Posted on 05/31/2011 8:22:30 PM PDT by AustralianConservative
[Q] While reading your new book, “The Secret Knowledge,” I thought, My God, in crucifying liberals, this guy is going to infuriate a huge chunk of the people who pay money to see plays. Are you concerned that you’re alienating your public?
[A] I’ve been alienating my public since I was 20 years old. When “American Buffalo” came out on Broadway, people would storm out and say, “How dare he use that kind of language!” Of course I’m alienating the public! That’s what they pay me for.
[Q] Years ago, you described “American Buffalo” as being about “how we excuse all sorts of great and small betrayals and ethical compromises called business.” In this book, you defend enormous payouts to C.E.O.’s working for failing corporations. You seem to have changed radically.
[A] I have. Here’s the question: Is it absurd for a company to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to a C.E.O. if the company is failing? The answer is that it may or may not be absurd, but it’s none of our goddamned business.
Because as Milton Friedman said, the question is not what are the decisions but who makes the decisions. Because when the government starts deciding what’s absurd, you’re on the road to serfdom.
[Q] Don’t you have to denounce your early, anticapitalistic work then?
Of course not. At that time in my life I didn’t have a penny, and I was glad to be working at entry-level jobs. Having lived for quite a while longer, I see life from a different perspective. What am I going to do, go on denouncing capitalism all my life?
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
And his screenwriting days are over.
I love Mamet’s work. If you really look at some of his movies (”Glengarry Glen Ross”, “Oleanna”, “The Edge”, etc), you get the sense he’s been a conservative for a long, long time.
Check out the movie “Spartan” too. It’s his version of 24 condensed into a 2 hour movie, with lots of great mamet-style dialogue.
The story is about the President’s daughter getting kidnapped by a sex-slavery ring from the Middle East. They have to get her back before the kidnappers realize who they took.
I love “The Winslow Boy.”
Both my wife and I were in sales our whole life and we both loved Glenngary Glennross. So very realistic. “Coffee is for closures.”
Funny.
Haha –I hope not. There’s always You Tube though.
The Winslow Boy? I’ll look out for it. People on this site tend to have good taste.
I love Mamet’s work. If you really look at some of his movies (”Glengarry Glen Ross”, “Oleanna”, “The Edge”, etc), you get the sense he’s been a conservative for a long, long time.>>>>>>>>
Also “House of Games” was great. Mamet has always been conservative but he and his associates and his friends were part of the liberal herd. Herd behavior kicked in so he kind of mindlessly adopted it until his rabbi got him reading some good books
Don’t forget “The Spanish Prisoner”. The bonus is you get to see great work by Rebecca Pidgeon as well. She’s Mamet’s wife, she sings, she’s cute, and Mamet’s is one lucky bastard.
It’s great all around...direction, acting, script. And based on a true story. One of my favorites.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.