Did Will Smith Really Say That ‘Hitler Wasn’t That Bad?’

Wow. It sounds like a twisting of words to me. While I don’t recommend anyone in the limelight speak of Adolf Hitler unless they are planning to diss the evil, former dictator/murderer, this honestly looks like a case where Smith put his foot in his mouth 10% of the way and the rest of the world misinterpreted his attempt at honesty the remaining 90%. While Smith did not outright praise the man considered responsible for the death of millions throughout the 1930s and 40s, he did discuss his view that Hitler thought he was doing the right thing.

You can check out what Smith said and see what you think for yourself. He was being interviewed by the UK’s Daily Record at the time of his statement. The interview deals with his newly released film, I Am Legend.

Remarkably, Will believes everyone is basically good.

“Even Hitler didn’t wake up going, ‘let me do the most evil thing I can do today’,” said Will. “I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was ‘good’. Stuff like that just needs reprogramming.”

“I wake up every day full of hope, positive that every day is going to be better than yesterday. And I’m looking to infect people with my positivity. I think I can start an epidemic.”

While TMZ added fuel to the flames by only writing the most inflammatory parts of what Smith said (and taking what he said out of context in the process), we truly believe Smith made a ‘faux pas’ in portraying his true meaning and intent in relation to his feelings on Adolf Hitler. It is his right to believe every person has good in them and his right to believe Adolf Hitler thought he was doing the right thing.

I studied History in college and as someone who is both fascinated by the study of WWII and someone who has studied the subject of WWII and the Holocaust intensely, I can say that I agree with the assessment that Hitler believed he was doing the right thing. He believed he was good. That doesn’t make him right for what he did. He caused some of the worst destruction ever committed against his fellow man and that is inexcusable. Whether I believe Hitler is good or evil is another story. Still, some do believe everyone has the ability to be good. Whether they take that opportunity is dependent upon their actions, which can be dictated by everything from drug use (Hitler used drugs) to family issues (Hitler was plagued with issues with his family from birth).

Back to Will, his reps responded to TMZ by releasing a statement (for Will) that TMZ posted on their website. The reps said:

“It is an awful and disgusting lie. It speaks to the dangerous power of an ignorant person with a pen. I am incensed and infuriated to have to respond to such ludicrous misinterpretation. Adolph Hitler was a vile, heinous, vicious killer responsible for one of the greatest acts of evil committed on this planet.”

The Jewish Defense League and other Jewish leaders are quite upset with Will. Not only are they trying to get I Am Legend shut down in movie theaters across the country, they are also calling on Barack Obama to make a statement against Smith’s comments. Looks like Obama might have got thrown into the middle of one fight he won’t want to be in, especially with primaries right around the corner.

[tags]Jewish Defense League, Will Smith, Hitler, I Am Legend, TMZ, Movie, Comments[/tags]

More News on This Topic: