Monday, November 10, 2008

knockin down the ivory tower

Tom Arnold is playing a child molester in a new movie called "Gardens of the Night." But it's not just because he needs any role.

He's doing it so that he can get over things that happened to him in the past. Things that make him somewhat relate to the movie.

...He was molested by his 19 year old male babysitter for THREE YEARS when he was just 4 years old. It's been a heavy weight on his back ever since (he's now 49) and he thinks that this will finally enable him to move on and fall in love.

"I was a smart kid, and [my molester] still got to me. So I wanted to portray a pedophile in a way no one has seen before in order to explain how these things can happen. I even wore the same clothes as him in the movie. Showing this guy meant so much to me. I'm ready to put this behind me. To portray him in a movie was the final thing I, as an actor, felt I could do. Forty-five years is a long time to keep something like this in your life."
--Tom Arnold


The movie isn't going to have a huge release. It's been in festivals up to this point, and will open up in NY on the 21st. Other than that, it's unsure whether it will be in theaters everywhere.

I can't imagine having to deal with something like this for SO long. He said he confronted his molester about 10 years ago, and felt joy after that.. But apparently the weight was still on his back. I'm glad that there's SOMETHING he's able to do now to hopefully get it all out of his system!

love,
elizabethany

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