People in the News for April 14, 1998

Tuesday, April 14, 1998 | 9:33 a.m.

Wait, the government killed John Lennon? The U.S. government? The same U.S. government that can't even illegally fund-raise without getting caught? That truth is too out-there for us. But not for Sean Lennon. His father "was a countercultural revolutionary, and the government takes that kind of (stuff) really seriously historically," he says. We only think Lennon was murdered in 1980 by Mark Chapman, a lone gunman gooned on "Catcher in the Rye" and obeying a voice in his head saying, "Do it! Do it! Do it!" That's what they want us to think! Or is it what they want us to think they want us to think -- with the U.S. government, it's always hard to tell. But it's certainly what Sean Lennon thinks, and he doesn't have to play Ronald Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" speech backwards -- I ... buried ... John -- to believe it. Just think logically, leaving no Oliver Stone unturned: "He was dangerous to the government," Lennon says. "If he had said, 'Bomb the White House tomorrow,' there would have been 10,000 people who would have done it. These pacifist revolutionaries are historically killed by the government." Let's see if we've got this: The government, worried that a pacifist might order the bombing of the White House, had him terminated. By God, that is government thinking! Anyone who doesn't see it, says Lennon, "is insane, I think, or very naive, or hasn't thought about it clearly." Well, the blinders are certainly off our eyes.

Tears for fears

What better way for Candice Bergen to mark the end of her 10-year run as Murphy Brown than with a cathartic leak? "I burst into tears in front of George Clooney," she admits. Clooney and his haircut were taping a guest appearance on the final episode of "Murphy Brown," when the "ER" hunk asked Bergen if she was OK. "I couldn't stop crying," she says. "I just had to walk away. But we're fine now." Or maybe that's just what she wants us to think ...

MTV goes to the movies

For a counterculture revolutionary like Leonardo DiCaprio -- memo to U.S. government: If he said 'Bomb the White House,' 10,000 teenage girls would do it. Keep your laser-aided rifle sights on this kid -- nothing eases the sting of an Oscar snub like a nod from the MTV Movie Awards. He was nominated Monday for best male performance, as well as for such vita-enhancing awards as best duo and best kiss (both with "Titanic" co-star Kate Winslet). His competition: "Face/Off" stars Nicholas Cage and John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson ("Jackie Brown") and "Good Will Hunting" star Matt Damon. Best female nominees: Neve Campbell, Vivica Fox, Helen Hunt, Julia Roberts and Winslet. The best picture nominees are "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery,""Face/Off," "Good Will Hunting," "Men in Black" and "Titanic." The ceremony airs June 4. It seems like another stupid awards show to us, but maybe we're just insane, naive or just haven't thnought about it clearly.

Compiled by Scott Dickensheets