Social media trolls recently honed in on a new target of attack.
The same agitators that consistently seek to tear down statues, ban books, and silence dissidents have now dug up an interview with legendary actor John Wayne, which appeared in a May 1971 issue of Playboy Magazine.
What are Wayne’s detractors aiming for?
Well for starters, they want to change the name of the airport that is located in Orange County, California that bears Wayne’s name.
Presumably the 9-foot bronze statue of the famed figure that stands at the entrance would be knocked down as well.
Even though Wayne is no longer with us and thus unable to defend himself, the transforming America crowd who are attempting to destroy Wayne’s reputation will not be satisfied until the movie icon’s legacy has been completely redacted from Hollywood history.
Screenwriter Matt Williams used his Twitter account to publish portions of the 1971 interview of Wayne, and re-tweeters managed to push the post into the viral zone.
Although some of the quotes in the interview appear to be inappropriate when examined within the context of today’s more enlightened cultural prism, at the time of the interview Wayne, along with many of his contemporaries, spoke in a blunt and occasionally harsh style both on and off screen — which was part of a projected character image.
Williams attacked the movie icon personally in a profanity laced social media post.
Included in Williams' tweet was, "John Wayne was a straight up piece of s***."
Comments to various re-tweets seemed to be at odds, with some agreeing with Williams and others urging a consideration of conversational context as well as the era in which Wayne lived.
Wayne was a man who before becoming a film icon was known as Marion Morrison, a football star at Glendale High and later at USC. He called the Golden State his home from the age of 10 on. In later years Wayne was intimately involved with the once-sleepy county just south of Los Angeles, which grew in size and stature and came to affectionately be known simply by its initials, the OC.
Wayne’s fame transcended the norm of the conventional movie star and rose to a level that few ever achieve — that of enduring icon. However, Duke had something all his own. His movie star identity was wrapped up in the symbolism, beliefs, and ideals of the country he adored.
In a tell of a great artist, Wayne was able to capture the emotions that people felt about their country and place them on the big screen in all their Americana glory.
His stories were their stories, perfected in a way that only Hollywood at the time could.
Interestingly, Wayne was an outspoken conservative and anti-communist.
During the Playboy interview, he queried aloud, "What kind of a nation is it that fails to understand that freedom of speech and assembly are one thing, and anarchy and treason are quite another, that allows known Communists to serve as teachers to pervert the natural loyalties and ideals of our kids, filling them with fear and doubt and hate and downgrading patriotism and all our heroes of the past?"
Wayne’s popularity and influence on the American mindset disturbed Russian dictator Joseph Stalin, to the point that the Soviet despot ordered an attempted assassination of the actor that auspiciously never materialized.
According to Michael Munn, film historian and author of "John Wayne — The Man Behind the Myth," back in the early 1950s Stalin ordered the KGB to assassinate Wayne because he considered his anti-communist rhetoric a threat to the Soviet Union.
In 1959, when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev came to the U.S., the autocrat had two requests he wished fulfilled: to visit Disneyland and to meet Wayne.
When Japanese Emperor Hirohito visited the United States in 1975, he also asked to meet Wayne, who was viewed as the personification of the American spirit.
Wayne’s iconic American status was recognized by the U.S. government, granting him the two highest civilian decorations in existence. In 1979 Wayne was given the Congressional Gold Medal, and in 1980 he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-President Jimmy Carter.
The legendary film star was nominated for three Academy Awards and was a one-time winner in 1969, taking the Best Actor in a Leading Role trophy for "True Grit."
Despite attempts on the part of the left to characterize him as a bigot, the truth is Wayne was married three times and the three women he married were Latinas: Josephine Alicia Saenz, Esperanza Baur, and Pilar Pallete. In the wake of the coverage of the Playboy interview, Wayne’s family released a statement to the press.
"We hope America remembers John Wayne as we do: a devoted family man, great friend and cherished actor on the big screen, as well as for his continuing work to find a cure for cancer through the John Wayne Cancer Foundation and the John Wayne Cancer Institute," the statement read.
"It’s unfair to judge someone on something that was written that he said nearly 50 years ago when the person is no longer here to respond," the statement continued. "Regardless of color, ethnicity or sexual preference, [our] father taught us to treat all people the same, with respect."
The outrage industry is on an endless quest to secure the next individual to impugn. As a result of the social media’s stoking of the fire, a virtue-signaling editorial was recently published by the Los Angeles Times, advocating that Orange County’s John Wayne Airport be renamed.
A formidable task awaits those who wish to erase Wayne from the public square, though. In addition to the airport in Orange County, opponents will also have to contend with a 21-foot bronze statue in Beverly Hills, which displays Wayne on horseback.
There is also a John Wayne Marina near Sequim, Washington, a 100-plus-mile trail named the John Wayne Pioneer Trail in the Iron Horse State Park, which is also in Washington, the John Wayne Elementary School in Brooklyn, New York, which features a 38-foot mosaic mural depicting "John Wayne and the American Frontier," and the John Wayne Parkway, which runs through Maricopa, Arizona.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read more reports from James Hirsen — Click Here Now.
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