The Chicago native, Second City alum and actor/director/writer in such hits as “Animal House” and “Groundhog Day” will emcee a Mideast bazaar and cultural event on block 37 in the loop Aug. 28 and 29.
How did you get involved with Middle Eastern issues? Like a lot of people, my casual interest in Middle Eastern politics and culture became serious after 9/11. I started reading a lot about Islam and Middle Eastern politics. It enhanced my understanding of how the world works [and] knowing more about Islam put a more human face on it.
You’re listed on a couple of Web sites as a prominent Lebanese-American. That’s funny, I’m not. I’m Polish-Russian.
Did you grow up in a political household? Not really, [but] I think there’s something inherently politicizing about growing up in Chicago, if you pay attention, and Illinois in general. It all starts with being the Land of Lincoln, then some of the great labor struggles at the turn of the last century, and American socialism, and corruption and scandal and the 1968 Democratic Convention. There’s a great legacy of Illinois politics.
Are you involved in politics now? I got kind of fired up around Barack Obama. I’ve been waiting for a candidate to come along who is both moderate enough to be electable but still has a social-welfare and social-justice agenda. For me the great value of government is to ensure adequate housing, health care and nutrition for everybody and provide as good an education as possible to every child in the country.
What do you think about the Jack Ryan scandal? The treacherous thing about being in public life in general is that everything is fair game. Some of it may be true but no worse than anything your neighbor has done, and yet it may disqualify you from public life.
Do you feel public scrutiny? On the lowest level. You get the occasional free Starbucks. On the other hand, you better not spill it on yourself.
Why have your movies aged so well? I don’t know why, but I kind of made a rule when I started that I would make no contemporary cultural references. There’s no mention of any current television show or popular music or movie or news event in any movie I’ve ever done. There’s nothing to say that this is an ’80s movie, or, oh, remember swine flu?
