Marlon Brando a socialist

[Little Bobby Hutton]

Apart from being a superb actor, a fundraiser for charities around the globe, i am starting to think Marlon Brando is a Socialist, this is why.

After Little Bobby Hutton was killed by the phsycopigs, Marlon Brando showed great courage by putting the Vs up at the establishment and attending his funeral, this caused him to be ostrasized in the Film industry, yet this did'nt stop him refusing to collect his oscar on account of the poor representation native Americans recieve in the Industry and in life in general.

Is this kind of populist figure, good for adjusting reactionary mindsets in the first world, and how much impact does the actions of celebrities have on how the public react to certain things?

Little Bobby

http://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/188783
This is footage, enjoy

[Red Commissar]

I don't see how that qualifies him as a socialist. He has many progressive views (though there've been lingering accusations of antisemitism), but I hardly thinks that would qualify him to be a socialist.

[¿Que?]

I don't see how that qualifies him as a socialist. He has many progressive views (though there've been lingering accusations of antisemitism), but I hardly thinks that would qualify him to be a socialist.
What exactly does "lingering accusations of anti-semitism" mean. Is he anti-Zionist? I wouldn't doubt that every vocal anti-Zionist has been accused of being anti-semmitic at some point in their lives.

And I hate to break it to you guys (both of you), but Brando has been dead since 2004, according to wikipedia. Why do guys refer to him in the present tense?

[Little Bobby Hutton]

What exactly does "lingering accusations of anti-semitism" mean. Is he anti-Zionist? I wouldn't doubt that every vocal anti-Zionist has been accused of being anti-semmitic at some point in their lives.

And I hate to break it to you guys (both of you), but Brando has been dead since 2004, according to wikipedia. Why do guys refer to him in the present tense?

He might be dead, do what lol ?

[Red Commissar]

What exactly does "lingering accusations of anti-semitism" mean. Is he anti-Zionist? I wouldn't doubt that every vocal anti-Zionist has been accused of being anti-semmitic at some point in their lives.

He had made comments about Jews in Hollywood. It plagued him through the rest of his life with people trying to do character assassinations on him.


Why do guys refer to him in the present tense?

English isn't my first language, sorry. I will promptly re-educate myself.

[Kléber]

He was in Burn! (http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/drama/watch/v18512377jf57AndN)

[RadioRaheem84]

Um Brando was also in the anti-union movie On the Waterfront which intentionally overshadowed the pro-union movie that was pretty much banned in the US; Salt of the Earth.

[Red Commissar]

Um Brando was also in the anti-union movie On the Waterfront which intentionally overshadowed the pro-union movie that was pretty much banned in the US; Salt of the Earth.

Yes, that much is obvious. He supported progressive causes in regards to the civil rights movement, but that by itself is not enough to make him socialist, much less these kinds of anti-union statements he did. As far as I know he wasn't vocal in the HUAC blacklisting of Hollywood and went in step with them.

[x359594]

...much less these kinds of anti-union statements he did. As far as I know he wasn't vocal in the HUAC blacklisting of Hollywood and went in step with them.

He made On the Waterfront as a parting favor to Elia Kazan. After that, he cut his ties with him because Kazan named names. I can't think of any other movie in his filmography that can be construed as anti-union. As Kleber noted above he made Burn/Quemada for the Marxist director Gillo Pontecorvo.

Brando was in fact vocal about the destructive effects of HUAC, he was an opponent of the death penalty in California, a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, a supporter and advocate for the American Indian Movement; he contributed money for the defense of the Chicago 7 and in his last years he endowed a Tahiti-based alternative energy research institute. Among Hollywood actors Brando was as progressive as you can get without actually being a socialist.

One final remark. I saw a TV biography of Brando that aired several years ago and noted that he received high praise from people like Russell Means, Dick Gregory and William Kunstler while he was criticized for being uncooperative and insubordinate by establishment Hollywood figures. I think that says something about where his true sympathies lay.

[Angry Young Man]

I don't see how that qualifies him as a socialist. He has many progressive views (though there've been lingering accusations of antisemitism), but I hardly thinks that would qualify him to be a socialist.

Support for the Panthers and Native Americans takes you a little beyond the average tosser-liberalism of Hollywood, even if it doesn't make you a socialist.

[RED DAVE]

Also, culturally, Brando was an important figure. His motorcycle gang member in Wild One, his second film I think, was a model for teenage rebellion in the 50s, when things were pretty fucking tame. Likewise, it should be remembered that his character in On the Waterfront was seen as a rebellious character against a corrupt union establishment. (And the waterfront unions in the New York area were thorough mob run.) He lost steam in the 60s, but in the 70s appeared in some amazing films. Everyone remembers The Godfather, but recall, more significantl,y the above-mentioned Burn, a thorough-going anti-imperialist film, Apocalypse Now, and Last Tango in Paris.

There is no doubt that Brando was one of the great progressives of Hollywood history. He wasn't a socialist, few are. Vanessa Redgrave is an outstanding example. But he was almost always "on the side of the people."

RED DAVE

[Robocommie]

Support for the Panthers and Native Americans takes you a little beyond the average tosser-liberalism of Hollywood, even if it doesn't make you a socialist.

My policy is, if you think the Black Panthers were awesome, you can't be that bad a person.

[chegitz guevara]

During the late 60s and early 70s, it was the in thing to be invited to Pather functions and parties. Lots of Hollywood folks did. Being hip to the Panthers, for a Hollywood actor, at the that time, is not an indication of politics.

[Raightning]

Marlon Brando may or may not have been a socialist. It's absolutely impossible to tell someone's political affliations if they aren't actively political, and even then you can have infiltrators, traitors, and so on.

There's also the problem of historical context, surroundings, etc, all of which can provide limitations on how freely you can express your views and how they're manifested. Focusing on whether some dead figure was a socialist is hitting your head against a brick wall, basically.

The more substantive debate is whether such actions by celebrities are of assistance to the left. I'm of the opinion that they aren't, because they're a typical example of the individualisation of politics - where everything is boiled down to single cases, and people are not educated on the bigger picture. It's possible for a political activist to use those cases and then go on to put the case for their cause, but celebrity endorsements and all that aren't doing that.

Brando's actions were basically good on an individual level, but he wasn't a socialist and did not advance the cause of socialism with them. His record given his circumstances was better than most can claim to do for humanity at least.

[9]

Originally Posted by x359594
He made On the Waterfront as a parting favor to Elia Kazan. After that, he cut his ties with him because Kazan named names.

Except Kazan named names prior to ‘On the Waterfront’.
An interesting anecdote on that - Lee J. Cobb, who played the corrupt union boss opposite Brando and who ratted to the HUAC alongside Kazan and Schulberg, was my grandfather’s cousin (their fathers were brothers); the rumor in the family was that ‘On the Waterfront’ was actually made as part of a deal that Lee, Kazan, and Schulberg cut with the government around the time that they testified.
Whether or not there is actually any truth to that rumor (though I suspect that there is), I think the fact that Brando (who, as far as I know, had not been blacklisted or called to testify before the HUAC) voluntarily took the lead role in a film with such reactionary content probably says something about his priorities, if not also his politics.
In any case, I don‘t know much about him, but I do know that supporting “progressive causes” was very much en vogue for his generation of entertainers and, more often than not, lacked any depth beyond being fashionable. Probably he was some garden-variety liberal.
But TBF, to the OP, I don’t see really why it makes any difference anyway; it always irritates me when leftists try to “reclaim“ some dead liberal celebrity as a ‘socialist‘ because s/he was involved in some single issue campaign for civil rights once or something. Honestly, if that’s your criteria, I guess Obama’s a socialist too.

[x359594]

Except Kazan named names prior to ‘On the Waterfront’...I think the fact that Brando (who, as far as I know, had not been blacklisted or called to testify before the HUAC) voluntarily took the lead role in a film with such reactionary content probably says something about his priorities, if not also his politics...In any case, I don‘t know much about him...

Correct, Kazan testified before he began directing On the Waterfront, but Brando (unlike Kazan) was grateful to Kazan for starting his career in pictures and this was his final film for him. Brando turned down roles in Wild River (1961) and The Arrangement (1967) that were played by Montgomery Clift and Kirk Douglas respectively, parts that were made for Brando. He didn't put his career first when he turned down the Oscar in 1972.

Brando's commitment to progressive causes exceed that of his contemporaries, particularly his support of the Palestinian struggle. Among movie actors only Vanessa Redgrave has supported the Palestinian cause other than Brando. For many this is the kiss of death in the Hollywood movie industry.

Finally, Brando is something more than a dead celebrity, especially for people of my generation (I'll be hitting 60 next year), for he was symbol of rebellion and non-conformity at a time when there were few role models for would-be rebels and radicals.

[9]

^Well, I am not discounting anything that you're saying; it is just that I don't think any of that means he was a socialist.

[x359594]

^Well, I am not discounting anything that you're saying; it is just that I don't think any of that means he was a socialist.

Agreed.