The film is called Running with Arnold , and the voice belongs to Alec Baldwin.
It was an odd pairing to begin with, the actor and liberal activist providing the narration for a movie about a Republican, namely Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But now Baldwin has fallen out of love with the project, which uses Nazi images in tracing the career of the Austrian-born California governor.
Alec Baldwin has found his Sister Souljah moment.
But it comes a little too late. Turns out he can no longer get his voice taken off the film that he has belatedly found offensive.
Baldwin described his revelation on the Huffington Post.
While no fan of Schwarzenegger, Baldwin says he found the film “unfair” to the governor. Perhaps he believes that lending his voice to Nazi rally images won’t go down well with most Americans, even those who share his left-wing views. That is, if the movie finds a distributor.
Maybe Baldwin should have spoken up when recording the tracks: “Um, any reason you have footage of Nazis marching…is this simply filler until you find the real visuals?” Apparently Baldwin called the producer soon after taping the six-hour session saying he had concerns. Even producer Dan Cox, according to Reuters, believes “somebody got to him and said something.”
Baldwin believes the filmmakers crossed the line of bad taste. He should know, since it’s a line he has crossed many times.
This is the man who opined about Bill Clinton’s impeachment on Late Night with Conan O’Brien by hilariously suggesting an attack on Republican congressman Henry Hyde: “…we would…go down to Washington and we would stone Henry Hyde to death! …and we would go to their homes and we’d kill their wives and their children. We would kill their families.”
Baldwin later apologized for the outburst after being chastised by uber political/entertainment statesman Jack Valenti, then head of the Motion Picture Association of America.
On a combative-radio appearance in March, Baldwin called conservative Sean Hannity a no-talent former construction worker. Hmm. Most people think construction workers add more value than most jobs out there.
And then we have this oldie but goodie about the election recount: “I know that’s a harsh thing to say, perhaps, but I believe that what happened in 2000 did as much damage to the pillars of democracy as terrorists did to the pillars of commerce in New York City,” Baldwin informed students at Florida A&M University.
We all say or do things that we regret, and it’s certainly more manly to fess up than not. But Baldwin’s history of inflammatory statements have depleted his well of public sympathy, at least among those who don’t share his anti-Bush views.
Baldwin has just begun a new NBC comedy, 30 Rock, and maybe he wants his audience to see him more as an actor rather than a hot-headed activist. By trying to undo his poor judgment over the Schwarzenegger film, Baldwin is casting himself as a man who believes in fairness. But this is one act that isn’t very convincing.
– Sheri Annis , a Washington, D.C. media consultant, worked for Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2002.