Nature abhors a vacuum and now that the whole Kavanaugh thing has died down, that leaves a lot of empty space for hot takes and online high dudgeon. One of the things that has filled the outrage void this week is Jamie Lee Curtis.
Forty years after the actress appeared in the original John Carpenter slasher flick, ‘Halloween,’ the 59-year-old Curtis is back again, still being menaced, against all odds, by the apparently un-killable, knife-wielding Michael Myers.
In the latest iteration of the story, Curtis’s character is ready to turn the tables on Myers. Judging from the trailer, she intends to go after him this time. With a gun.
Evil is real. #HalloweenMovie pic.twitter.com/l5wDrWxJgL
— #HalloweenMovie (@halloweenmovie) September 5, 2018
Fox News noted the presence of Laurie Strode’s lever-action rifle and called Curtis out for her Hollywood hypocrisy since she’s been a vocal advocate for “common sense gun safety reform” or whatever the euphemism du jour is.
…Curtis’s on-screen actions stand in contrast to her real-life persona as an advocate for gun control — one of several Hollywood actors who use firearms in their films while preaching against them away from the set.
In light of several high-profile mass shootings, Curtis has voiced her support for gun reform legislation. But she’s also appeared in films such as “True Lies,” “Virus,” “Halloween II” and “Blue Steel” where she uses firearms multiple times.
A poster for “Blue Steel” (1990) features her holding a handgun.
Assault weapons ban now! Assault weapons ban now! Assault weapons ban now! Assault weapons ban now! Assault weapons ban now!
— Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) September 17, 2013
But Curtis isn’t sitting still for the criticism.
Curtis, who returns to the screen in “Halloween” on Oct. 19, says her views on gun reform have been clear. “I am vocal about common-sense gun safety and gun laws,” she says. “For instance, I fully support an assault weapon ban, I fully support a bump stock ban.”
That doesn’t make her anti-gun, she clarifies. “I fully support the Bill of Rights. And fully support the Second Amendment. And have absolutely no problem with people owning firearms if they have been trained, licensed, a background check has been conducted, a pause button has been pushed to give time for that process to take place. And they have to renew their license just like we do with automobiles – which are weapons also.”
OK then.
Something called comicbook.com is getting into it too, for some reason, pointing out that Curtis is an actress, one who occasionally portrays fictional characters that display behaviors and traits different from those of the actual person standing in front of the lens.
Given that Curtis is an actress who makes a living by pretending to be things that she isn’t in reality, social media had a field day by mocking [Fox] with other instances of her on-screen characters not reflecting who she really is as a person as well as other famous actors.
They then highlighted a number of tweets pointing out Fox’s alleged cluelessness.
In the movie Freaky Friday she does a body swap with her daughter despite being an opponent of witchcraft. Something for your investigative team to look into
— PeterNorway (@classiclib3ral) October 10, 2018
Ryan Gosling pretends to be Neil Armstrong in ‘First Man’ movie, despite the fact that he’s actually acclaimed actor, Ryan Gosling
— Students for Democracy (@lister_lester) October 10, 2018
In Home Alone 2 @realDonaldTrump helps a child separated from his parents, but in real life…
They could look into this too.
— Finn Sheerin (@silverbluefin) October 10, 2018
You get the idea. As in all these dust-ups, nothing has been revealed or resolved as a result of any of this. All that’s really been made clear is that far too many people have far too much time on their hands if this is what keeps them occupied.