by Paul Fischer
continued
What
hasn't changed is Hollywood's attitude towards violence and guns. Schwarzenegger
refutes the notion that the movie business has to be too careful over the way
violence is portrayed - it depends on the movie after all. The actor believes
that it is more important "not to throw crap at the audience or at kids"
and ensure that guns should be a legitimate part of the film. "You couldn't,
in Saving Private Ryan, take guns out of the movie, for example."
Or in his classic Terminator, "have him carry flowers around instead
of a gun," he adds laughingly. However, Arnold does concede that filmmakers
do bear some responsibility in terms of how violence is both conveyed and promoted,
and he is prepared to shoulder some of that responsibility. " We are certainly
more aware of it in deciding how certain scenes are shot, or even the way a film
is marketed: Do you want me to stand there on a poster for a movie pointing a
gun in order to sell it, leave the gun down by my side or leave it out completely?"
The actor has little
time for politicians who equate Hollywood with violence. Schwarzenegger believes
that violence in our society is not as insular as the politicians would lead us
to believe. "My biggest complaint with the politicians is that the first
thing they do is point the finger at Hollywood, which is moronic because that
means that you're saying: I have the answer. Nobody has the answer. Therefore
what you have to do is take the ten things that could be wrong in our society
that you can never pinpoint. You have to say: Okay, let's just say it's the movies,
rock music lyrics, the parents' failure to deal with the kids, the politicians'
failure to create after school programs to keep them busy and create the right
environment. Let's look at any of these different things, any one of which can
apply to the influx of violence in our society and respond to 
all
of them. Therefore, if we in the movie business should pull back, so should the
rock and roll music. Gun controls should be stiffer, parents should start working
harder with their kids, have more control over them and spend more time with them
rather than going out to work or being on a golf course five hours a day instead
of spending three hours helping their kids with their homework." The actor
further believes that "Our politicians should also work harder to make education
a priority instead of paying the teachers a measly $25,000 while a lawyer makes
a million. They should work on that to elevate the teachers' and schools' importance."
The way Arnie talks, you would think he would be running for office himself. Now there's a thought, and perhaps the big man won't rule it out. "Maybe when I get bored with this, who knows?" This is the first interview Schwarzenegger has given in which he has not ruled out an eventual life in politics, believing that he has "more desire than ever to work for people that need help. I see that I have the power to make changes and help people." Which he does. One cannot forget Arnold's work with his inner city games, sports programs for urban youth, the after school and computer programs he helps develop, and his assistance in Special Olympic programs. "I definitely have much more of an urge to do that and less to just think about myself."
Life
has been an invigorating experience for the actor who came to America as a bodybuilder.
But that life could well have been cut short had it not been for the heart surgery
he recently went through. Yet Schwarzenegger never thought of the operation from
that perspective and rejects the notion that somehow he was given a new lease
on life. "I didn't have any weird visions or anything like that. You know,
certain people I met in the hospital told me that this was some life altering
kind of event by the way they looked at things. I had people come to me and say
that they had visions during surgery that they were going through clouds and heaven.
I wouldn't know. From my perspective, you fall asleep and when you wake up there's
some big guy standing over you saying, 'Okay, I'm going to pull the tube out of
your throat. Wait a minute.' That's all I remember, and the fact that the food
didn't taste good for the first week or so." Schwarzenegger is not the kind
of guy who believed life was precious as a result of his heart surgery, "because
it always counted anyway. I don't think I would take life for granted unless I
got a disease and someone says that I have six months to live."
There's more to Schwarzenegger than meets the eye. Yes, there's the action star and physical fitness guru, but there's Arnold, art lover. "Every year I'll collect something new" and for potential art investors, he recommends looking at the work of actor-turned-painter, Anthony Quinn. "I got his stuff way back before I ever worked with him and paid $12,000: It's now increased in value to $120,000 in just five years. It's going to be $500,000 if Anthony Quinn, God forbid, should pass away, but the reality is, once these artists are wiped out, their art's value skyrockets 300%. Quinn is an incredible artist and highly respected."
While Arnold's art investments may be successful, the same cannot be said for Planet Hollywood, which recently filed for bankruptcy, though the actor quickly admits that he got out of it before it all came crashing down. "If I had been in control of it and it hadn't worked, I would have been pissed off, because then I would have felt like I'd failed. However, since I was never in control of it and could never convince Robert Earl to do certain things, then at least I know I wasn't at fault." Schwarzenegger got out of that restaurant franchise at the right time, he says. "There was a point where I just said: You know, I am going to get out of it. I didn't have the time to resign, to be part of it and remain a partner, I just wanted to get out. I think that I was the only one that made a fortune out of it, because I sold at the right time, as usual."
Schwarzenegger's other passion, naturally, is that of fatherhood. Happily married to TV broadcaster Maria Shriver and father of four, the actor talks incessantly about what it is that he loves about being a dad. "A child's brain is the greatest investment you can make" Schwarzenegger begins. "The more that you instil your information in there, as opposed to someone else's, TV's, schools or coaches, the more that you start seeing yourself in front of you. What has been the wildest thing for me, is see my son all of a sudden at the age of six saying things the way I would say them. Not to mention even similar inflections. He might, for instance, say 'Now what is it, mum?' Because he sees me going: 'Now, what is it, Maria?' Arnold loves spending time helping the kids with their homework because in some cases, it enables him to tap into his own cultural history. "On the way home from Hawaii recently, my daughter's assignment was to interview daddy about Austria. Question: Name ten famous places in Austria, as an example. Then you throw this information, places you have been, you start to visualise, tell them about it and what the place was like, how you got there and they write down all this stuff. You talk about this, and that is what educates them. The brain is an empty bucket; the brain which you fill, and I love being a part of that process."
Part
of that process is the bicultural environment in which Arnold's children grow
up. As proud of his American status, he's equally proud of what brought him there.
He is still an Austrian. "We eat some of the foods and talk in German many
times. There's also the tradition we Austrians have in skiing and insisting that
they all must be champion skiers. My ten-year-old and eight-year-old ski down
so fast." His kids also accompany him on the set and have a great time, especially
his daughters, he says laughingly. "For them the make-up trailer is the most
important hang-out place on a movie set. That's where they get their nails
and hair done. For them this is the best playground."
Viewed by many as one of cinema's major cultural icons, but the actor doesn' t see himself that way. "As long as I can reach children and teach them the kinds of lessons instilled in me, that's what counts. It's important that I use my status to influence the good, that's what I care about he says."
Family man, entrepreneur, movie star, action hero, art lover: No wonder Herr Schwarzenegger needs a clone, given everything he does. As for his acting, it is on a roll. Following his work on The 6th Day, he begins almost immediately on Warner Bros' Collateral Damage, a revenge thriller about a man obsessed with finding the murderers of his wife and child. "It's another different role for me, and I think will be very exciting." The older he gets, the more he wants to challenge himself, but his criteria for what he'll do remains constant, he insists. "I want to do movies that I think can be popular, that I think will be huge, that could be successful." But maybe, he adds as a final afterthought, he'll "just do a movie because I want to buy another house." Who would have thought that giant of the movie industry would need the money? But then art doesn't come cheap either.
Copyright ©2000 Paul Fischer