People aren’t judged by their thinking, Will, they’re judged by their actions.

Will needs to read “The Castle in the Forest” by Norman Mailer. Despite a bunch of strange asides and the usual collection of Mailer’s obsessions, I have to admit I like the concept that the Devil was present at the conception of Hitler, much as God was at the Immaculate Conception.

hey, the only thing thats evil is the evil lord xenu. just ask will.

Why not, Karol? Let him speak his mind. And then rip the consequences.

I would go back to the source material before damning them on what you read on the net. Tony Blair recently said, just before he stepped down as Prime minister, that he did what he thought was right. I think this statement could be used to justify anything (”Waaah, I thought it was right! Don’t arrest me!”). Deranged killers probably think they’re doing a bang up job. I can’t be bothered to even speculate that this might have been the thrust of what Smith was saying, but I do remember a theatre review which said (in full) “The only thing that had me rolling in the aisle was when the curtain malfunctioned after the interval”, and became (for the posters) “had me rolling in the aisle”.

I don’t think he’s saying Hitler was not so bad. I think he’s saying that even though Hitler was evil, he probably viewed himself as being good.

Few thoughts:
-I’m with T. Looking at what Will said, he was pointing out that people justify their actions in their mind. While I’m firmly of the belief that actors shouldn’t speak about serious stuff (if for no other reason than you _know_ it’ll be misquoted), in this case I think Will might have been actually trying to point out something serious.
-I always find it amazing that people think Satan had to have been present at Hitler’s conception only. Err, refresh my memory–how many people did that Stalin guy kill again? How about Idi Amin, oh he who would keep people in the fridge in case he needed a snack? Pol Pot?
Sorry, while the Holocaust was an event that defies description (I mean, do we have an extreme word for horrendous?), I’d think that the Ukrainians would argue that the only advantage the Nazis had over the Reds was efficiency. Would we all be having as much a hissy fit if Will had chosen ol’ Uncle Joe as his example? Because I think there was _definitely_ some justification in Stalin’s mind about different things.

Hmm this is a complicated issue. I think Will Smith recognises the horrors of the Holocaust. However, what he is saying is that Hitler was also a good man who sanctioned some bad actions. There are maybe some people whose brains are miswired who act without rationale and they may be ‘evil’. However, Hitler was a very rational man. I believe the Holocaust was a snowball event. I do not think Hitler (or anyone) had this idea one day in 1933 to kill 6 million Jews and eradicate them systematically. No. What we see is a bunch of small events that got propagated and gradually worse with the involvement of a veyr large number of people.
I am not entirely convinced Hitler was especially anti-semitic, but used what levers he could to gain and wield political power.
Of course, I could be wrong .. and Hitler could lack any good and just be pure evil.

Geoffrey wrote; “However, what he is saying is that Hitler was also a good man who sanctioned some bad actions.”
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I’m guessing Geoffrey is a Ron Paul supporter !

Geoffrey, Hitler lived with (and worked for) jews in the 1920’s. He seemed to get on well with them.
I’m sure all the bad people mentioned loved their mammy and looked in the mirror without any sense of being a bad person.
I’m with James, being misquoted is far worse than saying something silly.

Hitler lived with (and worked for) jews in the 1920’s. He seemed to get on well with them.

Then, he applied to art school…

“I always find it amazing that people think Satan had to have been present at Hitler’s conception only”
Who said anything about being only at Hitler’s? I am open to the idea that Satan was present a number of such conceptions for what reasons I know not (maybe getting in practice for the anti-Christ?). I am more than willing to concede that Satan or some demonic power was at the conception of the men you mentioned and would add a few of my own to the list.

This means Will really wants to have philosophical discussion, but he completely forgot that when you are famous or political, you can’t say a damn thing without advisers and rehearsals.
I am actually very surprised he didn’t think about who was listening and how his words would make headlines – and I suppose that means he really isn’t very philosophical after all.

I do not think Hitler (or anyone) had this idea one day in 1933 to kill 6 million Jews and eradicate them systematically.

No, his idea was to kill 14 million Jews in a systemic way.
In immitation of the Armenian genocide upon which The Holocaust was modeled.
Fortunately,NSDAP wasn’t nearly as efficacious in eradicating its enemies as the Turks were.

No clue who Ron Paul is, I’m British. I think only an idiot believes a human is inherently evil.