Post by sparklingblue on Mar 11, 2004 16:32:22 GMT -5
Greenspeak: The Irish talk about their best qualities
By LUAINE LEE
March 10, 2004
Changes "Henry" Potter to Harry throughout
It's the wearin' of the green, spilling out the blarney and telling fanciful stories that makes everybody Irish on St. Patrick's Day.
But what is it about the Irish that makes them so beguiling? Why are they the great poets, actors, authors?
If you ask some of the most famous folk of Eire, they're eager to tell you:
- James Bond himself, Pierce Brosnan, was born in Navan, County Meath, Ireland. He says, "It's such a tiny little island they gossip among themselves and have been persecuted and downtrodden and whatever. They're their own worst enemies at times, but I think they have a great sense of humor and great sense of soul about them. And they're good storytellers, with a great sense of life and who they are."
- Frank McCourt, prize-winning author of his autobiography, "Angela's Ashes," thinks the Irish are delightful storytellers because of years of subjugation.
"It was oppression. . . People who are not oppressed have nothing to say. We spent 800 years in training. I'm always thinking of the Irish Catholic as opposed to the Italian Catholic. In Ireland all we had was the mouth, the language, the words. The Italians had sculpture, art, history, opera, music, wine, a cuisine. We had nothing. The spud, that's it."
- Kenneth Branagh, ("Henry V," "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," ) was born in Belfast. He says, "There's an ultimate certainty about not taking yourself too seriously which is not to say that one can't employ seriousness of purpose about all sorts of things, but there are just times when it's (better to laugh). . . .The Vikings came in, then Cromwell came in and walked all over us. The British tried to mangle our culture like they did many other cultures globally. Somehow the Irish had a sort of lyricism about it - 'Oh, don't worry about it, let's go have a drink or sing a song. . . .' You feel it in the people. They are great survivors."
- Irish actress Fiona Shaw (Aunt Petunia in the three "Harry Potter" films) hails from County Cork. She thinks the Irish are such great storytellers because "They're great liars. I've had a fair amount of stories told to me when you're expecting to be paid or a contract to be done or a promise to be kept. 'Oh, yes, well the thing was the dog ran off with it.' It has something to do with the fact that if you take everything away from people, it'll heighten what they have got, and the Irish were not allowed wealth and weren't allowed opportunity or language, to speak their own language. And they weren't allowed religion. But, of course, nobody could stop them talking."
- Billy Connolly ("Mrs. Brown" ) is of Irish descent, though he was brought up in Scotland. Connolly says the Irish are the poets, while the Scots are the economists. "I think it's because they stayed with Catholicism and the reformation didn't touch them. Scotland went for Presbyterianism, for John Knox who became a sort of Ayatollah of Protestantism and from Calvin from Switzerland, who took all the Celtic paganism away. And the paganism was much more happy than a religion from Switzerland. If you buy into religion from Switzerland, you're not doing very well."
- Ed O'Neill ("Married. . . with Children" ) recalls how storytelling influenced his life. "I had three uncles who were natural storytellers. As a young kid I used to go to all the family parties and listen to them regale the room, one after another. Of course, there was a lot of drinking and eating, and I just loved listening to them, and think I got a sense of storytelling then as a young boy - just the way they would set up stories. I think that led into acting."
- Director Stephen Frears, ("High Fidelity" "The Grifters" ) is a British director who often makes movies about the Irish. "I find the Irish very funny, their defiance of the pressure of life. It comes from their jokes, and drinking and sense of joy which is very eccentric and very individual to them. They're not demoralized. They have every reason to be demoralized, because they live in tough times but they have vitality, optimism."
- Liam Neeson ("Schindler's List" ), who was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, says, "We talk a lot. It's been a story-telling country and still is. I was brought up on poetry, stories, yarns, legends, fables. King Arthur was as real to me as the strange man living five doors up."
- It's the humor, says Irish actor Gabriel Byrne ("Miller's Crossing" ). "Jewish humor is like bang, bang, bang cut to the chase. . . Irish humor is much more surreal. . . The Jewish person looks at the world straight on, the Irish person looks at it sideways."
( Luaine Lee writes entertainment profiles at Scripps Howard News Service. E-mail 102404.1356(at)compuserve.com.)
By LUAINE LEE
March 10, 2004
Changes "Henry" Potter to Harry throughout
It's the wearin' of the green, spilling out the blarney and telling fanciful stories that makes everybody Irish on St. Patrick's Day.
But what is it about the Irish that makes them so beguiling? Why are they the great poets, actors, authors?
If you ask some of the most famous folk of Eire, they're eager to tell you:
- James Bond himself, Pierce Brosnan, was born in Navan, County Meath, Ireland. He says, "It's such a tiny little island they gossip among themselves and have been persecuted and downtrodden and whatever. They're their own worst enemies at times, but I think they have a great sense of humor and great sense of soul about them. And they're good storytellers, with a great sense of life and who they are."
- Frank McCourt, prize-winning author of his autobiography, "Angela's Ashes," thinks the Irish are delightful storytellers because of years of subjugation.
"It was oppression. . . People who are not oppressed have nothing to say. We spent 800 years in training. I'm always thinking of the Irish Catholic as opposed to the Italian Catholic. In Ireland all we had was the mouth, the language, the words. The Italians had sculpture, art, history, opera, music, wine, a cuisine. We had nothing. The spud, that's it."
- Kenneth Branagh, ("Henry V," "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," ) was born in Belfast. He says, "There's an ultimate certainty about not taking yourself too seriously which is not to say that one can't employ seriousness of purpose about all sorts of things, but there are just times when it's (better to laugh). . . .The Vikings came in, then Cromwell came in and walked all over us. The British tried to mangle our culture like they did many other cultures globally. Somehow the Irish had a sort of lyricism about it - 'Oh, don't worry about it, let's go have a drink or sing a song. . . .' You feel it in the people. They are great survivors."
- Irish actress Fiona Shaw (Aunt Petunia in the three "Harry Potter" films) hails from County Cork. She thinks the Irish are such great storytellers because "They're great liars. I've had a fair amount of stories told to me when you're expecting to be paid or a contract to be done or a promise to be kept. 'Oh, yes, well the thing was the dog ran off with it.' It has something to do with the fact that if you take everything away from people, it'll heighten what they have got, and the Irish were not allowed wealth and weren't allowed opportunity or language, to speak their own language. And they weren't allowed religion. But, of course, nobody could stop them talking."
- Billy Connolly ("Mrs. Brown" ) is of Irish descent, though he was brought up in Scotland. Connolly says the Irish are the poets, while the Scots are the economists. "I think it's because they stayed with Catholicism and the reformation didn't touch them. Scotland went for Presbyterianism, for John Knox who became a sort of Ayatollah of Protestantism and from Calvin from Switzerland, who took all the Celtic paganism away. And the paganism was much more happy than a religion from Switzerland. If you buy into religion from Switzerland, you're not doing very well."
- Ed O'Neill ("Married. . . with Children" ) recalls how storytelling influenced his life. "I had three uncles who were natural storytellers. As a young kid I used to go to all the family parties and listen to them regale the room, one after another. Of course, there was a lot of drinking and eating, and I just loved listening to them, and think I got a sense of storytelling then as a young boy - just the way they would set up stories. I think that led into acting."
- Director Stephen Frears, ("High Fidelity" "The Grifters" ) is a British director who often makes movies about the Irish. "I find the Irish very funny, their defiance of the pressure of life. It comes from their jokes, and drinking and sense of joy which is very eccentric and very individual to them. They're not demoralized. They have every reason to be demoralized, because they live in tough times but they have vitality, optimism."
- Liam Neeson ("Schindler's List" ), who was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, says, "We talk a lot. It's been a story-telling country and still is. I was brought up on poetry, stories, yarns, legends, fables. King Arthur was as real to me as the strange man living five doors up."
- It's the humor, says Irish actor Gabriel Byrne ("Miller's Crossing" ). "Jewish humor is like bang, bang, bang cut to the chase. . . Irish humor is much more surreal. . . The Jewish person looks at the world straight on, the Irish person looks at it sideways."
( Luaine Lee writes entertainment profiles at Scripps Howard News Service. E-mail 102404.1356(at)compuserve.com.)