I saw that interview, and a much more interesting interview with the three (Washington, Streep, and Demme) on Charlie Rose, where they also discussed politics. Denzel came across more articulately on Charlie Rose.

Anyway, I think the point that Denzel made about being black in America, so not being surprised at what is in F9/11, is a legitimate position to take, I just wish he had been more articulate about what that meant in the context of what was being discussed in that conversation. It is a 'two Americas' sort of thing he was referring to, ie that the black experience of the US is drastically different from the white experience of the US. Which is true for many, but not all, blacks and whites. The thing is, I don't understand why he was making that reference point a justification for why he felt he didn't need to see F9/11.

I think Denzel was on the defensive. In the past, he hasn't been very public with his political views, which is what Katie Couric was getting at. She wasn't very articulate either, though. She could have just said what I just did, and framed her question in that context. The thing was, she accused him of trying to portray her as asking loaded questions racially. Denzel (and I do love Denzel, regardless of his conservative worldviews) stuck it to Katie but good, with the "those folks" thing by responding stridently to the stereotypical suggestion that he was "Hollywood" in the sense that the right wing nuts use the stereotype to paint someone negatively.

Meryl Streep is smarter than Denzel (I mean, the woman is highly intelligent--graduated from Vassar, and like another highly intelligent film actor Angela Basset, Yale). That did show in both the interviews I saw. But I wouldn't say she was a whole lot smarter than Denzel. The guy is very intelligent too. And has something Streep lacks: street smarts. Streep has led a sheltered life. But at least she is smart enough to know that.

Denzel is a conservative Baptist, as I recall, so the banter between Denzel and Meryl had more to do with their religious views, I think, than their political ones.

And Denzel's point about the need to support the troops when they get home--again, I wish he could have been more articulate about that. He was talking very much like a father of a 19 year old son, which was very moving and potentially powerful. It also said to me that he didn't want to play the political blame game over Iraq, he just wanted to be sure that the returning vets would get the assistance and support they need, which IS a political hot potato right now, because the current crop of returning vets (especially the wounded) are feeling pretty used and abused right now.

But I think the main mistake made in that interview was by Katie Couric when she tried to turn the interview about a movie about presidential politics, into a poll on where the "Hollywood folk" stood on the war and F9/11. If I were doing the promo for my film, and the interviewer kept trying to get me to talk about some other guy's film, I'd be pretty perturbed. That is what I think Denzel was actually reacting to, was trying to be forced to reveal something that had nothing to do with why he was there.

Finally, if we are reacting to one another as humans, instead of as partisans on one side or another, we can always find the places where we agree, and that is always going to come down on the side of most things that matter, I think. I'm far to the left on the political spectrum, but that doesn't mean I'll boycott Denzel because he has a conservative black Baptist worldview that is very different from my own. That is just silly.