Oliver Stone Draws Fire for 'Revolt' Theory

By
ABC News
January 6, 2006, 5:17 AM ET
2 min read

Oct. 16, 2001 -- Conspiracy theorist/filmmaker Oliver Stone believes the mediocrity of Hollywood movies, and the fact that the industry is controlled by a handful of huge corporations, may have been a driving factor for Osama bin Laden and his minions.

Speaking at an Oct. 7 panel called "Making Movies That Matter: The Role of Cinema in the National Debate," which was sponsored by the New York Film Festival, the director of Natural Born Killers said, "That's what the new world order is," referring to media conglomerates.

"They control culture. They control ideas. And I think the revolt of Sept. 11 was about '[Bleep] you! [Bleep] your order,'" Stone is quoted as saying by the New Yorker.

Stone Called 'a Moral Idiot'

Incensed fellow panelist Christopher Hitchens, a columnist for Vanity Fair and The Nation, responded, "Excuse me? Revolt? It was state-sponsored mass murder, using civilians as missiles." Later, Hitchens said: "To say that this attack in any way resembles the French Revolution means you are a moral idiot, as well as an intellectual idiot. The man has completely lost it." According to the New Yorker, Stone also asked, "Does anybody make a connection between the 2000 [presidential] election and the events of Sept. 11?" then added cryptically, "Look for the 13th month!"

Stone Wants to Do a Movie About Terrorism

At the same panel, which was held at Lincoln Center, Stone said, "I don't buy into this concept that all people want to see right now is [comedies like] Zoolander. I think we can tie movies in to the attack. Let's make a big movie about terrorism, and let's do a good job of it."

Added the man who gave us Nixon and JFK, "I'd like to do a bullet of a movie about terrorism and how it works. It could be a fascinating thriller that would really entertain people."

He elaborated, saying, "My movie would show the new heroes of security, the people who really get the job done, who know where the secrets are."

However, Tom Pollock, former CEO of Universal Pictures, said it was going to be "10 times harder" to get the studios to make such films.

"It's because it will be harder to figure out how to make money from them, and it will become harder for independent films with political content to get distribution," Pollock was quoted as saying by The Hollywood Reporter.