Kevin Spacey
Added 2024-06-12 14:00:07 +0000 UTCI've been watching some of his longer interviews lately. In particular the Lex Friedman conversation, and I'm in the process of listening to the Piers Morgan one. What are your thoughts on him? As in, how does he seem to you? What are your feelings on the comeback attempt? I think his interviews are very tactful, measured, and his ability as an actor is indeed helping him here. Thus I'm not sure what to believe. That said, the whole thing is fascinating. I dont want to be closed off to anything, but I also find the whole thing strange. It's tough at the moment to understand the discourse because it's all fairly new. Those Christmas Eve videos he posted still creep me out lol. And yet no one asks him about that. It would be my first question.
Comments
I don't know. I mean, it's hard to separate art from the artist sometimes. With Kevin Spacy, this is especially true. All his redeemable qualities stem from his talent. None of us would be conversing about his contribution to the stage and film if he was 'just some guy.' His childhood was notably horrible. He experienced physical and sexual abuse from his father. I think his comeback attempts are pathetic, and he needs to, at the very least, hold himself accountable to the people he's harmed over the last 30 years. What is more shocking is the political narratives surrounding him and other perpetrators that were exposed in the #metoo movement. It's disgusting that Tucker Carlson and, to a lesser degree, Lux Freeman platform him with little to no pushback on the many allegations against him. A part of the conversation around sexual assault should be, "What does the authentic process of redemption look like for a predator ?" Instead, the discussion revolves around the innocence of the apparent perpetrators who have enough money and power to make things disappear for decades. I don't know, but I go back and forth. Can a pedophile or a rapist be redeemable? What would that look like? The productive aspect of the conversation should persist: "Are the powerful beyond good and evil?" How do we stop predators from feeling entitled to another person's body?" " How should consent be taught?" These are more important than Kevin Spacy is a talented genius; therefore, he should be forgiven.
Patrick Miller
2024-06-14 15:17:04 +0000 UTCYeah the whole situation is strange. Going back...I dont buy what he's saying about Epstein, when you listen to his phrasing. But to me I never thought Spacey disappeared into roles. There are many famous people who are open secrets in Hollywood where we still see their work. I dont see Spacey as any different. I think it's a combination of him being more guilty than we realize, but also as you say...perhaps distortion took place in the light of Weinstein and all the stuff that was happening at the time.
Deepfocuslens
2024-06-14 05:10:42 +0000 UTCWell said.
Deepfocuslens
2024-06-14 05:07:19 +0000 UTCSo I’m not entirely sure what to make of it but one quote that stuck out to me was when he said “I’d never looked into myself in the ways I had been asked to”. And to me that was surprising. Great actors, artists, and musicians help me explore ideas and emotions while asking tough questions about myself. If I were to guess anyone would be self-aware and introspective, it would be them. I don’t have an issue in separating art from the artists. I just wish great creatives would live up to the virtues they display in their art.
Emerson B
2024-06-14 04:25:49 +0000 UTCIt's tough because separating art from artist when these issues arise really make you super analytical and I wonder to myself if he's as great as I remember. He's been in roles that are absolutely killer no doubt, but I think him being exposed really just makes things so awkward now and hard for him to find a true next step. I think he had his chance and blew it unfortunately. If he comes back one day and just kills it in a role I'd be happy, but as it stands he totally fell off and the few attempts he's made to come back just suck. All rightfully so in my opinion. But if he was exposed today I think he would've gotten off a bit easier. He really got fucked by that 2017-2019 cancelpocolypse which was honestly in a lot of ways great and put away some bad people but in equal ways fucked over people who did nothing wrong. I'm not sure where Spacey lands in there exactly but if it's true what he did it's pretty bad, and he's had people come out against that just died apparently? Very strange situation overall. I don't really feel bad for him, but selfishly wish he could've done a few more movies lol.
The Trail We Banana
2024-06-14 03:24:28 +0000 UTCon one hand i thank its sad and he deserves a second chchance. your innocent untill proving gulity. someone correct me on that. was he officially charge or was it just allagations？on the other hand，I hate to cast stones but i do feel like hes guilty and should be blacklisted as a Predator
Herbert Baker
2024-06-13 05:39:57 +0000 UTCI said I can excuse second chances based on the situation, but perhaps I still can’t forgive those three even if they didn’t do the absolute worst of their accusations. Even if Spacey didn’t molest kids, the fact he admitted to acting inappropriately towards anyone is alarming. I saw part of his Piers Morgan interview and the bottom line is that he’s broke, so that gives an instant motive for him to try to rebuild his reputation. Schneider probably isn’t a child molestor, but he made a toxic work environment for his young actors without thinking about their needs. All of the sexual innuendos in his shows is also alarming. Now, Kubrick also reportedly had toxic film sets, but everyone knew it was part of his creative process in making great films. Kubrick’s actors completely idolized working with him and considered him a genius in interviews, even Shelley Duvall, then and now. Not the same can be said about Schneider’s actors. And Weinstein has way too many accusations against him to ignore. Those can’t all be false. I just personally feel like, when you’re a celebrity, you are representing your country in terms of the entertainment standard and when you do something severe, it’s hard to revert back to your positive image in the media. People just don’t forgive or forget things, especially in the social media age. We need to give those platforms to people who are actually kind, hard-working, and talented. They exist, too.
Shane Palamara
2024-06-13 02:45:08 +0000 UTCWell said. Especially the last bit about being given a second chance. If he’s caught again then it’s so over.
Stephen
2024-06-13 02:34:11 +0000 UTCI guess I'm late to the party on this, but I might as well throw in my two cents. I like Kevin Spacey as an actor, more or less. He's one of those actors where you can see the gears turning when he's giving a performance, like Dustin Hoffman, Edward Norton, or early Meryl Streep, but you don't mind it so much because it can be amazing to watch those gears at work. He's a consummate thespian. In old interviews, when he discusses his work or does impressions, you get the feeling that acting is in his blood, that he wouldn't want to be doing anything else. I suppose that makes what happened to him in some ways a tragedy. The one thing he loved doing was taken away from him and he was left without an audience. But there's a dark flip side to knowing that acting is at his core. It doesn't make him easy to trust. Pretending comes as easy to him as breathing, and so it must be taken into consideration as he gives all these interviews. He's never been one of those celebrities where he was unabashedly himself; there's always been a performative quality to him. Even when he should, he can't seem to turn it off, like in those creepy Christmas he posted for a while. Even in exile he must still play a role, leaning into the villain that the world has cast him as. With all that, there is the possibility that he is no different than before when he expresses contrition. He already had something of a reputation for being a colossal egotistical asshole before the scandal, so it didn't exactly shock and surprise when he was accused of groping PAs on House of Cards or sexually assaulting actors when he headed the Old Vic in England. It all seemed to come from his sense of entitlement at being a star. Hell, even before that, he got caught fucking Bryan Singer's teenage boyfriend on the set of The Usual Suspects. It seemed to be implied that he did it just because he could. It caused a whole situation between him and Singer that got swept under the rug. So there seems to be indications of a darker nature that Spacey hasn't even begun to acknowledge. And yet...who's to say that the last seven years haven't genuinely humbled him? What if he really has changed and learned the error of his ways? There's certainly something to say that he has yet to lose a court case involving his misconduct. I can't say. I don't know the full details as to how he won all his cases. He may just have an excellent legal team (though I do remember him insinuating in one of his videos that he killed a witness, which is extremely tasteless and reprehensible for him to do). But when is all said and done, I'm ultimately...reserved to him returning to acting. I wish every person he's wronged all the justice in the world, but I don't know if that extends to him having a career or not. If someone wants to hire him, so be it. Most everyone does deserve a second chance. I've always had a measure of annoyance for people who are hellbent on cancelled actors never working again anyways. They're usually the same people who say cancel culture doesn't exist. So if in the near future I see that Spacey is slowly but steadily rebuilding his career, I'll reserve judgment. I might even hold out hope that he gives a good performance. But should he be ever found out having his hands on another young male crew member again, may he be thrown off set with a beating and be reported to the press immediately.
Bennett Oliver
2024-06-13 02:07:25 +0000 UTCHe denies ever acting inappropriately to minors and he won the case easily. Rapp admitted in court that Spacey never touched him, which is what led to the decision. However he has admitted to acting inappropriately with adults. I think it's a muddy area. Neither of us will likely ever know the real truth. But bringing emotions into it is irrelevant. To believe in second chances, but then say you can't excuse him is contradictory. I think a lot of the Epstein/Pizzagate stuff was SO important to be exposed (Spacey claims he never saw/did anything with Epstein, but remembers Clinton and seeing young girls on the flights), but I also think it led to a series of people thinking that every person in Hollywood is a sexual predator. I do not believe that is the case. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. Yes, crazy things have happened and are still happening that celebrities keep quiet about. Some will be exposed and some won't. But...there is also a lot of twisting of the truth for victimization these days in the light of all these political movements. I watched part of the Spacey documentary where I listened to some of the victims tell their stories. I had less and less sympathy for them as they explained themselves. A lot of it was not nearly as bad as I initially thought. But...there's also all the miraculous deaths that happened with the victims that I never understood. This is why I am torn in many directions. But this is a long-winded, and jumbled way of saying...I think even with the Dan Schneider stuff...gotta keep an open mind about it. He is now suing the documentary filmmakers for twisting the truth and making him out to be more of a villain than he was. Now...I think Schneider is disgusting and I'm glad his toxic behavior was exposed. He deserves what comes to him if it's all true. But what if it's not as bad as we think? As in...what if he was a toxic professional who crossed the line one too many times? Maybe not a child molester. And what if there's a need to capitalize on villany through the media? Does he deserve such a public shaming for it? Or is it fun for us to prey on the downfall of the elites to the point of seeing no redemption? Same with the Weinstein case. A lot of why he was convicted in New York, had more to do with the hysteria in the media surrounding me too movement, than conducting a fair trial. I think he is guilty of course but...I also think he should be set free in New York if the trial was manipulated emotionally. Whether I like him, should have nothing to do with it. Rape is hard to prove decades after the fact. Just is. You gotta report it at the time, or it becomes too hard to justify the truth.
Deepfocuslens
2024-06-13 01:51:45 +0000 UTCSure, I believe in second chances based on the situation, but I really can’t excuse a grown adult being in any type of situation where they acted sexually towards a minor. I tend to believe these high-profile allegations because I just know people in that business with power and ego think they can do whatever they want. It happens so much in that business, especially with that recent Nickelodeon/Dan Schneider exposé miniseries. I just couldn’t look at Spacey the same way in any future roles, and it doesn’t help that I don’t care for him as an actor.
Shane Palamara
2024-06-12 23:42:25 +0000 UTCI don't think it's fair to compare Spacey and Weinstein in that way. Maybe I'm just ignorant. But it seems that Weinstein was the open secret in Hollywood. Everyone knew what he was, including big movie fans. It was never lost on me. When he was finally busted, it felt like a "oh...they finally are gonna arrest him. Neat" type of feeling from me. When it comes to Spacey, he always seemed to be distant as a human being, and he clearly had a massive ego. Sounded calculated since the beginning, just with a different energy. But I was quite surprised when the allegations came out. My dad told me at the time that it was an open secret to many that Spacey was gay. I had no idea personally. But yeah, he does sound remorseful through his words, but there's also that "woe is me" feeling that exists, especially when you combine it with the theatrical circus that is television. But I suppose you gotta play their games in order to find your redemption. So I'm kinda torn in several directions.
Deepfocuslens
2024-06-12 21:59:52 +0000 UTCIt seems there's more to the situation. It's like the Weinstein thing. I don't doubt all the things that have been exposed, but I don't think it's fair to convict him unless it's in accordance to the law. And thus I am in agreement with how things turned out for him in New York. I'm not against the same for Spacey. Again, I'm still skeptical of it all. But I do believe in second chances, if the feeling is honest. I have never been a Kevin Spacey fan either. I find he's more an experienced thespian who focuses more on technique, but I dont connect to him emotionally as a performer. This is why I love his role in L.A. Confidential. Because I think it perfectly encompasses a persona that Spacey understands and can hide behind, where the emotion can be subtle when it creeps in, and it's effective.
Deepfocuslens
2024-06-12 21:54:09 +0000 UTCI like a fair amount of Kevin Spacey’s films (and loved his directorial debut, Albino Alligator). Hollywood (or more so Hollyweird) in general is a cabal of creeps. So, making him and Harvey Weinstein the face of that evil seems unfair. These were the same people that Hollywood was praising knowing who these guys were long before the stories and lawsuits started coming out about them. The whole Hollywood system is garbage as are the actors and actresses who toe the line. It’s the people who try to disconnect themselves from Hollywood by getting away from there that I respect. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy some of the films of those who continue to stay in the system. But I don’t have much respect for them beyond their acting/writing/directing abilities. Until you die, you’re never beyond redemption. So, yes, I think Spacey can come back from this if he tries to redeem himself. Woe is me isn’t the route I would take, though. Being remorseful is the way to go.
TenzingNorgay82
2024-06-12 18:23:54 +0000 UTCPersonally, and possibly controversially, I never found his screen presence or acting abilities to be that great. Thinking of American Beauty and Se7en, his line delivery is very flat and he just sounds bored the whole time across both films. I believe the sexual allegations of young boys against him. I think this campaigning attempt by studios or whoever to uncancel him is pathetic and sick. He shouldn’t be given another chance in the industry. We need to weed out the Hollywood sickos because there are so many talented artists who are actually good humans and deserve his spotlight. Just my two cents.
Shane Palamara
2024-06-12 17:46:30 +0000 UTCBut also I'd like to add that the christmas videos were not only creepy, but cynical. The last one insinuated suicide or something that correlated to the open case at the time. And the whole thing just felt like the guy had blended into the Hollywood machine through the meltdown. Which...we see fairly often these days
Deepfocuslens
2024-06-12 17:44:55 +0000 UTCYeah. The thing is, nothing on tv is real. Nothing. Nothing you can film for television ratings is real. No debate you will see in the political race for instance, is real. It's all theater. Once you realize it, the motives become quite obvious. I have nothing against him wanting to have that public revival. Everyone deserves a second chance. But there's a strange calculated quality to it all that is...yes, very tv. Any real work is done behind the scenes. But smart of him I think, to go to people like Lex Friedman, who wont judge him, and will respect him. But then you can go to your tabloid-y invasive journalistic style of Piers Morgan, which makes Spacey seem all the more classy, by contrast. All of this I think is intentional. Television is politics with better looking people. No different. Kevin is skilled at dancing around the right questions and appearing a class act through the dodge. He hasnt changed there. There's a manipulative vibe I get from him always. But...Again, not opposed at all to hearing what he has to say. It's fascinating. Though I get to have my perceptions on it.
Deepfocuslens
2024-06-12 17:42:43 +0000 UTCWell put. I am pretty much in agreement with you. I do think though, that these interviews he's doing are more for his benefit in the long run, and he knows that. A sort of humiliation exposing before the revival. And thus I tend to believe it's all quite measured. The Piers Morgan interview felt invasive. But...Spacey knew what he was getting into. I think he partly wanted to have those questions asked so that he could deflect.
Deepfocuslens
2024-06-12 17:38:23 +0000 UTCYeah I’m pretty much in the same boat with you in regards to the creepy holiday videos he put out for a few years. They came off like “Yeah I’m guilty, but you miss me right?” Just the absolute last thing you do if you’re an innocent man. It needs to be addressed. Otherwise, I really have a hard time believing anything he says right now. It all feels like a performance. The only thing consistent with him is that he desperately wants to be an actor again. I will say the emails shared in the Piers Morgan interview are a vote in his favor that not everybody making allegations are being totally honest. In regards to the Anthony Rapp allegations, I’ll never forget that episode of Family Guy where a character randomly brings them up, years before he officially came forward. It’s fair to say his story had long been floating around Hollywood circles. Rapp clearly believes what he’s saying, he’s not going to apologize like Spacey suggests he should. Anyways, believe it or not, I recently watched a movie starring Spacey called Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) where he literally plays a wealthy gay man who’s outed publicly after certain allegations are made about him. Watching it now in 2024 is absolutely wild given where the movie goes.
Stephen
2024-06-12 16:25:34 +0000 UTCHe's a creep, but he's not Harvey Weinstein. He tried to lure my heterosexual cousin back to his hotel room with an invite to an afterparty that turned out to be just him. I believe all the rumors but I also don't think he's beyond redemption, assuming he never engages in that behavior again and finds the right project to showcase his talents. I thought his Christmas Eve videos were an attempt to fuse the popularity of his House of Cards persona with what his public image had become in some faint hope of resurrection. Obviously that failed and now he's trying to come back as a cautiously contrite familiar face. I suspect he'll appear in something before long and wouldn't avoid watching it because of his baggage.
James ODonoghue
2024-06-12 14:18:18 +0000 UTC
