Bobcat Goldthwait describes “God Bless America” as a “violent movie about kindness.”
But when the writer/director read a post at Big Hollywood about his new film, he saw red — and furiously edited a Right-bashing scene back in. The moment fit in snugly with the rest of the film, which condemns conservatives over and again.
“God Bless America,” which opens theatrically tomorrow but is already available via Video on Demand, stars Joel Murray as a sad sack who goes on a killing spree to snuff out everything that makes our current pop culture so ugly.
Vile reality shows. Insulting singing competitions. Incessant fart jokes. And, of course, conservative pundits like Bill O’Reilly.
Goldthwait told Philadelphia Weekly Big Hollywood inadvertently helped shape the finished product:
The fact that Frank and Roxy assassinate a far-right commentator has predictably drawn the ire of the far-right. Last fall, the Breitbart site Big Hollywood ran one of their fire-stoking posts about America. Goldthwait had taken out a scene where Roxy launches into an anti-right diatribe before shooting the Bill O’Reilly-type. “I was trying to be fair and balanced,” he jokes. After reading the Big Hollywood piece, plus the reams of name-calling commenters, he reinserted the scene.
Wow. Talk about petty. What about his inner artist? Or whether the scene in question served the film?
Nope. The man who preaches kindness wanted to strike back at those who criticize him. Sounds like our ugly pop culture got the better of him.