May 1, 2022

"The world is different than it was when I was a little kid. What I always thought was funny as a little kid isn’t necessarily the same as what’s funny now."

"Things change and the times change so it’s important for me to figure it out. I think it’s a sad dog that can’t learn any more. I don’t want to be that sad dog and I have no intention of it."

Said Bill Murray, quoted in "Bill Murray admits behaviour on set towards a woman led to halt to film/Actor describes incident that took place during production of Being Mortal as a ‘difference of opinion’" (Guardian).

32 comments:

Temujin said...

"Difference of opinion"

He said, "Kiss it" (thinking, It worked for Bill Clinton.)
She said, "I'm outta here, you fascist pig! Call in the Feds."

Yes, things are different from those 'heady' days when you were a kid.

Enigma said...

Jerry Seinfeld stopped doing his stand up comedy routine at colleges 20 or 25 years ago. They had no sense of humor. There were sacred cows everywhere. Campuses were then filled with nothing but sacred cows. Now those cows fill business and try to cancel stand up comedian Joe Rogan and the painfully obvious humor of the Babylon Bee.

Ending humor is how new religions are born. Enter the new Hays Code. "Hate speech" becomes McCarthyism. What's old is new again. The left wing becomes the right and the right becomes the left.

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-the-hays-code-1934/

David Begley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
wildswan said...

I'd like to know what the "behavior" was and what the supposed relationship between the two was. Were they supposed to be professional equals and did he treat her like a needy career-driven starlet? Or did he say "if we're equals, then you are a guy" and spout off some of the stuff guys think is funny? Or was it wrong pronouns? Did he ridicule pretensions? Or a person?

David Begley said...

I watched the interview in real time. Becky did a great job asking questions and Bill gave sincere answers. He had been slimed by the Press. I think Becky Quick saved his reputation.

Aggie said...

Good boy - here's some more dirt for you to eat.

I don't know what the offense was, but Murray has a bad-boy reputation that's been earned enough times to be taken as real, i.e. known in advance of any present film work. I've known & worked with plenty of outrageous people; if they are offensive, you just tell them to f*ck off, f*ck straight off, and then you go back to what you're doing. Because a person can still be worth the trouble. But seeing this old-man cringey 'education' whine, that's just pathetic. Too many contributing people have been sacrificed at the altar of Puritan intolerance now. Time to end the terror.

Critter said...

It must be hard to feel relevant when your notable movies were 38 years (Ghost Busters) and 42 years (Caddyshack) years ago. By mentioning only those two movies the Guardian is making a point about Murray’s career.

Gypsy Jenni said...

Under Hays Code, the movies were great. I view film noir, old stars who acted, and the classics on YouTube. No need to fast forward. Hollywood morphed into Hollyweird, sad.

Leland said...

He probably made a Wang joke.

Rory said...

"Being Mortal stars Murray, Seth Rogen and Aziz Ansari, who is writing, directing and producing the movie."

Ansari had some troubles of his own a few years ago.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Being Mortal.

Stop that!

Lurker21 said...

True, the world has changed a lot since 1950s Chicagoland. A look at John Hughes films will show you that a lot has also changed since 1980s Chicagoland.

Bill built a career on being a loveable jerk and did well for himself. Is he going to drop the jerk part now, or just find new ways of expressing it?

Just what exactly he's really accusing himself of isn't clear. It could be terrible or nothing much at all.

One hopes he's trying to be a better person in the second half of his life than he was in his first, but how much of his gift was inseparable from being a jerk?

MayBee said...

Rory said...
"Being Mortal stars Murray, Seth Rogen and Aziz Ansari, who is writing, directing and producing the movie."

Ansari had some troubles of his own a few years ago.



Oh boy.

This Bill Murray thing, whatever it is.

Seth Rogan got in a Twitter dustup, calling Eve Barlow "Eve Fartlow". Eve is currently in a friendly/romantic/professional relationship with Amber Heard, and got kicked out of the courtroom a few weeks ago for cropping the date out of an instagram photo that the lawyers then used to boot a Depp witness off the stand. Of course, this all started because the ACLU wanted to write up domestic violence as a gender-based violence. Which it turns out, for this case could not be more ironic.

And

Aziz Ansari had a bad date that got written up and published in a women's magazine at the height of the #MeToo movement, in which we were lead to believe that it is still rape-y behavior on the man's part if the woman decides to just say yes to sex because it's easier than saying "no".

So yes, everything is a thing.

Joe Smith said...

He has had a good run.

But I've always suspected he was a raging asshole beneath the 'everyman' shtick.

I just couldn't understand how everyone else didn't see it too...

n.n said...

We no longer shoot unarmed women on or off the hill with plausible cause.

Krumhorn said...

It was Keke Palmer. The wokegas is thick with possibilities of what might have set her off.

- Krumhorn

John henry said...

I love Bill Murray's comedy but I like his straight dramatic roles even better. My favorite Murray movie is The Razors Edge.

I wish the guardian article had more detail. Variety, last week, said it was differences over the script (or direction or something to do with filming)

Apparently Bill and the woman felt strongly and got into a spirited discussion.

If it had been a man, after hearing bills thoughts and disagreeing with them, he would have said "don't be an asshole about this bill and do it my way" Bill might have made some rude, walked away muttering to himself then did it the way he was told as professionally as he could. An hour later nobody would

Or he might have taken it to a higher level.


But because this involved a woman we get all this bullshit including a lot of expense s,

rcocean said...

2003 - Lost in Translation AA nominee
2012, 2014, 2015 2019 - GG award nominee
2017 - Primetime Emmy Award
2015 - Screen Actor Guild Awards
2020 - chicago Film critic - best acting award

Murray's career is doing quite well for a guy over 60.

iowan2 said...

Non story without details. Hurt feelings. As we age, we care much less for decorum. When visiting mom in care facility, there was a 80s something women. She hit on every man that walked by and told them in the most crude way what she wanted.... sexually.

John henry said...

(cont)

A lot of expense shutting down the movie and, worst IMHO, Murray having to debase himself in a bullshit "struggle session"

Otoh, since we only have hint about what actually happened I ould have it all wrong.

But that's not the way I'd bet if for Ed to.

John LGKTQ Henry

John henry said...

On the other hand, how many of us would have heard of this movie without this story?

Perhaps they are taking a page from the Chik-Fil-A marketing book.

John LGKTQ Henry

John henry said...

It probably makes me a sexist but this made me think of the collision a couple of years ago.

The woman in combat control and the woman officer of the deck didn't like each other and were not talking. Including sharing ship critical information.

Shipmates died because of this.

I suppose it could happen with guys but it ses less likely and if it did they'd have wound up in port's mouth naval prison.

John LGKTQ Henry

BUMBLE BEE said...

A battle of sodomites... But, But, But this is Gomorrah! Shaken not stirred.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Isn't this a good example of what Elon Musk says about extending the human life span.

"People don't change their minds, they just die."

Jupiter said...

Women ruin everything again.

Ted said...

A decade or two ago, people who worked with stars like George Clooney or Arnold Schwarzenegger would talk about how much fun it was that they played practical jokes on set. Those guys are lucky it was then and not now, because today it would be virtually guaranteed that someone would get mad about whatever prank it was, HR would get involved, and the story would mushroom on social media and in the press to the point where they any mention of them would come with a "bad person" disclaimer.

Saint Croix said...

It must be hard to feel relevant when your notable movies were 38 years (Ghost Busters) and 42 years (Caddyshack) years ago. By mentioning only those two movies the Guardian is making a point about Murray’s career.

St. Vincent is amazing. His best work, I think. Murray has gotten more interesting as he's aged.

Joe Smith said...

'You don't know what he purportedly did, but you assume it's because he's a raging asshole.'

There have been stories about him for years. This isn't the fist thing I've heard.

And it's called an opinion.

Are you looking to join Biden's Ministry of Truth?

Readering said...

Impressive that the details have not emerged. A tight cast and crew really wants to save the production.

PM said...

I hope he didn't call her the worst thing you can call a woman, the one that goes moo.

John henry said...

St croix

I had never heard of Saint Vincent. I watched it tonight on YouTube.

You may be right about it being his best work ever.

This is the kind of serious/semi-serious movie that I think he really shines in.

Thanks for the recommendation

John LGKTQ Henry

Aggie said...

I thought St. Vincent was quite good, as well.