Dirty Harry vs. Ben Kingsley

It has recently been brought to my attention that my last post was slightly inaccurate. As it turns out, Clint Eastwood has never (officially) killed anyone, and he is simply a Hollywood actor. This was confusing to me at first, but after further research, it seems that actors are people who are paid to pretend to do things while other people film them, usually for TV or movies.

Like many of you, I have never bothered too much about the subtle differences between "real" life and the light and sound waves emanating from the plastic box in my living room. I like to think of my TV as a window into a world full of magical places, where people live and die for my entertainment, and where I can change the channel if I get bored. Similarly, I like to think of my window as a protective piece of glass separating me from the horrors of the unscripted, "real" world; a place full of irritating responsibilities and weird, threatening people who are inexplicably unconcerned with my comfort level. In either case, the glass prevents me from interacting with things on the other side, so who am I to say that my boring neighbors that I don't see very often are more "real" than my witty, entertaining fantasy neighbors from "Friends", whose lives I follow religiously?

Back to the point, though. My last post exemplified Mr. Eastwood as a man of action who would humiliate Mohandas Ghandi in a fist fight, but it was pointed out in the comments that while Clint Eastwood pretends to kill people when cameras are pointed at him, the rest of the time he is a drama nerd who probably enjoys reading more than physical violence. Just like Ben Kingsley, who played Ghandi. And just like Ghandi himself. Except that apparently Clint Eastwood approves of the depicting physical violence for entertainment purposes, while Ben Kingsley only approves of other people depicting violence for historical and dramatic purposes. Or was that Ghandi?

Wait, are we talking about Dirty Harry or Clint Eastwood? And is it Ben Ghandi or Mohandas Kingsley? Either way, I don't really see the difference.