Converting Mamet

The Weekly Standard ^ | May, 2011 | Andrew Ferguson

[AustralianConservative]

Three decades ago David Mamet became known among the culture-consuming public for writing… […]

And then Mamet thought some more, and looked in the mirror.

“I never questioned my tribal assumption that Capitalism was bad,” he writes now, “although I, simultaneously, never acted upon these feelings.” He was always happy to cash a royalty check and made sure to insist on a licensing fee. “I supported myself, as do all those not on the government dole, through the operation of the Free Market.”

He saw he was Talking Left and Living Right, a condition common among American liberals, particularly the wealthy among them, who can, for instance, want to impose diversity requirements on private companies while living in monochromatic neighborhoods, or vote against school vouchers while sending their kids to prep school, or shelter their income while advocating higher tax rates. The widening gap between liberal politics and liberal life became real to him when, paradoxically enough, he decided at last to write a political play, or rather a play about politics. It was the first time he thought about partisan politics for any sustained period.

“This was after the 2004 election,” he told me in an interview last month. “I’d never met a conservative. I didn’t know what a conservative was. I didn’t know much of anything.

“But I saw the liberals hated George Bush. It was vicious. And I thought about it, and I didn’t get it. He was no worse than the others, was he? And I’d ask my liberal friends, ‘Well, why do you hate him?’ They’d all say: ‘He lied about WMD.’ Okay. You love Kennedy.Kennedy didn’t write Profiles in Courage—he lied about that. ‘Bush is in bed with the Saudis!’ Okay, Kennedy was in bed with the mafia.”

[AustralianConservative]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/converting-mamet_561048.html

[Amberdawn]

Honesty and clarity-Isn’t it refreshing?

[Borges]

If anyone hasn’t seen the 1992 film version of Mamet’s ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ please do. It’s breathtaking.

[AU72]

Mamet’s ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’

Especially Alec Baldwin's sales meeting from Hell.

[jessduntno]

Fantastic article. Thanks for finding this and putting it up.

[max americana]

Everyone knows that, including Wag the Dog.

But try SPARTAN, with Val Kilmer. Mamey befriended in real-life, one of the founders of Delta Force, and that’s what Kilmer played.

The irony? It’s about a president who tried to have his own daughter kidnapped and left for dead because at the same time, the president in a re-election year was having sex with his other girlfriends in Boston. So basically, it was all fakery...(like Clinton and obama)

Kilmer plays the Delta guy who saves the daughter because he knew it was the right thing to do, even though the president was an a-hole.

[jessduntno]

“Especially Alec Baldwin’s sales meeting from Hell.”

I worked for a guy just like that - for 3 days - delivered a few Mamet type lines to him before I left. He just sat there and blinked.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I’ve been a fan of Mamet for a long time.

His writing is Shakespearean. I thought that Atlas Shrugged would have benefited by having him do the screenplay. (Maybe he’s ready now?)

House of Games is a wonderful film.

This feels like the Michael Crichton essay on environmentalism as a religion:
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/environmentalism-as-religion

We enjoyed seeing Mamet’s latest work on Broadway (first night of previews - Patrick Stewart in “A Life in the Theater” - fun from the front row center, closed in a few weeks).

It’s a joy to see people growing up, one by one!

[Atlas Sneezed]

I think my Crichton link may be bad. His speech has ALMOST fallen down the memory hole.

Here’s a better link:
http://www.muditajournal.com/archives/347.php

[AU72]

“Coffee is for closers!”

[jeltz25]

Best dialogue of any film ever. Always be closing. Some great con artist movies as well in House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner. Wrote the movie version of The Untouchables. Wrote the script of that DeNiro movie Ronin where he, Jean Reno and some other guys are gangsters in France with a briefcase and the mafia is after them. A great chase movie. Wrote the script of the Paul Newman classic The Verdict. Even a decent terrorism movie with Val Kilmer where the President's daughter is kidnapped. Some great quotes in the story: Before long, when Finley didn’t budge, the books from Mamet stopped arriving, and Finley asked if he could send Mamet some books too. One of the first was A Conflict of Visions, by Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institution. In it Sowell expands on the difference between the “constrained vision” of human nature—close to the tragic view that infuses Mamet’s greatest plays—and the “unconstrained vision” of man’s endless improvement that suffused Mamet’s politics and the politics of his profession and social class. “He came back to me stunned. He said, ‘This is incredible!’ He said, ‘Who thinks like this? Who are these people?’ I said, ‘Republicans think like this.’ He said, ‘Amazing.’ ” Interestingly, Gov Palin mentioned that same Sowell book in Going Rogue and used it as an example of what conservatism is and what she believes. Now, whether she actually read the whole book or someone just told her it would be good to name drop, who knows? But she still mentioned it and interesting to see Mamet mention it as influencing him. Also this one: “And he was right,” Mamet said. “It had a huge effect on me. Forcing yourself into a new way of thinking about things is a wrenching experience. But first you have to look back and atone. You think, ‘Oh my god, what have I done? What was I thinking?’ In talking about Witness. But I was reminded of the Talking Heads song "Once In a Lifetime". "And you may find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife. You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?" Good story to read though.

[okie01]

Fascinating article.

Fascinating man.

Thanks for posting.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

Spartan is really good, very under-appreciated little movie.

I really like The Edge, Heist and Things Change also. He wrote my favorite episode of "The Shield" (called "Strays").

The cool thing is, he can get away with this. Mamet cannot be blacklisted, he's too good. Some people have f*ck you money... Mamet has f*ck you talent.

[Atlas Sneezed]

WOW!

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE!!!

[Atlas Sneezed]

Mamet cannot be blacklisted, he’s too good.

---

Plus, he’s a genuine “Member of the Tribe.”

[woofie]

Thanks so much ....Id read a bit about this a while back and I find this inspiring

[fhayek]

It is interesting to see what happens when an intelligent liberal actually takes the time to actually think about his political positions - he becomes a conservative.

[Auntie Mame]

Fabulous article. Thanks.

I just ordered his book. It’s available for pre-ordering from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Knowledge-Dismantling-American-Culture/dp/1595230769/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305430730&sr=8-1

[comps4spice]

This is a very good read. Well worth the time.

[fightinJAG]

bookmark - and the thread looks interesting, too.

Thanks!