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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Liam Neeson

296 replies

PatricksRum · 04/02/2019 13:12

www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/liam-neeson-rape-black-man-attack-cosh-cold-pursuit-sexual-assault-interview-a8760866.html

Why is The Independent acting so casual towards this blatant act of racism?

OP posts:
PatricksRum · 05/02/2019 14:19

Not rtft
Had it been a ginger guy who raped his friend, presumably he'd be on the hunt for a ginger

Ginger isn't a race.

OP posts:
PatricksRum · 05/02/2019 14:22

Like I say OP it's insulting to our intelligence to claim that people would hunt down white men, any white man, if a white man committed a crime.

100%

OP posts:
ShatnersWig · 05/02/2019 14:25

@PatricksRum - genuine question this, not being goady. What's your opinion on what John Barnes has said?

Limensoda · 05/02/2019 14:39

Anyone that claims to have absolutely no racist thoughts or stereotypes - bollocks

I agree. Racism is awful but I think those who claim they have never had negative thoughts about any stereotypes of any race,sex,etc are lying or in denial. There is racism in every race, culture and colour.
Like John Barnes says, Neeson has been honest about his thoughts at that time following a horrific event in his life. He's ashamed of those thoughts and actions now and yet people are very keen to stick to what he did then and ignore the fact he regrets it and has learned from it.
Some are as much determined for 'revenge' on him for what he said in the past, as he was determined for revenge for his friend.

Badstyley · 05/02/2019 14:47

And there we have it, a rich white man turning a woman being raped into a story about himself and his own inability to deal with his emotions in a healthy way. There are so many layers of wrong here I can’t even...

And yeah, he’s racist. I doubt he would’ve gone out looking for a white man, because he would’ve found one, but of course he wouldn’t have done that anyway.

And behind all this is a woman who was raped, but it’s not about her is it. It never is.

MrsSmudge · 05/02/2019 14:56

It wasn't an horrific event in his life, it was something that happened to his friend that he chose to react in an undeniably racist way to. By going out to try to commit murder. Surely no one can be denying it was racist.

Are we will racist to some degree, yes. (Most not to this degree!). John Barnes is right that we need to question racism. But Liam Neeson hasn't enabled that. As this thread has shown he's allowed a lot of people to show their racism by so easily explain it away.

He chose to tell a story about something horrific he did. Being sorry later doesn't mean you can't expect outrage. Saying it as part of a press promotional interview suggests Neeson hasn't grasped the seriousness. Due to casual, structural racism.

People are right to condemn what he did and the way he's discussed it. This is in no way the same as going after him for revenge, just as he did. Unless you're waiting to murder him outside a pub.

Eastie77 · 05/02/2019 15:01

As a Black female I find John Barnes' comments embarrassing. Apparently Neeson 'deserves a medal' and his horrific plans were entirely the fault of 'society' and its portrayal of Black men. Nothing at all to do with Neeson clearly being a violent racist.

And yes, he is a racist because the first question he asked his friend who had just suffered a horrendously traumatic attack was "what colour was he"? In what universe is that a normal response? Wouldn't you be more concerned about your friend's welfare? Certainly, further down the line you might ask questions about the attackers appearance, if she recognised him etc. But why on earth would the attackers race be your first thought unless you were an out and out racist.

If every Black person with a friend who had been attacked or racially abused by a white person decided to stalk the streets with a cosh looking for a white person in order to exact revenge...well it wouldn't be pretty would it. But apparently it's ok for a white man to those plans because after a week of Black man hunting he came to his senses.

Incidentally, I wonder where all of this occurred. Presumably not in London where there are Black men on every corner. Something tells me brave Mr Neeson wouldn't go wondering down Brixton high street looking for a victim.

Consolidatedyourloins · 05/02/2019 15:05

Imagine the uproar if a Muslim said they wanted to kill the first white person they came across after the war on Iraq or Afghanistan.

Limensoda · 05/02/2019 15:21

I doubt he would’ve gone out looking for a white man, because he would’ve found one, but of course he wouldn’t have done that anyway
He was waiting for a black man to 'have a go at Jim's
He did find black men but none that had a go at him.
Wrong whether black or white ....but get facts right.

Limensoda · 05/02/2019 15:21

HIM.... Not Jim's

BlueKarou · 05/02/2019 15:22

Neeson's actions/thought process was clearly racist and deplorable, am totally with you on that one OP.

The first thing that came to my mind when hearing about this was sheer indignation at LN's need to display his macho bravado, that upon hearing his friend was brutally raped he immediately made it about him, and his own need for vengeance/mob justice. That is not a normal response. If I hear a friend of mine is hurt I don't immediately want to hunt down and attack anyone of even the same race as the person who attacked them. I want to be there for my friend. LN made this event about himself, and about his own need to beat his chest and show off how big and tough he is. Absolutely hideous behaviour, definitely with a big ol' chunk of racism thrown in as he was so determined to sate his rage on any black man that happened to look at him the wrong way.

ShatnersWig · 05/02/2019 15:34

@Eastie I don't think Barnes seriously thinks Neeson should get a medal. People have been suggesting he be stripped of his OBE and Barnes is pointing out the hypocrisy surrounding Churchill which was raised again last week to which Piers Morgan took huge exception, as did thousands on Twitter. As Barnes points out, Churchill WAS a mass murderer and white supremacist but apparently for the vast majority of people that's something we just forget about and that he's the greatest Englishman of the 20th century. We don't see people baying for Churchill to have his awards removed, his statues taken down, buildings and roads named after him changed.

ShatnersWig · 05/02/2019 15:41

@PatricksRum Also another genuine questions - why did you feel the need to start another identical thread 90 minutes ago having already started this one yesterday?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3499983-liam-neeson-2

PatricksRum · 05/02/2019 15:43

@ShatnersWig Interested to see if the prople who claimed he was apologising for being racist would comment.

OP posts:
Whatafustercluck · 05/02/2019 15:47

Anyone that claims to have absolutely no racist thoughts or stereotypes - bollocks

Everyone has a level of unconscious bias. Most don't act on it and challenge themselves about those 'thoughts' when they become apparent. That's entirely different to hunting down a random based purely on the race (or other characteristics) of one person who committed a crime. If a man hurt either of my children I'd want to hurt him, not any man at all.

ShatnersWig · 05/02/2019 16:04

@PatricksRum I'd still be interested to know what your views are on what John Barnes has said?

MrsSmudge · 05/02/2019 16:09

I definitely agree popular interpretations of Churchill need to be challenged, and Piers Morgan was an example of why it's necessary and difficult to have that debate (he really embarrassed himself).
Also, I'd do away with the honours system anyway.

But I think the reference to Churchill is a bit of whatabouterry. Liam Neeson is alive and kicking, and I think people have the right to question whether he deserves honours without it being portrayed as 'baying'.

Did Liam Neeson really think people would just nod and congratulate him on changing his mind? He can tell the story, say he's repented but that didn't mean people have to accept, forgive or forget.

Consolidatedyourloins · 05/02/2019 16:19

@Whatafuctercluck excellently put, I completely agree.

PatricksRum · 05/02/2019 16:30

@Whatafustercluck I need to copy your comment. Puts it perfectly.

OP posts:
derxa · 05/02/2019 16:31

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/5PfmhlfVkXNbN8NLsJPc9mv/winston-churchill
I definitely agree popular interpretations of Churchill need to be challenged, and Piers Morgan was an example of why it's necessary and difficult to have that debate (he really embarrassed himself).
The Green MSP who debated this issue with Piers Morgan didn't exactly cover himself in glory either. Churchill has always been a controversial figure.

ShatnersWig · 05/02/2019 16:36

Christ, which thread should we be commenting on, this one or the other one?

ShatnersWig · 05/02/2019 16:39

@PatricksRum It seems pretty clear, that you hadn't read the full interview but started your initial thread from the SEPARATELY PULLED OUT EXCERPT that you posted from the Independent which OMITTED many of the other details which included talk about Northern Ireland. You pooh-poohed the suggestion from other posters about that but it's absolutely there in black and white if you read it.

But you didn't did you? You went for the knee jerk reaction that the media wanted you to have.

Have a look at THIS, which is the full piece that the Independent published. It's a much longer piece and then goes into WHY Neeson may have thought like this from acknowledged experts in the area of rape trauma and psychology.

www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/liam-neeson-interview-rape-race-black-man-revenge-taken-cold-pursuit-a8760896.html

I'm not making a call either way on whether I agree with the experts in this article, nor am I siding with Neeson. However, I do think people need to read the full piece in context, with the accompanying opinions, before commenting.

helacells · 05/02/2019 16:45

Yep he's a bonafide twat and he's ruined what's left of his career.

Bombardier25966 · 05/02/2019 16:48

@Eastie77 One of the first questions the police ask is the skin colour of an attacker. It helps to build up a picture of who they are looking for. It's a perfectly normal response. What you then do with that information may or may not be a normal or proportionate response.

MrsSmudge · 05/02/2019 16:51

@derxa I was impressed. He was calm and factual. And didn't have a temper tantrum.
But that's not really what this thread is about.

In general, please give over trying to normalise or justify going out (not thinking about) to murder someone based on their skin colour. Regardless of where you grew up, or what happened to someone you love. It's unjustifiable.

And, the police ask about race for a different reason than Neeson did.

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