Matt Damon has long past lost any hope for the American political system and the Obama presidency. He has spoken out forcefully about his disenchantment with President Obama over the past year HERE and HERE and HERE which is all the more confusing when he goes out to campaign for Obama HERE; let’s just say it’s complicated. But at his core – Matt Damon is smart, has a good heart and is independent minded enough to call bullshit on someone for failing to keep their commitments. I wholly respect him for that.
Now – he’s attacking the system. While interviewing for his new film – “Promised Land” – he tells Playboy Magazine for their January 2013 issue HERE:
“I assume there will be some Supreme Court appointments in this next term; that alone was reason to vote for him. I don’t think I said anything a lot of people weren’t thinking. It’s easier now more than ever in my life to feel the fix is in, the game is rigged and no matter how hard you work to change things, it just doesn’t matter.”
As is typical with Matt Damon films – he isn’t afraid to jump into the political fray. ”Promised Land” highlights the growth and dangers of fracking for natural gas and oil which is experiencing a modern day gold rush in America. ”Fracking” is improving America’s energy independence situation and is greatly helping the economy; there is no doubt about that. But fracking has proved to be a potential environmental nightmare for some towns and cities (source).
Damon also tells Playboy that politicians are essentially cowards; of course he’s right … but that’s only because hundreds of millions of Americans are so disengaged that they don’t want serious people (as evidenced by the current Republican party but also many in the Democratic party as well). He says:
“We’re at a point where politicians don’t really get any benefit from engaging with long-term issues. Instead, it’s all about the next election cycle. Those guys in the House don’t do anything now but run for office. So unless they can find some little thing that zips them up a couple of points in the polls, they’re not interested. There’s a consensus among scientists, though, that we face serious long-term issues. They’re saying that unless we engage with those issues, we’re genuinely fucked. The way it looks, we’re going to wait until one of those big issues smacks us.”
You can see the trailer for “Promised Land” below:
