Back in 2008, David Mamet(Glengarry Glen Ross
) wrote a lengthy piece in the Village Voice titled "Why I Am No Longer a Brain Dead Liberal". The article signaled a distinct shift in the former liberal filmmaker's political point of view, and in little bits his new "conservative" view was finding a way into his work. I'd say Redbelt was pretty much ideology free, unless your mindset is that Ricky Jay is a chronic mumbler whose claim to fame is repeating every single line he says. A new, very extensive piece by The Weekly Standard covers Mamet's conversion from liberal to staunch righty, and how his new perspective has influenced his work in 2008's November to his upcoming book The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture
Also in there is the news that Mamet is working on another screenplay, in which he'll be tackling the controversial issue of Affirmative Action. Oi.Tell me if this premise doesn't sound like it's something ripped straight from The Onion. It involves a rich white girl who applies to Harvard, but gets rejected. She then applies again as an Aztec in order to get in under Affirmative Action and "presumably high jinks ensues". >sigh< Is this 2011's version of Soul Man or something? Gimme a break, kid. Mamet hopes the script will get picked up to be produced, and since he's Mamet it likely will, even if the idea is a lead balloon. That plot sounds atrocious, right wing tool or not. By having the girl be an Aztec it'd hard for me to think he's taking the issue seriously.
Maybe I shouldn't judge the material before I have a chance to see it, but judging by the Standard story and the typical right wing response to Affirmative Action, I'm guessing that Mamet will miss the point of the policy completely. It's not to take away the opportunity from a person who has merit. It's because minorities were and still are shut out despite their merit. What I've always found to be most important, and this is me now stepping off the soapbox, is what that person does in their new position. Do they sink or swim? Do they excel or do they falter? Do they strive to be the best or coast on through? Hopefully if Mamet is going to proceed with this idea he'll address some of those points as well.
