&#91FOUNTAIN&#93Governor Conan

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&#91FOUNTAIN&#93Governor Conan

At the end of the movie “Terminator II,” a cyborg is throwing itself into a furnace to save a real human. I have always thought that was one of the best scenes in movie history. While the cyborg is melting, it gives a “thumbs up” to a boy as if to promise, “I shall return.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played the role, kept his promise. Twelve years later, he returned in “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.” But he has attracted more attention by declaring his desire to again change his career.
Mr. Schwarzenegger announ-ced Tuesday that he will be a candidate for the governor of California. Were he to be elected, he would be the second former actor, after Ronald Reagan, to hold that job.
Mr. Schwarzenegger was born in a little village in the Austrian Alps that looks like it could be a stage set for “the Sound of Music.” His father was a policeman and a member of the Nazi Party. His father taught him, “You must always win.” Young Schwarzenegger’s idol, under his father’s influence, was the bodybuider and actor Steve Reeves, who had the movie role of Hercules. In 1968, Mr. Schwarzenegger won his first Mr. Universe title, the equivalent of an Olympic gold medal in the sport of bodybuilding. Aiming at Hollywood, then, he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a bricklayer and won the same title for six consecutive years.
As expected, he was noticed by Hollywood and started to climb the ladder to stardom. After the success of “Conan the Barbarian” in 1982, he jumped to the top with “Terminator” in 1984. That was his first movie clothed.
He married a member of the Kennedy family in 1986. At that time he was already a success in the real-estate investment business as well as an actor. He began to prepare for the third change in the late 1980s. A Republican, he served in the presidential campaigns of George Bush the elder in 1988 and 1992. He also worked for the election of George W. Bush in the 2000 campaign.
His original plan was to run for governor of California in 2006, but that schedule was advanced because of the campaign to recall the incumbent governor.
Although he has a sex scandal rattling in his closet, he has a good chance of being elected. California has the world’s fifth-largest economy, and the American dream is still alive and well there. You can earn money, power and fame in a legally approved way.


by Oh Byung-sang

The writer is the London correspondent of the JoongAng Ilbo.
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