t even bring up his comments about 48fps. LOL! Yes, I really am laughing.
Dealing with the press is almost like a contact sport where you have to keep from getting boxed in and hopefully can emerge with no bruises, so I’m not really down on Connolly, and he may be more clever than he appears. It’s doubtful journalists or others will be on his back with questions about Tolkien when he comes with answers like those. I also appreciate the belly laugh he gave me this morning. But all of this has reminded me I’m so glad Richard Armitage is not an idiot.
Dear Rich,
Thank you for being intelligent and thoughtful and well, for not being a dumbass, and especially for never going out in public drunk –at least not that the public is aware. And I’m confident you had the good sense to stay away from reporters. Hell yes, I’m biased. What do you think this blog is about?
Of course you do have an obvious advantage over Billy. When you look like this:
you can get away with almost anything. And given that, you’re still kind to your fans. Amazing.
Signed,
One of your crazy fans who would forgive you for sticking your foot in your mouth but glad I haven’t been tried on that yet. :D
P.S. And thanks again for not letting us in on your politics. I really don’t want to know. It’s just one less thing to process.
No, don’t even bring up how completely insane I am for knowing so much about some guy from the U.K. who is going to be in a Peter Jackson production. What?! Yeah, sometimes it hits me that our guy Richard may actually make it big, may actually be a movie star despite his protestations, and you and I have been along for the ride.
Anyway, this insanity is still fun even if a few of us are infected with APM at times. :D
edit: speaking of dumbass, I published this under the wrong user name, which I’ve now corrected.
October 4, 2012
Categories: Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: 48fps, APM, Armitage Protection Mode, Billy Connolly, fake fan letters, High Frame Rate, Peter Jackson, Richard Armitage, Thorin Oakenshield, Tolkien . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 15 Comments
Yep, we’re getting all sorts of details about the shindig the Kiwis are planning for The Hobbit premiere. They’re even renaming the town for the event. 
RAFrenzy 