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Carrey ruffled the feathers of a few Fox contributors by performing in a Funny or Die video titled “Cold Dead Hand.” In it he mocks deceased gun enthusiast Charlton Heston, who was once the president of the NRA. Carrey's video gets its title from a comment that Charlton Heston made at the annual NRA convention during the 2000 presidential election. As Heston picked up a rifle, he proclaimed, “So, as we set out this year to defeat the divisive forces that would take freedom away, I want to say those fighting words for everyone within the sound of my voice to hear and to heed, and especially for you, Mr. Gore: 'From my cold, dead hands!’”
Carrey’s response to Heston’s comment is a bit belated, but here’s one of the lines he sings in his “Cold Dead Hand” video: “The angels wouldn't take [Heston] up to heaven like he planned/Because they couldn't pry that gun from his cold, dead hand.”
Even though Fox News is supposed to be a “fair and balanced” news organization, “The Five” host Greg Gutfield couldn’t resist offering his passionate opinion about Jim’s video. According to Yahoo! omg!, he ranted, “He is probably the most pathetic tool on the face of the Earth and I hope his career is dead, and he ends up sleeping in a car the way his life began.” He went on to say, “This video only made me want to go out and only buy a gun. He thinks this is biting satire and going after rural America and a dead man.”
By making such a big deal about the “Cold Dead Hand” video, Fox News is playing right into Jim Carrey’s hands. He’s obviously relishing the attention the video is getting, and he released a statement criticizing “Fux News."
Since I released my “Cold Dead Hand” video on Funny or Die this week, I have watched Fux News rant, rave, bare its fangs and viciously slander me because of my stand against large magazines and assault rifles. I would take them to task legally if I felt they were worth my time or that anyone with a brain in their head could actually fall for such irresponsible buffoonery. That would gain them far too much attention which is all they really care about.
I’ll just say this: in my opinion Fux News is a last resort for kinda-sorta-almost-journalists whose options have been severely limited by their extreme and intolerant views; a media colostomy bag that has begun to burst at the seams and should be emptied before it becomes a public health issue.
According to Vanity Fair, Carrey also responded on WhoSay by writing, “‘Cold Dead Hand' is abt u heartless motherf%**ers unwilling 2 bend 4 the safety of our kids. Sorry if you're offended by the word safety!”
Getting in on the great gun debate is actually a brilliant move for Carrey -- criticizing the gun culture in America has worked out well for CNN host Piers Morgan, after all. Instead of just reporting the news, the nasty debates on his CNN show have often become the news. And by needling gun fanatics, he can often get them to say some pretty crazy things. Perhaps Jim is hoping that the folks at Fox News will hurt themselves by saying something outrageous.
It seems a bit silly that Jim is being taken so seriously since he’s just a comedian -- it’s a testament to just how gun-crazy some Americans are. Fox News might not like it, but at least Jim isn’t letting talk about gun control just die. And while Jim was using comedy to get his point across, Greg Gutfield’s rant was personal and extremely mean-spirited.
Jim’s released statement was a hot topic on “The Five” on Friday. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gutfield proclaimed “He issued a press release, which is basically a complete meltdown. This is a guy that insulted most of America and danced on the grave of Charlton Heston. Jim Carrey is, in this letter, threatening legal action -- something Charlton Heston can’t do because Charlton Heston is dead. That was the whole point, to stand up for somebody who couldn’t talk back to a fool like Jim Carrey.”
Fox News hosts might not like it, but dead people aren’t off limits when it comes to comedy. Comedians haven’t stopped making fun of Michael Jackson just because he’s dead, and Jeffrey Ross and Anthony Jeselnik are two stand-ups who have made joking about recently-deceased celebrities a part of their shtick. People respond to the shock value of poking fun at the dead, and Jim simply used a dead man who lived a long and successful life to draw attention to other dead people -- those whose lives were cut short by gun violence.
Perhaps all the attention that this big Jim Carrey vs. Fox News battle has been getting will inspire Jim to take his Heston parody to the next level by making a comedy film about the actor, Fox News, or gun fanatics. And hopefully Jim caught this comment from “The Five” host Bob Beckel: “You talked out of your arse. Come sue us. Bring your arse and we’ll bring what little brains we have and see what happens.”
Now Jim just has to appear on “The Five” as Ace Ventura so that he can respond to Beckel but letting his butt do the talking. Then again, the actor might not want to give Fox News the ratings.