In Time’s “Ten Questions” interview in the September 23 edition, Time editor-at-large Belinda Luscombe asked Hugh Jackman about his new movie “Prisoners,” in which “Your character tortures a guy to try to find his kidnapped daughter.” Luscombe asked if this instinct kicks when his children are faced with the paparazzi.
Then Belinda – like Jackman, a native of Australia – went geopolitical and suggested this freaked-out-daddy torturer character is an appropriate metaphor for the United States:
As this decent, religious guy who tries to do the right thing but when pushed to the edge does the unthinkable, is your character like the U.S.?
“I’m not sure that ever crossed my mind,” Jackman said, putting a charitable spin on the outlandish question. “But when something traumatic happens, that thing which holds you prisoner, that inner fear, comes out. And that fear dictates your behavior. I suppose what exists in the human psyche probably exists in the psyche of communities and nations.”
