“I don’t understand this mentality of yours. Maybe it’s because you hate Trump,” director Oliver Stone told “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert in a Monday night interview about his latest project, “The Putin Interviews.”
The comment came after Colbert questioned Stone about his “respect” for Russian president Vladimir Putin — to which Stone asked aloud why people like Colbert were so against a peaceful relationship with Russia.
“Russia is a convenient excuse for hacking the election,” Stone later said to Colbert, whose best question to the man who has spent hours upon hours interviewing one of the most influential men in the world was, “Do you like Vladimir Putin?”
[lz_ndn video=32546270]
While Oliver Stone has never been a conservative or pro-Trump (he voted for Green Party nominee Jill Stein in 2016), he’s absolutely right. Russia is a convenient enemy for the Left and the mainstream media in their effort to paint a narrative about the 2016 election. You won’t see such vigor and harsh words from Colbert and other mainstream media outlets, for example, about Islamic terrorists and extremists that make Putin look like The Little Mermaid — and that’s because it is not convenient. It’s not politically correct at the moment, and it doesn’t help them align against President Trump.
Rewind to 2012, and the Left hit conservatives hard for saying anything negative about Russia. Jump to 2016, and Hillary Clinton appeared ready to begin World War III with them. Time is funny that way.
The second part of filmmaker Oliver Stone’s “The Putin Interviews,” a collection of conversations between the “JFK” filmmaker and the Russian president, aired Tuesday night, and Putin had plenty more to say.
Related: Vladimir Putin Opens Up to Oliver Stone About America, al-Qaida, and More
Stone again managed to paint a more thorough picture of the mysterious figure at the center of so many leftist conspiracy theories than anyone else in the past — but he still lacked a strong representation of the United States. When Putin made certain claims about the U.S., Stone didn’t try to stand up for the values or ideas of our country. That was a shame.
The most entertaining exchange between Putin and Stone came in the middle of a conversation about the potential of a nuclear war in the future. Stone convinced Putin to watch the Stanley Kubrick classic “Dr. Strangelove,” a satire on warmongering politicians and potential nuclear war.
“There are certain things in this film that indeed make us think, despite the fact that everything you see onscreen is make-believe. He foresaw some issues even from a technical point of view, things that make us think about real threats that exist,” Putin said to Stone after viewing the movie. It was an opportunity Stone seemed giddy about, a chance to remind the world he is an more of an artist than a political figure others often make him out to be.
[lz_third_party align=center width=630 includes=https://youtu.be/_IvI3annh8o]
“Balance is of the utmost importance,” Putin said to Stone when questioned about hypothetical nuclear war with the United States, saying he wanted to open “dialogue.” Stone brought up Hillary Clinton’s past comments that compared Putin to Hitler — which the Russian leader dismissed.
Audiences also got more of a picture of Putin’s oddball nature, as Stone followed him to the ice to watch him play hockey. Putin insisted the other players treated him equally, but it is hard to see that as anything more than a fantasy.
Despite a past in which he seemed chummy with such violent dictators as Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, Stone did manage to push Putin on several issues regarding social freedoms in Russia. (go to page 2 to continue reading)[lz_pagination]
Join the Discussion
Comments are currently closed.