The dramatic death of Fast & Furious star Paul Walker continues to spark controversy…
But setting aside for a moment that police say speed was a contributing factor in his death – not exactly an admirable thing given Walker and his race car driver pal were on city streets – there’s been a flood of rumors, news and additional information to sort through.
Starting with the unfortunate report that Walker basically burned to death – albeit rapidly – and that at present, we’re about a third of the way through the up to 90 day time frame it may take to learn the exact cause of the crash.
One school of thought is the combination lane divider dots, the Porsche Carrera GT’s excessive speed, and special racing tires may have caused the car to lose control and crash.
Rumors as to what may happen to Walker’s yet-to-be-completed Fast & Furious 7 movie have been flying as well. Starting with the controversy that Justin Bieber might replace Walker in the film. Not gonna happen probably if the negative Twitter response to the Biebs is any indication.
Another possibility; that Walker’s younger brother Cody – a 25 year-old Hollywood stuntman who kinda sorta looks like Paul – might lend a hand for some of the movie’s final scenes once production is resumed.
On a more controversial note, an online petition at go petition.com has attracted more than 1,600 signatures to change the name of Hercules Street, where Walker died, to Walker / Rodas Memorial Way (Roger Rodas was the driver of the Porsche).
I dunno, naming a street after a pair of scofflaws who died on it while breaking however many laws seems a stretch to me. Just as comparing pretty boy, B actor Walker to award winning iconic actor James Dean is laughable.
Seriously.
I watched Walker’s latest movie Vehicle 19 the other night and it’s hard to imagine a more wooden, uninspired performance. Not surprisingly, almost the entire movie takes place in a souped up Mustang Cobra with Walker driving at breakneck speeds on city streets, through public parks in a plot so thin it makes the Fast & Furious movies appear Academy Award worthy.
Now let’s take a look at a column comments section dude Chuck sent me on Walker.
“Paul Walker: Excessive Hype Over mediocre Actor Who Was Good-Looking; James Dean Again,” reads the headline of a column by Debbie Schlussel.
“I’m sorry he died and feel for his family,” Schlussel writes. “But the hype over his death and the beatification of this guy, as if he’s some sort of saint, isn’t just approaching excessive. It’s well beyond that. It’s ridiculous. And it’s all because of his looks, not his acting…”
“As a movie critic, I’ve seen many of Walker’s movies,” Schlussel continues. “Many of them went straight to DVD. And one of those that wasn’t straight to DVD, “Takers” (read my review), had a horrible message. The movie applauded violence by bank robbers (one of whom was Walker) against police. It was a ‘Yay, Cop Killing!’ movie. Walker was an average, maybe even substandard, actor. And Hollywood caught on. Yes, he had model good looks (though he looked better when he was younger and was approaching haggard-dom). But good-looking guys are a dime a dozen there, and Walker was cast in the Fast and Furious movies, but little else that was a hit. And the most recent Fast and Furious movie was an absolute joke (read my review). Walker was a B-list actor at the most. He recently played a character called ‘Raw Dog,’ in some movie called, ‘Pawn Shop Chronicles.’ Probably a bomb.”
Walker and GF
Like KCC, Schlussel zeros in on bad examples Walker set.
“And the way (Walker) lived his life wasn’t exactly stellar,” Schlussel says. “Yes, he raised money for charity. That’s what celebs do to raise their profiles. But he fathered a daughter out of wedlock, never marrying the mother, and was ‘dating’ (euphemism) a girlfriend who was just a few years older than his 15-year-old daughter. At 40, at the time of his death, Walker’s girlfriend was 23, and they’d been ‘dating’ since she was a 16-year-old and he was 33. That’s kinda creepy and just a few months difference from sex offender/pedophile status. Just saying.”
That brings us full circle to KCC’s criticism of the way Walker checked out.
“He made a movie–several of them–as his star vehicle, the premise of which is all about risky driving in fancy fast sports cars at illegal speeds,” Schlussel continues. “And isn’t it ironic that this is how he died. Yes, I know that Walker was not driving. But he did drive a fancy Porsche sports car (just like James Dean) and you know that, being into fast cars and making movies about driving them, he probably drove at dangerous speeds. And if you get into a V-10, 610-horsepower Porsche to have your racing friend drive it, you know you ain’t gonna be going the speed limit.”
Walker & grown up GF
Schlussel’s bottom line:
“That’s America. Our vain society worships, lauds, and mourns mediocrity, so long as it has a pretty and famous face on it…
“And now we see the James Deaning of Paul Walker, whose most famous gig, these days, other than the Fast/Furious stuff was as the supermodel for men’s cologne (Davidoff’s Cool Water). Is getting oiled up and rolling in the sand acting?
“Imagine what the world does when Kim Kardashian dies. Or her overrated, racist, nutjob sperm donor, Kanye West. Oy, perish the thought. Yes, Paul Walker wasn’t Kim Kardashian level. But he was no Albert Schweitzer, either.”
Does this mean I can expect another dredging of a Jardine’s, moto mayhem parking at Latteland or another Tommy Morrison piece soon? How many are we up to on Walker for the horse beating at this point?
Hey, this story is still evolving, wild man. Buy yourself a bottle of Walker’s cologne, take a couple hits and get back to me in the morning.
Hearne’s relationship with celebrity death is much like the strong bond between flies and dog turds.
Or a dead horse and a big whoopin’ stick.
Am I the only one who had never heard of, nor had ever seen, this Paul Walker dude before he died??
You are NOT the only one, BL! Had to ask my 18 year old who the dude was.
So was he from Kansas City? Did this happen in KC? Is there a KC cconnection? Is it CONFIDENTIAL in any way shape or form?
What the heliotrope, Hulbert?
No, but is good for clicky-clickys, eh hearne?
He is dead, so that automatically makes it on Hearne’s list of stuff to write about
I understand that folks become emotionally identified with movie stars, thats cool. Still, the article by DS is spot on and in my opinion, delivers some actual juice on the guy.
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/67984/exclusive-paul-walker-gave-bupkus-to-his-charity-his-charity-donated-bupkus-tax-docs-show/
That article is related to his charity. It really is interesting in my opinion.
This is the article, that Debbie wrote relating to Hollywood and Paul’s death.
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/67652/paul-walker-excessive-hype-over-substandard-actor-who-was-good-looking-james-dean-again/
Look, it is what it is, and I have kind of changed my mind (Wet by every rain and blown by every wind I guess.), maybe, about his activites and the example he set.
Most of the time, I like to think, I am open to changing my mind about my opinions, based on the facts as they become available.
The truth is, my opinion is no big deal, just like every other person’s opinion. I want to find out if I am wrong.
The fu*kin guy drove too fast.
Meanwhile, Debbie Schlooony calls the forced lobotomizing of WWII veterans “a scary omen of Obamacare. Great source there. You might as well start posting verbatim from World Net Daily. Why not call Ann Coulter and get her views on the Paul Walker situation?
Uh, she’s a movie reviewer who cares what her isolated take on Obamacare is?.
I’m with Chuck – who by the way gave me some pretty good grief for coming down on Walker at first – this lady nails it.
She is not noted for being a “movie reviewer”, she is noted for being a far-right lunatic.
OK, MJ
Have any of you watched any Paul Walker movies? I’ve seen better acting at local dinner theaters.
Does anybody thing a 33 year-old dude hooking up with a 16 year-old girl is cool? That glorifying breaking the law by driving ridiculously dangerously on city streets is somehow admirable?
Or are we just jerking around here for the sake of jerking around?
I suspect the latter
No, I had never heard of him before his death. The only one jerking around for the sake of jerking around is YOU.
The article quoted concerning WWII vets is based on the truth. Read it. Why, considering the hubris, arrogance, cronyism, malfeasance and ineptitude surrounding the dumpster fire that is ObamaCare, would a reference, to actual events, orchestrated by the Federal Government 60 years ago, not be worth a look?
I get it, that her politics are conservative. That said, her commentary on Paul Walker’s charity and his life, with government links to back up her statements are NOT an idictment of liberalism and socialism. She takes an oblique swipe at the culture and presents a jaundiced view of celebrities in general. Again, her commentary on Paul Walker’s charity endeavors are dead on the money with the documentation to back it up.
I guess maybe that was what killed him. The combination of big, cumbersome, clay feet on the accelerator.
🙂
The GOP is exactly like the Jonestown cult.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2013/12/18/podesta-gop-jonestown-cult/4109385/
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj170/bobbylewisjr/th_YouTube-LeaveBritneyAlone.jpg
Geesus Hearne why don’t you go punch his surviving daughter. He’s dead just cause your fiat (ooo wait think you said that is gone) won’t get out of it’s own way doesn’t mean your not capable of having the same tragic accident doing the speed limit. First off the cops have not released how fast he was going so your speculating. Second at 2.2 million in revenues for the Fast n Furious franchise it’s kicking the stuffing out of King of Sting which you have NO Problem providing a forum for that flop. Those fans (of which I wasn’t) are entitled to their hype. Didn’t bag on MJ the child molester drug addict when he took the dirt nap.
Look he wasn’t driving for starters so saying he was doing something illegal is guilt by association. For all you know he could have been screaming slow down or yanked the e-brake to put it into a spin. A light weight car with high horsepower he could have been doing the speed limit when it hit the lane dividers. You’ll be amazed how far a lightweight car can travel at 35mph. Truth is your speculating and looking for clicks on the back of a dead guy. What next how Mother Theresa was running a brothel?
35 MPH, huh?
Last I read the “experts” were saying 90 or greater.
It’s an interesting story, imho.
You apparently agree since you read the column.
Are you knee jerk pig headed and self centered enough to believe that I only read things I like? Hahaha!! unbelievable You fail to grasp.. HE WASN’T DRIVING. Let me guess if your cruising along in your Fiat and happen to go down an hill and break the speed limit so you can make it up the next hill and get a ticket that’s your passengers fault?
Ya know I just answered my first question.. yes you are and the proof is the first 3 stories are from Glazer.. Who has the audacity to actually post about offensive comments.
That’s 2.2 billion Davey
MJ is the sickest of the sickest heros in our culture. Still revered and deified by millions and honored at every MTV/BET awards show, this pederast filth should have been doing life in prison, not dancing his way across our tv screens for 40 years.
HeeeeHoooo!
He was definitely an awful actor. The only movie I recall ever watching in which he starred was the one where Jessica Alba spent the full 90 minutes in a wet bathing suit. Not great cinema, by any means, but it wasn’t too bad with the sound off.