SubscribeIs Oliver Stone still getting stoned?
If you think it's odd how pop singer George Michael is stubbornly defending his right to smoke dope, you should've seen the dopey scene that took place at the awards ceremony at the Hollywood Film Festival on Monday night.
Oliver Stone appeared to pull a George Michael, as if rationalizing drug use in public like he's often done in the past. Or was his strange outburst just an expression of his bitter resentment that a now-sober Stone is no longer permitted to get stoned?
When Stone was arrested last year for drunk driving and drug possession, it wasn't the first time. Just like the previous occasion, he was forced into rehab, but Stone has a history of fiercely fighting for, as he puts it, his "right to get high." On Monday night Stone referred to the most notorious example of that during the comments he made when he took the stage to accept the best picture award for "World Trade Center." I suspect that I'm the only person in that ballroom who knew the full backstory. That's because I'd written about the bizarre scene in my book "Film Awards" (PenguinPutnam).
Last night a bitter Stone mentioned how strange it was to be on the same stage where "I had once been ejected for being inebriated by two models of sobriety: Chevy Chase and Richard Harris."
Doesn't he realize by now what a jerk he'd been that night? Or is he still fighting for his right to get looped?
Back at the 1978 Golden Globes, a movie by Stone was on an awards sweep: "Midnight Express," the tale of an American incarcerated in a brutal Turkish prison for trying to smuggle hashish. It not only beat "The Deer Hunter" and "Coming Home" for best drama picture, it won several other kudos, including best screenplay for Stone, who, Variety observed, "did his best to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."
While accepting his statuette, Stone "launched into a rambling polemic equating U.S. treatment of imprisoned drug users with the injustice depicted in 'Midnight Express,'" Variety added.
Stone said, "The United States can't point a finger at Turkey because we're putting people in jail for being high. Every person should have the right to pursue his own happiness!"
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Photo: When Oliver Stone accepted the best picture prize from "World Trade Center" actor Michael Pena, he recalled a strange scene that had occurred on the same stage 27 years ago.
(L.A. Times photo by Tom O'Neil)
Stone's words were greeted with angry boos from the audience, but he continued railing against "obscene and victimless drug charges."
Irritated, ceremony host Chevy Chase whispered loudly to him, "Just say 'thank you' and leave the stage!'"
Stone refused and kept talking, even when the orchestra struck up loud music to drown him out. It was only when security guards approached the stage that he flashed a victory sign and ran off.
"He's right," Chase said to the audience with a wry smile. "Of course, he's loaded."
A short while later, "Midnight Express'" director Alan Parker "administered a final spanking to Stone" when he accepted the best picture award, Variety said.
"Oliver's very bright and very well meaning," Parker said. "He's also boring."
He also has huge powers of denial, if Stone is still fighting sobriety. On that Golden Globe night nearly 30 years ago, the award for most promising new male star of the year went to "Midnight Express'" studly young actor, who seemed to have a bright future ahead of him.
Unfortunately, and ironically, Brad Davis died soon afterward as a result of causes related to his personal drug abuse.
