I believe Neeson’s not racist
But that’s not going to stop his nonwhite fans from seeing him very differently now.
Oh man, not Liam Neeson. Not one of the coolest white male actors since Steve McQueen. Not the man who has given the world so many cool cinematic moments that are a testament to the length, depth and greatness of his career.
A moment that will live long is the scene from 2008’s Taken , where his character warns his daughter’s kidnappers about his ‘‘very particular set of skills’’ and gives them a chance to bring her back or ‘‘I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you’’.
He’s saying it into a phone and for an actor, phone acting is one of the hardest things to do convincingly, because there’s no one at the other end to play off. Yet Neeson makes that moment look like epic Shakespeare and so cements his coolness in the annals of movie history.
How, then, should one react to the controversy that’s enveloped him following his startling admission in an interview with The
Independent, while promoting his latest film Cold Pursuit .He said that about 40 years ago a close friend told him she’d been raped and her attacker was black, and he then spent a week walking around with a cosh hoping he’d be provoked by some ‘‘black bastard’’ so that he could ‘‘kill him’’.
It was a 15-minute typical press junket interview during which Neeson was sharing what he thought was a story of atonement. It was an example of the awful primal feelings of revenge that he had given into, until coming to his senses and seeking help from a priest and close friends. Before the interviewer could get him to expand on the story they were told time’s up by a minder, and so they weren’t able to offer Neeson a chance to provide more context or nuance.
The trouble is that once a story like this is out there, the first thought of most people – especially people of colour – is ‘‘holy s..., Liam Nesson admitted that one time back in the day he conspired to commit a racist hate crime’’.
On Good Morning America he doubled down, saying:
‘‘After that there were some nights, I went out deliberately into black areas in the city, hoping to be set upon so that I could unleash physical violence. And I did it maybe four or five times.’’
One of the things that makes Neeson such a star is his presence. At 66, he can be an imposing figure of menace, I shudder to think how he would have looked like at 26 walking around with a concealed weapon wanting to be provoked into violence. Thankfully an innocent black man wasn’t killed, and Neeson got through this angry period and went on to have a career that’s entertained the world.
The thing is that thanks to the history of the world, for a person of colour, the fear of being attacked by a white person for no other reason than the colour of one’s skin is very real. It still happens in the United States today.
After his Good Morning America appearance he was interviewed by Ryan Seacrest, who asked what he’d learned from it. Neeson’s answer was: ‘‘The need for dialogue.’’
Neeson maintains he would have had the same reaction whatever the ethnicity of his friend’s attacker. He says he’s not racist, and I believe him. Judge not, lest ye be judged, and all that.
But I wish his answer to that question was something like – back then, yes, he could have been racist – or at least, that he sees how that story could be seen as racist. That would have led to some useful dialogue. Moreso, I wish he just hadn’t shared that story at all.
I hope this won’t end his career. I’m pretty sure it will affect his fan base though – particularly his fans who aren’t white who, unfortunately, now won’t look at him the same again.