Matt Damon in Australia: Talks About Film 'Elysium' and Asylum Seekers' Plight
Matt Damon originally came in Australia on Monday for the premiere of his sci-fi blockbuster film "Elysium." But, Damon proved Australians that he was a thinking man and more than meets the eye as he give his opinions on asylum seekers' plight, Obama and Hillary Clinton, and his intelligent view on why he is proud of "Elysium."
"Elysium," an American science fiction film starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, directed by Neill Blomkamp, tackles political and sociological issues on immigration, health care and class issues.
"Elysium" seemed to be a thinking man's film, but it opened high in the American box office during its weekend launch as compared to movies of the same type, "After Earth," "The Lone Ranger" and "Pacific Rim," which suffered direly in the box office.
"That's one of the reasons I'm happy that Elysium is doing well - it's not a superhero movie, it's not a franchise. And the more movies like that that are big tentpole movies that succeed, the more encouragement that gives studios to take those swings. If you're going to make these big tentpole movies, at least try to make them original," Damon told The Sydney Morning Herald.
He shared that his character was a sci-fi equivalent of people smugglers in real life.
"I like it when a movie resonates thematically with people. Occupy Wall Street happened after we'd already started shooting the movie. We thought, wow, this is kind of a zeitgeist idea - the haves and have-nots. I think that gives the movie, hopefully, its soul and makes it something that lives on and isn't just easily forgotten because it has to entertain. A lot of the time when people think of message movies, they just think they have to go do homework. And nobody wants to do that, particularly when they go to the movies."
Vicky Roach of The Herald Sun wrote that there was a remarkable similarity between "Elysium's" desperate refugees and that of the asylum seekers going to Australia.
"There are startling parallels between Elysium's desperate, interplanetary refugees, who crowd into rusty space ships in a desperate attempt to reach an elite, affluent space station orbiting a resource-starved earth, and the asylum seekers who strike out for Australia in unseaworthy boats," she wrote in her article.
Damon was asked about this and he responded intelligibly.
"When you talk about immigration, everyone is trying to build a bigger fence. It's totally absurd... whether it's here in Australia or in America, with our history of, not only in Mexico, and people dying in the desert in Arizona, but also people coming from Cuba and the rafts sinking. I think that's one of the reasons the issue is so unpopular with the politicians because they don't have one either. They are after an election victory. Political rhetoric doesn't help. These guys just start to out-tough each other."
Damon also shared that he was once a supporter of President Barack Obama but was disappointed over Obama's stand on drone strikes and surveillance controversy.
However, he admitted that he was impressed with Hillary Clinton but thinks that a Clinton miniseries and documentary will not be instrumental for her campaign for the 2016 election.
"I don't think that would give her a leg up. She's going to have a leg up because of her record and because of who she is. If I thought movies like that would be helpful, I'd be making those movies because that's the type of candidate that I believe in."