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The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

Heston's legacy hard to place due to irresponsibility

“From my cold, dead hands. That might be Charlton Heston’s best known phrase. The actor and activist died Saturday at the age of 84. During the 1950s and 1960s, Heston built his career on epics such as Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments. He also starred in epics of another sort, like Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green.”

From my cold, dead hands.

That might be Charlton Heston’s best known phrase. The actor and activist died Saturday at the age of 84.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Heston built his career on epics such as Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments. He also starred in epics of another sort, like Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green.

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Heston’s legacy, however, could be summed up with one word: kook.

In the ’60s, Heston seemed to be a good guy with ideals. He was a civil rights activist who supported John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He publicly supported the Gun Control Act of 1968.

That bears repeating: He publicly supported the Gun Control Act of 1968.

Thirty years later, he was the president of the National Rifle Association.

Heston spoke out against McCarthyism and racial segregation in the 1960s.

Less than 20 years later, Heston opposed affirmative action. He was quoted as saying that white pride was just as valid as black pride. He was furious when a white actor wasn’t allowed to play a Eurasian role in Miss Saigon and subsequently resigned from Actors Equity. He said their decision was obscenely racist.

Presidential candidate John McCain, however, said Heston proudly gave his voice in support of some of our most basic rights. Gun rights, presumably.

In 2002, Heston announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He then served as NRA president for another year.

Alzheimer’s is a progressive and fatal brain disease that affects memory, thinking and behavior. It is the most common form of dementia.

After he announced his diagnosis, he held up a rifle and again declared that gun control advocates would have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.

The drama of the moment not withstanding, the truth of the matter is, Heston was suffering from Alzheimer’s. One has to question the responsibility of that comment, or that idea.

After all, gun rights advocates support responsible gun ownership. No one would have thought less of him had he continued to advocate for gun rights yet admitted that weapons do not belong in the hands of someone with diminishing mental capacity.

His death is certainly tragic for those who knew and loved him. Watching someone suffer in the grips of Alzheimer’s is painful and heartbreaking.

But for the rest of us, Heston’s legacy is one of contradictions and irresponsibility. And cult classics.

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