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In Hollywood, stars who date or marry someone not in the business are said to be dating or marrying a "civilian". This isn't new term or phrase he's coined. IIRC, Matt Damon's wife was a waitress or something. It's not an elitist thing, it's just that it's typical for celebs to either date other celebs or date someone in that environment (e.g., producers, writers, PR agents, and so on). It must be easier for them to do so as there are common interests there. There's a reason why you don't really see A- and B-listers dating the local bakery shop owner, small town cop, or daycare teacher and those reasons aren't automatically elitist.
Really wasn't trying to...I get it now. I truly can't believe I hadn't heard that before but it's not big deal. I had a first impression of his comment, but your comments here make plenty of sense. I do like him as an actor...have no idea about his personal life. He has a beautiful smile and I enjoy his movies...what more could I hope for?
LOL it was only a matter of time before someone breathlessly surfed the web to find yet another example of how a word has... evolved to mean something it never did mean in common parlance. I think most of us all know the correct and preferred usage of the word "civilian." The larger point is that Damon's referring to his wife as a "civilian" tells us much more about how he views himself than how he views his wife.
Perhaps the word he was looking for is "commoner," which is (or used to be) the opposite of...royalty.
LOL it was only a matter of time before someone breathlessly surfed the web to find yet another example of how a word has... evolved to mean something it never did mean in common parlance. I think most of us all know the correct and preferred usage of the word "civilian."
In this case of Damon's use of the word "civilian", it was not being used as common parlance, it was being used as industry jargon.
I do like him as an actor...have no idea about his personal life. He has a beautiful smile and I enjoy his movies...what more could I hope for?
I like him too. My Ex was very involved in some anti-racism and ecological organizations. He was in regular contact with Matt Damon and got to know him as a really friendly, uncomplicated and down to earth person. Absolutely no Movie Star attitude.
What bothers me more than his statement is the extremely low number of actors under the age of 60 who have served in the military.
Why does that bother you? How long has it been since we had a military draft in the US? I think it was at the end of the Vietnam war.
Not everyone is cut out for the military. I was raised in a military family so I am very partial to the Air Force but I never considered entering the military. Service is a good way to qualify for a college education and some folks join up for that perk.
In saying "civilians" I am quite sure he was referring to people who are not in the movie-making industry.
I have never heard anything that qualifies as "tacky" about Damon. He appears to be a really nice guy without a pretentious nature.
OK, but why would anyone (particularly some actor) having not served in the military bother you?
At one time in Hollywood, a great many actors, writers, and directors had spent some time in the military. They made good realistic military/war movies because they had served. However, sometime during the Vietnam era, Hollywood began turning away or turning against the US Military. Today's Hollywood merely gives "lip service" towards the military, but their movies show their true feelings towards the military. A pass can be given towards comedies for lack of accuracy as long as the comedy is not being made to insult the military people as a whole.
As to the topic, it's a symptom of myopia or elitism. They live in a world walled off from the rest of society and so they feel as if they're royalty while the rest of us are mere commoners or "civilians". When military use the term civilians, we use the term in a technical sense. In combat, there are the enemy/soldiers or they're civilians. Civilians are also what many in the military look forward to becoming again so it's not a belittling term. The way he used it wasn't like a military person speaking about civilians, it was the way an elitist speaks of being with the little people while sitting high up on the hill looking down at the rest of us.
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to mean something it never did mean in common parlance. I think most of us all know the correct and preferred usage of the word "civilian." The larger point is that Damon's referring to his wife as a "civilian" tells us much more about how he views himself than how he views his wife.
) the opposite of...royalty.
