Matt Damon Is Okay [Archive] - Straight Dope Message Board

Quasimodem

03-23-2009, 09:19 PM

I saw a PBS program he narrated on global warming. Excellently produced, and ge got his point across.

Opinions?

Thanks

Q

Really Not All That Bright

03-23-2009, 09:46 PM

He was pretty good in Rounders.

Dallas Jones

03-23-2009, 09:48 PM

Global warming? I wasn't aware that Matt Damon was being used to shill for that false religion. Not as smart as I thought he was.

Sol (our sun) is a variable star. The climate of the Earth has always been changing, and always will be. It is a fantasy to believe that the world would be in a constant state of eternal bliss if not for man's evil influence.

Ice Wolf

03-23-2009, 09:49 PM

Every time I see or hear Matt Damon's name, I think of Team America. It'll take a while for that to fade away ...

Really Not All That Bright

03-23-2009, 09:53 PM

Global warming? I wasn't aware that Matt Damon was being used to shill for that false religion. Not as smart as I thought he was.

Yeah, only a total idiot would fall for that "mainstream science" nonsense!

Czarcasm

03-23-2009, 09:54 PM

Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.

Quasimodem

03-23-2009, 10:00 PM

ICY!!!!!!!!

"Eff YEAH", Hon!

For the rest: Sorry we disagree on global warming. I just see what is being shown on tv. Can y'all point me to something else, please?

Thanks

Q

GuanoLad

03-23-2009, 10:00 PM

From what I have heard, which ain't much, he seems like a genuinely nice guy, and would be a cool person to know in real life.

And the Bourne movies rock.

Bryan Ekers

03-23-2009, 10:03 PM

Sarah Silverman's fucking him. That's all I know.

Small Hen

03-23-2009, 10:28 PM

He wears too much eye make up. Or so I hear.

RandMcnally

03-23-2009, 10:31 PM

He was kickass playing the guy who sang "Scotty Doesn't Know" in "Eurotrip."

Ichini Sanshigo

03-23-2009, 10:51 PM

Wanted to second the recommendation for the Bourne series. Also, that movie where he costars with Ben Affleck and Robin Williams. I think he's like, a math genius/janitor at Harvard or something, and Robin Williams is his therapist. I only saw an except, but he was really good in that excerpt. Someday, I'll actually watch the entire movie.

Really Not All That Bright

03-23-2009, 10:57 PM

Good Will Hunting. I found it unwatchable, but it won some Oscars IIRC.

jk1245

03-23-2009, 11:03 PM

Here's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuYD2cwMbpw) a funny clip of him impersonating Matthew McConaughhey.

Seems like a pretty down to Earth guy

MacTech

03-23-2009, 11:07 PM

Every time I see or hear Matt Damon's name, I think of Team America. It'll take a while for that to fade away ...

Matt Damon!!

Little Nemo

03-23-2009, 11:11 PM

Global warming? I wasn't aware that Matt Damon was being used to shill for that false religion. Not as smart as I thought he was.You gotta do the safe picture. Then you can do the art picture. But then sometimes you gotta do a global warming documentary because the PC socialist liberal media says you owe them.

Quasimodem

03-24-2009, 01:35 AM

Have you seen the program, or are you just judging Matt on your opinions of his acting?

Quasi

DianaG

03-24-2009, 05:59 AM

You gotta do the safe picture. Then you can do the art picture. But then sometimes you gotta do a global warming documentary because the PC socialist liberal media says you owe them.
Are you saying that global warming is a ruse to distract everyone from a 10-82?

RikWriter

03-24-2009, 06:16 AM

Matt Damon is a conspiracy-theory-believing nutcase.

picker

03-24-2009, 06:32 AM

Matt Damon is a lizard man who is actually in charge of global warming for the North American sector, along with Arnold Palmer and Mick Fleetwood.

Don't believe me? Tough cookies, I learned it on the Internets.

My post is my cite.

Gyrate

03-24-2009, 06:40 AM

The problem with the interweb is that I can't tell how many (or if any) people in this thread are kidding. Please fix this.

Anyhoo - Matt Damon. Heard a radio interview with him and Paul Greengrass about the last Bourne film. He's quite funny and good-natured - there was a lot of joking around and poking fun at the interviewer's favorite football team. Definitely an I-could-have-a-beer-with-him kind of guy.

And reportedly he thought the Team America depiction of himself was hilarious.

Markxxx

03-24-2009, 09:10 AM

Did you notice as he gets older he's getting better looking while Ben Affleck as he ages is getting worse looking?

Zsofia

03-24-2009, 09:17 AM

Really Not All That Bright

03-24-2009, 09:20 AM

pssst! I'm pretty sure the "lizard man" theory is not serious. On the other hand, I could be wrong.
Oh yeah?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptilian_humanoid#David_Icke

PeskiPiksi

03-24-2009, 09:23 AM

Matt Damon is a conspiracy-theory-believing nutcase.

Really? What CT?

Aghris

03-24-2009, 10:12 AM

Yeah, only a total idiot would fall for that "mainstream science" nonsense!

Exactly! When it is mainstream it cannot possibly be a lie! Ask Nazi Germany, or the 1950's Communism scare.*

* Only slighty tongue in cheeck

RikWriter

03-24-2009, 10:16 AM

Really? What CT?

He's one of the 9-11 "Truther" kooks.

wonderlust

03-24-2009, 10:21 AM

NSFW:

I'm F***ing Matt Damon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myEVBOjagKE)

Larry Borgia

03-24-2009, 10:22 AM

He's one of the 9-11 "Truther" kooks.No he isn't.

Bosstone

03-24-2009, 10:37 AM

Regarding kook quotient, he's not a known Scientologist, so he has that going for him.

He's been very enjoyable in everything I've seen. He worked really well with Clooney and Pitt in the Ocean's Eleven movies.

Elysium

03-24-2009, 10:51 AM

I've always liked him as an actor. He seems to have a good sense of humor about himself and can take a ribbing. Plus, the Sarah Silverman sketch is gold.

He's cute too, and from Boston, which is +2.

ralph124c

03-24-2009, 11:01 AM

oopss-I though the title was concerned about gayness, sorry:smack:

RikWriter

03-24-2009, 12:54 PM

No he isn't.

Ben Affleck said he was in an interview during the 2004 election campaign.

Little Nemo

03-24-2009, 12:59 PM

Are you saying that global warming is a ruse to distract everyone from a 10-82?Oh, that Affleck.

Skald the Rhymer

03-24-2009, 01:03 PM

Matt Damon is a conspiracy-theory-believing nutcase.

That's exactly what he WANTS you to think.

Larry Borgia

03-24-2009, 04:42 PM

Ben Affleck said he was in an interview during the 2004 election campaign.Do you have anything more substantial than that? It doesn't mention anything on his Wikipedia page and google searches reveal nothing. If you could find a link to the interview I'd appreciate it.

RikWriter

03-24-2009, 04:44 PM

Do you have anything more substantial than that? It doesn't mention anything on his Wikipedia page and google searches reveal nothing. If you could find a link to the interview I'd appreciate it.

I saw the interview on CNN...Larry King, IIRC, during the Democratic convention, I believe. I don't have a link to it because I never needed one. It stuck in my mind though...he was saying that Matt believed the government was behind 9-11 but that he didn't agree.

DianaG

03-24-2009, 05:52 PM

I strongly suspect that was a joke.

RikWriter

03-24-2009, 08:16 PM

I strongly suspect that was a joke.

You can suspect all you want, it didn't sound like one at the time. He certainly wasn't laughing and the rest of the interview was serious...well, not grave or anything, but it wasn't a joking-around interview.

The Second Stone

03-24-2009, 08:30 PM

Damon and Affleck are playing jokes on each other all the time. So I don't think that Matt Damon is gay. Not that there would be anything wrong with not being gay.

Labrador Deceiver

03-24-2009, 08:40 PM

You can suspect all you want, it didn't sound like one at the time. He certainly wasn't laughing and the rest of the interview was serious...well, not grave or anything, but it wasn't a joking-around interview.

Here (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0407/27/lkl.01.html) is a transcript of Affleck's appearance on Larry King during the 2004 Democratic Convention. He doesn't mention Matt Damon, nor does he do during his other 2004 appearance on the show.

Here (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/lkl.html) is a page listing all of the transcripts of the Larry King show. It may be in there somewhere.

Tyrrell McAllister

03-24-2009, 09:50 PM

The fourth link that Google returns on "Matt Damon truther" is this very thread. The other three say nothing to link Matt Damon to that conspiracy theory. That's the hallmark of a rumor coming into being before our very eyes. Certainly I'd expect the truthers to advertise it more prominently if they could claim him as one of their own

RikWriter

03-25-2009, 05:03 AM

Here (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0407/27/lkl.01.html) is a transcript of Affleck's appearance on Larry King during the 2004 Democratic Convention. He doesn't mention Matt Damon, nor does he do during his other 2004 appearance on the show.

Here (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/lkl.html) is a page listing all of the transcripts of the Larry King show. It may be in there somewhere.

Then it was another show. I said IIRC it was Larry King, but it very well could have been another show.

Walker in Eternity

03-25-2009, 05:29 AM

Sol (our sun) is a variable star. T.

No, our sun is not a variable star. While its output does change it is only by about 0.1% and that is over an 11 year cycle. Many stars outputs change by this amount, they are not all variables.

True variable stars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_star) have greater changes in luminosity and shorter periods.

BTW, what is a 10-82? Never heard of this in the UK.

Kobal2

03-25-2009, 06:00 AM

BTW, what is a 10-82? Never heard of this in the UK.

It's from a Kevin Smith movie - Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back IIRC. It's the radio code for "dead hooker in Ben Affleck's trailer".

DianaG

03-25-2009, 07:05 AM

Then it was another show. I said IIRC it was Larry King, but it very well could have been another show.
So what you're saying is that you believe that Matt Damon is a conspiracy theorist based on something you vaguely remember Ben Affleck saying five years ago on some show or other, not really sure about that, despite the overwhelming lack of other evidence? :dubious:

RickJay

03-25-2009, 07:21 AM

All I care about is that he's an excellent actor. I mean, seriously, the dude has big time acting chops.

Beyond that I don't care if he's a Scientologist, a "Truther," or a Mormon. He could even move in next door for all I care as long as he keeps Affleck off my lawn.

RikWriter

03-25-2009, 09:58 AM

So what you're saying is that you believe that Matt Damon is a conspiracy theorist based on something you vaguely remember Ben Affleck saying five years ago on some show or other, not really sure about that, despite the overwhelming lack of other evidence? :dubious:

I remember it. You don't have to believe it, it doesn't affect my self esteem whether you do or not.

DianaG

03-25-2009, 09:59 AM

I'm just enjoying the irony, is all.

tds1273

03-25-2009, 11:19 AM

I enjoy him as an actor from Rounds to Bourne to the View Askew-niverse(Kevin Smith movies), but what got me to appreciate his politics was that fine line during the height of Sarah Palin-mania, (paraphrased) "It's like the plot of a really bad Disney movie".

And yeah, his name really can't be said any other way after Team America.

baileygrrrl

03-25-2009, 11:23 AM

You gotta do the safe picture. Then you can do the art picture. But then sometimes you gotta do a global warming documentary because the PC socialist liberal media says you owe them.

:p

RikWriter

03-25-2009, 05:08 PM

I'm just enjoying the irony, is all.

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

DianaG

03-25-2009, 05:12 PM

Maybe not, but I'm smart enough to know that taking Ben Affleck's word that Matt Damon is a conspiracy theorist isn't any smarter than taking Matt Damon's word about global warming.

RikWriter

03-25-2009, 05:39 PM

Maybe not, but I'm smart enough to know that taking Ben Affleck's word that Matt Damon is a conspiracy theorist isn't any smarter than taking Matt Damon's word about global warming.

I never mentioned global warming. Please don't put words on my keyboard.

FoieGrasIsEvil

03-25-2009, 05:44 PM

Did you notice as he gets older he's getting better looking while Ben Affleck as he ages is getting worse looking?

That's because Ben Affleck is being f***ed by Jimmy Kimmel, whereas Matt Damon gets to f*** Sarah Silverman!

DianaG

03-25-2009, 06:20 PM

I never mentioned global warming. Please don't put words on my keyboard.
You're right, you didn't, I mistook you for someone else. Sorry about that.

That said, it's also not any smarter than believing in conspiracy theories, what with, again, the overwhelming lack of any evidence other than a dimly remembered interview with Ben Affleck, who has been known to make jokes about Matt Damon.

And now whatever, since I don't especially care about Matt Damon, I just think you're being silly.

Bosstone

03-25-2009, 06:27 PM

Actually, it is ironic that Rik is taking for gospel a comment made some years back in some interview by a friend of Matt's, who may or may not have been joking, that Matt is a 9/11 truther, despite the sheer lack of supporting evidence...which is precisely what 9/11 truthers do regarding the crashes.

Sorry, Rik, but that is the way it looks.

Weston

03-25-2009, 06:37 PM

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

Yeah, it's ironic because you're acting like a typical conspiracy theorist. Bottom line, if the claim is controversial and you've no evidence to back it up, you've no business making it.

RikWriter

03-26-2009, 06:16 AM

Whatever. Sorry your favorite actor believes something stupid. I guess it must be difficult to deal with.

Gyrate

03-26-2009, 07:04 AM

Whatever. Sorry your favorite actor believes something stupid. I guess it must be difficult to deal with.Yeah! Wake up sheeple and stop drinking the Kool-Aid!

Jeebus, Rik, the whole argument is that there's no evidence that "our favorite actor" believes anything of the sort beyond a possibly non-serious, half-remembered anecdote. Maybe he does believe it, but I'd kind of like some actual evidence to that effect apart from "something Rik thinks".

RikWriter

03-26-2009, 07:25 AM

Yeah! Wake up sheeple and stop drinking the Kool-Aid!

Jeebus, Rik, the whole argument

You've made the mistake of thinking there's an argument. The term is "denial."
You've also made the mistake of thinking that if a few people here just keep pounding away, I'll join in the denial. As I said, I heard what I heard and if I was the sort of person to start eschewing reality in favor of public opinion, I doubt I could live with myself.

DianaG

03-26-2009, 07:54 AM

"Reality"? I don't think THAT word means what you think it means. You also seem a little unclear on "denial". While you're looking them up, you might also want to check "unfounded", "spurious", and "crazy".

RikWriter

03-26-2009, 08:00 AM

I am certain that it does in the context I used it.
But go ahead, believe what you will. I won't lose sleep over it. In fact, I won't lose any more time over it either.

Jack Batty

03-26-2009, 08:18 AM

Matt Damon has gotten to all of you. This conspiracy has entwined itself so thouroughly into the fabric of society that it is clutching and squeezing the public's throat, convincing all you pathetic sheep that, despite all evidence to the contrary, Matt Damon is not the Grand Imperial Truther Poobah.

Why only Ben Affleck and RikWriter have escaped the icy tendrils of Matt Damon's evil genius.

All I'm saying is that when the government crashes a plane into your house, don't come crying to Matt Damon.

Raygun99

03-26-2009, 08:58 AM

This is why RikWriter's career as a district attorney was painfully short.

Bosstone

03-26-2009, 10:19 AM

This thread has me thoroughly confused.

If there were any real evidence Matt Damon was a truther, conspiracy theorist, Scientologist or whatever, it'd be all over the internet. But on Googling, I don't even see any rumors by bloggers that dislike Damon. You'd think if there was really something to this, or even one interview with Affleck, people would have seized on it. Nobody likes a CT, and all it takes is one off-the-cuff comment to convict someone on the internet. But I see nothing on Google (except this thread). I mean, jeez, I can even find a rumor page talking about Affleck wanting Damon to pinch his ass (http://www.moderateindependent.com/v1i9affleck.htm), but nothing about 9/11.

I mean, seriously. Damon has been very vocal in the past about not liking the Bush administration and has earned the ire of right-wingers, but even in blog (http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/breitbart/2009/01/26/iraq-war-showdown-bill-kristol-agrees-to-debate-matt-damon-after-actors-idiot-slam/) comments (http://dirtyharrysplace.com/?p=4409) nobody calls him out for believing Bush orchestrated 9/11! Blog comments! The very depths of craven stupidity and hatred themselves! If they are willing to call Damon a complete imbecile dumber than he was portrayed in Team America, but won't call him a truther, I really have to wonder. I mean, surely, Rik, you're not the only person in the world who saw this interview; don't you think it would have spread like wildfire through all the people who want to hate Damon?

I like Damon a lot as an actor, but that doesn't mean I have a vested interest in denying that he's crazy, if there is evidence to support it. Heck, I can find an article about a guy from Blink 182 denying 9/11 (http://www.infowars.com/articles/sept11/blink_182_star_question_911.htm). I like (well, liked) Blink 182, but I have no problem admitting this guy is a wackjob. I can find blogs about how Rosie O'Donnell (http://newsbusters.org/node/12748) is a conspiracy theorist, and Heather Thomas (http://truther.org/index.php?/20080721131/9-11/actress-heather-thomas-latest-celebrity-to-question-9/11.html). Jesse Ventura's wiki page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Ventura#Questions_regarding_9.2F11) talks about him questioning 9/11. I can even find blog comments that casually slam Charlie Sheen (http://www.thenoseonyourface.com/conservative-satire/matt-damon-stars-in-good-will-hunting-ii/) as a truther. But in all of this, I can not find one single accusation that Damon is a 9/11 truther. I see a lot of accusations of idiocy, of blind liberal partisanship, of everything but denying 9/11 was caused by Al Qaeda. The only Google hits I get that connect Damon to 9/11 truthers are posts from this thread.

This isn't about defending Matt Damon. It's possible he really is a kook but has kept it well hidden so far. This is about a Doper making an assertion about a real person with a stunning lack of evidence. It's tantamount to libel, and it's extremely poor form. If you have evidence, RikWriter, then please, present it and we'll consider it. But until you do, please do not dismiss the rest of us as Damon fanboys in denial.

Jack Batty

03-26-2009, 11:20 AM

Oh no. They got Bosstone too!

TruCelt

03-26-2009, 11:39 AM

I like him for a lot of reasons. Mainly because there seems to be intelligent thought behind everything he does.

Did you know that he and Affleck won the Oscar for WRITING Good Will Hunting? and on "In the Artist's Studio" Affleck said his own contribution was mostly to type what Damon came up with.

I don't always agree with his political views, but I like the fact that he can explain them in depth, and give reasoning that is both well thought out and understandable for the "average" viewer. Here's one example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6urw_PWHYk&NR=1

I haven't seen the Global Warming show, but to dismiss GW out of hand with no factual basis is no more relevant than accepting it with no factual basis.

Also, the "Project Greenlight" was his idea, his baby, and I think a powerful example of a desire to give back.

And no, I'm not a crazy fan girl or anything. It's just that there are so few celebrities one can actually respect these days, one feels anxious to defend the few.

Weston

03-26-2009, 04:33 PM

BrainGlutton

03-26-2009, 05:37 PM

Sol (our sun) is a variable star.

Current climate change has nothing to do with that. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6290228.stm)

Miller

03-26-2009, 05:55 PM

You've made the mistake of thinking there's an argument. The term is "denial."
You've also made the mistake of thinking that if a few people here just keep pounding away, I'll join in the denial. As I said, I heard what I heard and if I was the sort of person to start eschewing reality in favor of public opinion, I doubt I could live with myself.

Why do I get the feeling that, if someone said something similiar about an actor with conservative politics, you'd be demanding a higher standard of evidence than, "Some other guy said it about him somewhere five years ago, but I don't remember where he said it, or to whom he was speaking." I mean, if I said, "Charlton Heston thinks the Apollo moon landings were faked. I heard it on The Dick Cavett Show. Or maybe it was Celebrity Jeopardy." Would you think, "Huh, guess that proves that Heston's an idiot." Or would you want more evidence than that?

Moonchild

03-26-2009, 07:22 PM

I waited on him once, passing champagne at an Industry event. He was beyond polite, thanked me a second time when I walked away. Almost felt like he was trying to say, "Just because I'm here and you're there doesn't make me any better than you." (He would be wrong, though.)

He was talking to Sherry Lansing.