Did Henry have a problem with Jane’s visit to North Vietnam?
He was always very progressive/liberal in his beliefs, but was also a fairly private guy, so I’d guess that while he was anti-war, he may not have been too comfortable with her more public displays of political grandstanding. I’m sure there’s some documentation out there, so just shooting from the hip (based on what I’ve read).
He should have disowned her. Still should. Hanoi Jane can never be forgiven.
I greatly admire Jane Fonda. The Vietnam War was indeed a huge mistake and it was because of people like Jane Fonda that made this abundantly clear - influencing huge numbers of students (like myself at the time) to do something to stop it. If she pissed people off in the process, so be it. She was right.
However, I believe both Jane and Peter had some issues with their father that were not solely due to their political views, but I believe fences were mended towards the end - with Jane appearing with her father in the film On Golden Pond - Henry Fonda’s last film, if I am not mistaken.
The question is about Henry’s opinion, not yours, Oakminster. If you’d like to start a new thread for the latter, Great Debates would be the appropriate venue.
Thanks,
twickster, Cafe Society moderator
As I understand it, Henry was pretty distant to both Jane and Peter. I don’t think politics entered into it; he just wasn’t good with children. Some parents aren’t good at being parents.
I knew a reporter who interviewed Henry right at the height of Jane’s antiwar activity. She said he simply cut off any discussion about it.
Kindly see the ATMB thread I just started.
DMark, regardless of whether your support Jane Fonda or not, your opinions about her actions are out of place in this thread, just as Oakie’s were. Your post went up while I was composing my mod note to him, and I didn’t see it before logging off for the night.
Everyone, please stay with the facts of the Fonda family relationships and avoid your own political opinions in this Cafe Society Thread. You are of course welcome to start a thread in the appropriate form if you would like to start such a discussion.
twickster, Cafe Society moderator
I don’t think he’s currently in a position to disown her. You know, like being dead.
Panache, given that the post you responded to got a mod note for being off-topic, it would behoove you to skip the joke, rather than continue the hijack.
twickster, Cafe Society moderator
I don’t have access to the full interview (could possibly google it, but time crunch and all), but she was asked about this when she and Tom Hayden were interviewed in Playboy. It’s been a long time since I read it, but IIRC she said that she and Henry had never really talked about it in any depth.
She once told a story about how one day in her 30s she had some kind of epiphany about exactly what acting meant and how it worked and how suddenly everything in the universe seemed to come together and, still in near ecstacy, she asked her dad who she was having dinner with “Have you had a moment like this, when everything is suddenly so clear and you totally understand what it’s all about?” and his response was to look up from his dinner and say “Nope”, then resume eating.
He wasn’t joking or goading her, either; he really was a man of very few words. (He was also interviewed by Playboy; I remember him expressing some embarassment over having been married 5 times and not having been a better father, but I honestly don’t recall if Vietnam was mentioned; even if the Playboy interviews aren’t available online they’re a staple at most libraries and well worth reading.)
Well, Henry was from a very different generation of actors. He thought of acting as a job, one he was very good at, rather than as an art.
Jane got a thrill from the moments when she realized she perfectly understood and inhabited her characters. Henry would have told you, “I’m just pretending.”
Henry probably would have agreed with the old theater adage, “Just be on time, know your lines, and don’t bump into the furniture.”
At the risk of wandering off topic, there’s the famous anecdote of two great actors from different generations working together.
Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier were making Marathon Man. Hoffman’s character was supposed to be exhausted so Hoffman stayed up the night before shooting the scene. Olivier asked him “Why don’t you just try acting?”