# Sean Penn thinks he's a journalist
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [January 11, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813 "2016-01-11T14:55:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/41 "2016-01-12T16:36:29Z")
> [@billfish678](#):
>
> I had this vision that the FBI came to Penn, he volunteered to help and be a great American Citizen, and the public will never know and he’ll just get shat on till the day he dies (or fesses up, which will probably be a few days before he dies because…el cheapo).
It has long been my theory that Dennis Rodman is actually a highly-trained CIA assassin under deep cover in North Korea.
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/42 "2016-01-12T16:44:27Z")
And in North Korean news yet another of our Dear Leader’s assistants has been found strangled with a basketball hoop. North Korean authorities suspect some form of advanced North American teleportation was used.
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### Author:  [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/43 "2016-01-12T16:49:33Z")
> [@billfish678](#):
>
> and the public will never know and he’ll just get shat on till the day he dies
Let’s hope so even though it is way more than he deserves.
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/44 "2016-01-12T16:58:35Z")
Gawd I hate to defend old Penn because he DOES seem to be a douche weasel of epic proportion (and this latest stunt does him no favors IMO).
But I remember back when Katrina happened. There was much panic and confusion and general stupidity.
If I recall correctly, Penn bought a bass boat, a bunch of supplies, when down there and started helping folks.
Now maybe it was all for the camera. Maybe he just got in everyone’s way. Who knows.
But I have to grudingly give him props for that.
Damn, now I feel dirty.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/45 "2016-01-12T17:29:33Z")
> [@billfish678](#):
>
> If I recall correctly, Penn bought a bass boat, a bunch of supplies, when down there and started helping folks.
>
> Now maybe it was all for the camera.
Yes. It was all for the camera. A donation of the cost of the bass boat would have done much more actual good than the photo op for a scumbag celebrity.
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### Author:  [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/46 "2016-01-12T17:43:07Z")
Scumbag? Seriously? You may think he’s a self-aggrandizing douche but how do justify “scumbag”? Who has he hurt?\*
\*thinking back, I guess he punched a paparazzi or two back in the day.
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### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/47 "2016-01-12T18:25:49Z")
> [@CarnalK](#):
>
> Scumbag? Seriously? You may think he’s a self-aggrandizing douche but how do justify “scumbag”? Who has he hurt?
[Madonna, for one;](http://www.pajiba.com/celebrities_are_better_than_you/sean-penn-is-a-violent-abusive-terrible-human-being.php)
> [@](#):
>
> In the late afternoon of December 28, 1989, Penn scaled the wall surrounding the Malibu house and found Madonna alone in the master bedroom.
>
> According to a report filed by Madonna with the Malibu sheriff’s office, the two began to quarrel. Penn told her he owned her ‘lock, stock and barrel’.
>
> When she told him she was leaving the house, he tried to bind her hands with an electric lamp and cord. Screaming and afraid, Madonna fled from the bedroom. What followed was a nine-hour ordeal which left her deeply shaken.
>
> Penn chased her into the living room, caught her and bound her to a chair with heavy twine. Then he threatened to cut off her hair.
>
> According to the police report, Penn was ‘drinking liquor straight from the bottle’ and the abuse went on for several hours, during which time he smacked and roughed up his victim.
> He went out to buy more alcohol, leaving Madonna bound and gagged. Some hours later, he returned and continued his attacks.
>
> Madonna said that he untied her after she agreed to perform a degrading sex act on him. She then fled the house and ran to her car.
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### Author:  [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/48 "2016-01-12T19:26:24Z")
She’s retracted that claim in a recent affidavit.
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### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/49 "2016-01-12T19:28:32Z")
What to Madonna is a “degrading sex act”?
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/50 "2016-01-12T19:34:30Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#):
>
> What to Madonna is a “degrading sex act”?
The missionary position.
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### Author:  [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/51 "2016-01-12T19:36:27Z")
> [@CarnalK](#):
>
> She’s retracted that claim in a recent affidavit.
Plus, Sean Penn has clearly reformed himself since then. He’s a journalist, for one thing. And what journalist engages in excessive alcohol use?
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/52 "2016-01-12T19:38:05Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#):
>
> What to Madonna is a “degrading sex act”?
One that doesn’t pay?
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### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/53 "2016-01-12T19:39:40Z")
> [@CarnalK](#):
>
> She’s retracted that claim in a recent affidavit.
And as we all know, no woman would _ever_ retract a claim of abuse by a partner for any reason other than a deep idealogical commitment to the truth.
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### Author:  [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/54 "2016-01-12T19:41:41Z")
> [@Ravenman](#):
>
> Plus, Sean Penn has clearly reformed himself since then. He’s a journalist, for one thing. And what journalist engages in excessive alcohol use?
Plus plus why believe Madonna in the first place since she’s a big stupid phony like all celebrities are. Gosh they are so dumb.
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### Author:  [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/55 "2016-01-12T19:43:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#):
>
> And as we all know, no woman would _ever_ retract a claim of abuse by a partner for any reason other than a deep idealogical commitment to the truth.
So you assume she’s lying now because she’s so scared of Sean Penn? Still loves him? What?
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### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/56 "2016-01-12T19:49:16Z")
> [@CarnalK](#):
>
> So you assume she’s lying now because she’s so scared of Sean Penn? Still loves him? What?
[Well…](http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/01/sean-penn-and-madonna-an-item-again)
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/57 "2016-01-12T20:12:11Z")
> [@billfish678](#):
>
> One that doesn’t pay?
I concede defeat. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/58 "2016-01-13T01:24:02Z")
> [@Steophan](#):
>
> It may just be my taste, but I’ve liked him. He overacts and over-emotes to an extent that I find it impossible to forget that I’m watching a performance. For comparison, watch Mystic River and compare the styles of Penn and Tim Robbins - someone I do consider a masterful actor.
>
> Penn may have talent, but to my mind he uses it to show off rather than to portray a character well, or make a great film (he’s been in several great films, but in most of them I’ve felt they were great despite him). Compare to Nicolas Cage, who is capable of just as much overacting but mostly only does so in crap or silly films (and on the increasingly rare occasions he’s in a good film tones it way down), or Daniel Day Lewis, who can when necessary give some of the largest performances anyone’s ever given on screen, but is also capable of great subtlety, as well as disappearing into a character more than almost anyone else.
No, he’s a terrific actor. And he’s a douchebag. Separate the two.
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### Author:  [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2016, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/59 "2016-01-13T07:03:18Z")
> [@Ravenman](#):
>
> Yes, I said in the OP that this was a potentially compelling news story.
No it WAS a compelling news story.
> [@](#):
>
> Look, you immature snot-nosed know-it-all,
There is no need for name calling, and I never claimed to “know it all”.
> [@](#):
>
> Hunter Thompson wrote compelling stories. This Sean Penn piece is crap. There is no redeeming quality to it.
I never said Sean Penn was Hunter S. Thompson, I even said his piece was amateurish. Your big gripe seems to be his first person explanation of events. I just pointed out he is not the first person to write an article that way.
> [@](#):
>
> Rolling Stone should have had the guts to fix this abortion of journalism.
I doubt any reader really considers Sean Penn a serious journalist. I equate this to having Frank Sinatra being the ringside photographer to a Muhammed Ali fight.
> [@](#):
>
> It’s clear that you have an overwhelming need to be an asshole in every thread you participate in.
WOW.
> [@](#):
>
> Look, I’m sorry your childhood was shit,
It was, and now after reading your response, my adulthood is now shit.
> [@](#):
>
> but you have no need to work out your anger issues on everyone else.
Um . . . .I don’t seem to be the one with anger issues on this thread, Pal.
> [@](#):
>
> Go get therapy and learn to be a halfway normal person.
My therapist just killed himself. Im open for references.
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### Author:  [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sean-penn-thinks-hes-a-journalist/742813/60 "2016-01-13T14:12:11Z")
> [@Ravenman](#):
>
> I probably think about Harry Connick Jr as frequently as I think of Sean Penn
Mmmmm… I’d love to be the bacon in _that_ KFC Double Down.
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