"Yeah, I know the meeting will be there, but will God show up?"
November 3, 2006 11:08 AM   Subscribe

"Can I ask you what your favorite commandment is?" Woody Allen interviews Billy Graham. Part 2. YouTube single-link FPP.
posted by ibmcginty (24 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm not sure but it looks like there's 2 links.
posted by dead_ at 11:15 AM on November 3, 2006


Now that I am a parent: Honor thy father and thy mother.
posted by caddis at 11:20 AM on November 3, 2006


Graham looks like one of Jesse's brothers in Preacher.
posted by boo_radley at 11:22 AM on November 3, 2006


I miss the days when Billy Graham could talk about God with Woody Allen on national TV.

I guess Bill Maher's old show was like that, but then he had to piss off the locksteps after 9/11.
posted by dw at 11:27 AM on November 3, 2006


Graham interviewed on TV by... a Jew?

In the taped conversation, Mr Graham said the Jewish "stranglehold" on the media "has got to be broken or this country's going down the drain".

"You believe that?" Nixon replies.

"Yes, sir."

"Oh boy. So do I. I can't ever say that but I believe it," Nixon says.

"If you get elected a second time, then we might be able to do something," Mr Graham replies.


***

It took the form of a secret letter from Graham, dated April 15, 1969, drafted after Graham met in Bangkok with missionaries from Vietnam. These men of God said that if the peace talks in Paris were to fail, Nixon should step up the war and bomb the dikes. Such an act, Graham wrote excitedly, "could overnight destroy the economy of North Vietnam".

Graham lent his imprimatur to this recommendation. Thus the preacher was advocating a policy to the US Commander in Chief that on Nixon's own estimate would have killed a million people.

posted by matteo at 11:33 AM on November 3, 2006 [1 favorite]


Impure thoughts about Art Linkletter. Comedy gold.
posted by jimmythefish at 11:34 AM on November 3, 2006


Thanks for the link. Pretty interesting and funny interview.
posted by dov3 at 11:44 AM on November 3, 2006


I miss the days when Billy Graham could talk about God with Woody Allen on national TV.

I guess Bill Maher's old show was like that, but then he had to piss off the locksteps after 9/11.


How true. What struck me most about this clip was the generally respectful, congenial atmosphere between the two. Apparently there was a time in America when the icon of secular Jewish comedy and an evangelical leader could stare the stage without it devolving into a shouting match or ad hominem attacks. Nowadays, this would never happen. America is much worse for it. And it's not the fault of both sides as some would argue.
posted by SBMike at 12:18 PM on November 3, 2006 [1 favorite]


"One wing, maybe?"
Hilarious.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 12:22 PM on November 3, 2006


Graham comes off very well. He's funny and personable, and I do think part of that must come from the fact that Allen isn't attacking him. His response to Allen saying he was going to put his parents into a home was great, as is the blue coat crack at the end.

It's funny to see Allen like this, he's very natural and smooth, with the ticks that are his trademark toned down.
posted by OmieWise at 12:25 PM on November 3, 2006


SBMike: And it's not the fault of both sides as some would argue.

No, I'd put the responsibility square on the shoulders of the media, with antagonism-for-fun shows like Geraldo, Jerry Springer, and Crossfire. Angry shouting people make for better ratings, and it's been normalized to such an extent that the kinds of folks who don't get into shouting matches aren't even put on the screen/airwaves/page anymore.
posted by Bugbread at 12:26 PM on November 3, 2006


Nixon should step up the war and bomb the dikes.

Now it's 2006 and conservatives STILL want to bomb the dikes.

Some things never change.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 12:36 PM on November 3, 2006


"Angry shouting people make for better ratings"

I suspect there are a lot of people who would start tuning back in to see respectful dialogue. I think maybe people (like me) who won't watch angry shouting matches just stopped watching altogether.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:45 PM on November 3, 2006


What struck me most about this clip was the generally respectful, congenial atmosphere between the two.

I agree, SBMike. The funny thing is that the polarization happened in the 1990s, when the parties weren't really very far apart. Somewhere along the line debates over politics and culture became a bloodsport. Maybe the proliferation of ever-more-narrowly targeted talk shows?

Graham comes across very, very well in this clip, to me. Sincere, personable, funny. I guess I regard him the way that conservatives regard Bill Clinton-- very smooth, sometimes constructive, but rotten at the core-- for the reasons matteo points out, and the fact that he was anti-desegregation when it mattered most.
posted by ibmcginty at 1:13 PM on November 3, 2006


Did they ever get back together after seeing each other's movie/revival?
posted by iurodivii at 1:25 PM on November 3, 2006


I'd love to see the papers the next day
posted by parmanparman at 1:34 PM on November 3, 2006


It certainly is a bit of a throwback to days when people enjoyed having conversatoins about these thigns as opposed to having screaming matches. They basically let each other finish what they have to say, and the briliantly, both of them, can verbally and amusingly play off of each other.

Don't get me wrong, I'm in the camp of Graham almost certainly being one of the most under-the-radar sleazebag preachers around, but definitely he's charismatic and a good interview.

An Allen is, well, Allen. Self-deprecating and excellent with batting the goofiness of Graham's beliefs back at him without saying Graham is stupid or in any way being disrespectful.
posted by smallerdemon at 1:41 PM on November 3, 2006


What struck me most about this clip was the generally respectful, congenial atmosphere between the two.

So true. Can anyone enlighten me as to the context of this rather convivial exchange of views? Did Allen used to have a chat show or something?
posted by Sparx at 2:53 PM on November 3, 2006


Hmm, I hadn't seen any of Woody's tv stuff. It seems like he was quite the host.
posted by defenestration at 2:53 PM on November 3, 2006


[This is good.]
posted by bardic at 3:13 PM on November 3, 2006


This comes from this show (more).
posted by gubo at 4:12 PM on November 3, 2006


For those pining for the olden days, I can say that this sort of exchange could easily happen today in Canada, and, I'd presume, in Britain, Australia, France...
posted by Turtles all the way down at 4:28 PM on November 3, 2006 [1 favorite]


For those pining for the olden days, Jon Stewart does these kinds of interviews (with people like Rick Santorum and John Ashcroft) on the Daily Show from time to time.

I wish they'd can the phoned-in celebrity guest interviews and replace them with interviews with more actual newsmakers on the Daily Show.
posted by joshuaconner at 2:59 AM on November 4, 2006


Bill Clinton "rotten to the core"? I always thought he was the opposite, but he had to be ruthless in order to stay in the game.
posted by wfc123 at 1:43 PM on November 5, 2006


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