Here’s a quick reminder, in case you needed it: Just because an actor portrays a character in a movie you really, really like, and even if he does it really well, it doesn’t mean he’s not an ass. Just so you know.
On a related note, Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf in “The Lord of the Rings” and who plays Leah Teabing in “The Da Vinci Code,” replies to demands that move include a disclaimer by saying that the Bible itself should have a disclaimer. In an interview on the “Today Show” as transcribed on the NewsBusters blog, he says:
“Well, I’ve often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction. I mean, walking on water, it takes an act of faith. And I have faith in this movie. Not that it’s true, not that it’s factual, but that it’s a jolly good story. And I think audiences are clever enough and bright enough to separate out fact and fiction, and discuss the thing after they’ve seen it.”
Incidentally, on this whole disclaimer business, every movie includes a disclaimer at the end of the credits that usually says a variation on “All people, places, and events in this work are fictional and any resemblance to actual people, places, and events is entirely coincidental.” If this doesn’t compromise the artistic integrity, such as it is, of the moviemakers, why should putting it up front do so?
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McKellen paraded his habit of tearing out all the anti-sodomy pages of hotel Bibles back in the LOTR PR campaign. Makes you wonder whether a fool really can convincingly portray a wise man, provided it’s the wise man who writes the script.
The kids out here in Flyover have taken to calling him “Gay Gandalf.”
Heh.