Were you a fan of the beautiful and talented Julie Christie in the 1970s? You may need to reconsider this subject of your adulation, since the star who portrayed Lara in Doctor Zhivago, and took our breath away in artistic treasures such as Fahrenheit 451, Far from the Madding Crowd, Shampoo, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, and (if you’re younger) the 2004 hit Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, has endorsed a letter to The Guardian on Monday, signed by a long list of first-class British actors, musicians, writers and directors, declaring, among other things:
“We reject Trump’s collusion with such racist manipulation and his disregard for international law. We deplore his readiness to crown the Israeli military conquest of East Jerusalem and his indifference to Palestinian rights. As artists and as citizens, we challenge the ignorance and inhumanity of these policies, and celebrate the resilience of Palestinians living under occupation.”
Say it ain’t so, Julie! (BTW, we did know the star of Women in Love is a patron of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, together with Jeremy Corbyn, but forgot. So no need to comment on that one. We looked it up)
It is no surprise that former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters signed this decrepit letter, full of misstatements of international law and world history. But Peter Gabriel (Genesis)? Mark Ruffalo (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; Where the Wild Things Are; Foxcatcher)? Tilda Swinton (Vanilla Sky; The Chronicles of Narnia; Michael Clayton)?
The list is very long – we didn’t recognize everybody on it, so maybe supporting anti-Israel causes is a career stepping stone for folks in the entertainment industry. We found several Israeli filmmakers, but they’ve been wearing the checkered keffiya for years and we don’t like their work, so the feeling is mutual.
Then there was the Indie group whenyoung – that’s three signatures – which we don’t know very well, but we picked them because you can do something about them, today! Their Peace On Earth 2017 with Dinosaur Jr. is playing at the Borderline in London tonight today, Tuesday the 12th, at 8:30 PM. All you have to do is not go, show those anti-Israel freaks what you’re made of.
Oh, and certainly no more Julie Christie retrospectives for us.
One good bit of news: we couldn’t find any Python on the list. Thank you, Mr. Cleese.