Honestly, the only way you could be asking is if you spent zero time on the Interwebbings, which means you're most likely not reading our post either. Still, here's a brief recap of the incident and ensuing controversy:
In an interview with The Independent, Neeson revealed how he reacted to news of a female friend of his being raped.
“I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person.I went up and down areas with a cosh, [
a thick heavy stick or bar used as a weapon; a bludgeon} hoping I’d be approached by somebody – I’m ashamed to say that – and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some [Neeson gestures air quotes with his fingers] ‘black bastard’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could,” another pause, “kill him.”
The point of this admission, according to the actor, was to point out how horribly he felt about his actions and what he learned as a result. He refers to the experience as "awful" and says he finally reached a point where he asked himself what the fuck he was doing:
"“I come from a society – I grew up in Northern Ireland in the Troubles – and, you know, I knew a couple of guys that died on hunger strike, and I had acquaintances who were very caught up in the Troubles, and I understand that need for revenge, but it just leads to more revenge, to more killing and more killing, and Northern Ireland’s proof of that. All this stuff that’s happening in the world, the violence, is proof of that, you know. But that primal need, I understand.”
Neeson appears to be coming from a place of regret and insistence that he learned from that experience and is disgusted that he ever committed those actions in the first place. He views his comments as a way to express the aspects of human existence most people refuse to face, as is often the path taken by artists. So, of course, the online crucifixion began immediately. Naturally the by now worn out expression "toxic masculinity" was used, thereby ignoring eons of human development and behavior. Even if it is an example of toxic masculinity (which is a thing, don't get us wrong) it's also an example of a man realizing that and confessing his sins. Or is it? Read the discussion below to find out what we thought:
C: First of all, how can Key and Peele be wrong?
T: Key and Peele are never wrong.
C: Except that one time.
T: We don't talk about that.
C: Talk about what?
T:Exactly.
C: ...
T: ...
C: *Clears throat*
T: Hey, did you hear about that Liam Neeson thing?
C: Why, yes. As a matter of fact, I thought we could discuss it on this here blog right here.
T: I'm sort of conflicted on how I feel about his admission.
C: How so?
T: Part of me respects the fact that he was honest about it and admitted he was wrong. That shows growth. But at the same time I'm bothered by the fact that if he had run into a random black man, this would be a different story.
C: It might not be a story at all. Somebody might have died without it ever being known.
T: That may very well be true.
C: My issue is with the criticism and the hypocrisy.
T: This should be interesting. Explain.
C: People like to pretend they don't have a dark side. It's why they look down on people who like horror.
T: They do. And honestly, that's what I respect about what [Neeson] said. He owned his darkness and took responsibility for it.
C: He also used it as a learning/teaching moment. This happened forty years ago! The world was a very different place. That's not an excuse for bigotry, it's an attempt to set proper context for actions he clearly regrets and, even more, is ashamed of. Y'know, so many Christians claim they love stories about redemption but the ones they seem to love are bullshit spin jobs used to manipulate them. A real story of redemption comes along and they scream "BOYCOTT that penitent man!"
T: I understand it happened forty years ago and honestly I don't believe he's racist; I do believe he had a bigoted moment and the fact that he owned up to it of his own free will speaks volumes about the man he is.
C: Exactly. Who knows if he ever had an overt racist thought in his head before that? Probably not. This one experience forced him to face an ugly part of himself that might have remained buried. I feel the need to tell a story.
T: Go for it.
C: Someone whose identity I won't reveal but who i relatively close to me saw something when he was returning home from the South on a bus. This would've been either the 1950s or early Sixties. A group of young white guys grabbed a young black guy and beat him severely right there in the bus station. This person remembers seeing the victim get kicked under another bus right before his pulled off.
T: That's fucked up.
C: He said all he could think was how when he got home he was going to grab the first white guy he saw and beat the shit out of him. Unlike Liam Neeson, he did just that. This wasn't even because of someone he knew personally.
T: That's just sad. But back then attacks on blacks were commonplace.
C: Absolutely. But this was the first thing that sprang to mind when I heard Neeson's comments. This person regrets his actions, too. But it's an all-too human response despite the attempts to label normal behavior as toxic masculinity.
T: That's probably why his story hits a nerve to some degree. There was a time when whites would destroy an entire black neighborhood for an accusation of what happened to his friend. Even though he admitted being wrong, it still reminds us of those stories from the past.
C: Entire towns were wiped out in some cases.
T: Yeah.
C: Excellent point. In a broader sense, though, you can't go around saying white people are racist by virtue of the system you're living under and then chastise one when they admit to a racist impulse and express disgust about their own actions. It's hypocritical.
T: I don't think all whites are racist but there is a large majority that is biased towards what they're conditioned to believe [about non-whites]. But then again aren't we all?
C: Not me. I'm awesome.
T: Is that what they conditioned you to believe?
C: It's what I conditioned them to believe.
T: Nice.
C: I know you don't think that, however, the accepted viewpoint on living in a racist society is that the majority power race is racist even when they don't want or mean to be me.
T: That is very true.
C: What are your thoughts on the online attacks?
T: Senseless and serves no real purpose. I really wish someone would ask him to sit down with them and discuss his story, hopefully someone of color. I don't think the interview would be taken seriously otherwise. And he needs to shut up now. The more he tries to explain, the worse it gets.
C; Anything else?
T: The one thing we can take from this incident is that we, as a nation, need to have a real conversation about race and racism.
C: I feel like if Neeson stood up and testified with this same story in front of a black congregation instead of in a press junket, he would have been applauded.
T: You might be right about that. The conversation needs to honestly deal with racism against people of color in particular. You can't make a better future until you're willing to confront the past.
C: Let me piggyback off that by saying a portion of that includes not condemning someone for trying to have the conversation when the facts upset us.
T: Absolutely.
Let the hate comments commence~
