In 1957, Elia Kazan and Budd Schulberg made a film about a charismatic drifter who uses television to seduce a nation, and critics called it unrealistic.
Some victims never break the spell. Rational thought has left their building As I like to say, cult members don’t know they’re in a cult any more than fish know they’re swimming in water.
This, of course, applies to MAGA. The reason they “don’t know and don’t care”. is that surround-sound social media has taken them in, removed them to an actual fake reality. They don’t know what hit them. I didn’t. You mention Lonesome’s contempt for his followersSome victims never break the spell. Rational thought has left their building As I like to say, cult members don’t know they’re in a cult any more than fish know they’re swimming in water.
You mention Lonesome’s contempt for his followers. I had the pleasure of studying screenwriting with the phenomenal Robert McKee. One night, he defined a “hack writer” as one who looks down on his audience. I suppose this could apply to any occupation, including those of Lonesome Rhodes and Donald J Trump. .
Interesting how many have turned Make America Great Again an abbreviated slur that they apply to any Conservative. Emotion over intellect. But I guess that's how Cult Members roll….when they don't know they are cult members… .
I actually apologize for posting my comment. I did it in a moment of annoyance w/o thinking and such activities never end well. I actually really liked the article. Many intelligent people do not understand, like or get Trump supporters and think of them as rubes and dupes and dumbasses. So it makes sense when writing about a trickster/ fraudster, they would substitute “Trump” For fraudsters and Trump supporters for rubes and the deluded.
Its is a very good article and I loved the movie.
I really will keep my mouth shut the next time and move on if something annoys me.
Exactly. At least Trump really does love America, warts and all. Obama wanted to “fundamentally transform” America so it would be unrecognizable to its Enlightenment-inspired founders. Look at how he lives. A Lonesome Rhodes living large on the credulity of his followers if ever I saw one.
Great article about a great film. I think I only saw it once, but maybe twice. It would have been decades ago. It came on TV. I don't know why I started watching it. I'm sure that by that time I knew Griffith as Andy Taylor. Heck, for all I know, maybe that's why I started watching it. Just curious. But I became riveted to the TV and, in the end, was stunned.
I have seen that brilliant film several times, I find it similar, regarding human character, to the 1949 film, All the Kings Men with Broderick Crawford. Power attracts the corruptible.
When I watched this movie I absolutely loathed the character that Andy Griffith so vividly played. And I was ecstatic when the character was outed as a creepy, white guy who was greedy, pathetic and just loud. And Patricia Neal as Marcia Jeffries represents all the women who have enabled Trump - Susie Wiles, Kristi Noem, Janine Pirro, Laura Loomer, Tulsi Gabbard, Pam Bondi, Karoline Leavitt, and many more creepy women who like Marcia put their personal ambitions before doing the right thing.
Absolutely. I’ve only heard this second-hand, so I might be wrong (and correct me on the facts if you know them more) - but I had seen somewhere that Karoline Leavitt was on that plane with the journos who were on that flying human shield, while Trump had been spirited away on that other plane, and that she has now resigned, right after coming off maternity leave.
Of course, some bullshit reason has been given for why she’s left (if indeed, I’m correct on anything).
You had me right up to the point you had to bring Trump into it by way of comparison, which is ludicrous on its face. If you want to play this game, let’s bring in Biden, who was as contemptuous as you could possibly imagine towards his fellow Americans, particularly towards the military.
Strange that you don't even mention "Being There"! Thanks for pointing me to "A Face in the Crowd". I'd like to say that you wrote a good article, but really it's an anti-Trump hit piece, isn't it?
At the risk of pounding the Trump comparisons into the dirt, it indeed foreshadowed him. No wonder Andy Griffith was crept out by it - it may have hit too close to home to see what he was capable of, though if he had been willing to follow this type of role in film, he would be remembered as a completely different actor - one on a par with the great actors of intensity coming out of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
That MAGA bought into the real-life version of the lie so big that when it was clear it was a lie, it’s as if the lie itself was a sign of authenticity - anybody so willing to believe his own bullshit and invest so much effort in propagating it had to have a sense of commitment, which, in the logic of how these things work, feels genuine. And them parrotting his lies makes them feel that this genuineness somehow becomes theirs. It’s completely irrelevant that the only thing he has ever been committed to is himself.
As much damage as he has done in the present, the real effects are not going to be apparent to MAGA until after he has gone, and even there, I will predict he’ll still have his core of true believers. To believe in something that has no value, that is not worth even giving a passing thought to, is no mean feat, and a country that permits this level of moral corrosion in its political life on the highest level has damned itself. Any future president willing to step in to clear out this rot will have more than a handful every day and night.
Great piece on “A Face in the Crowd.” To see it (as I did) during the Trump years was stunning. You make a fine point about informers “telling the public what they want to hear.” I never thought of it that way—but it fits Trump like a sock. One caveat: He never promised them anything real in the first place. You mention that the Kazan and Schulberg still “believed in a rational audience.” When I was younger, I spent years in a California cult. When it comes to following a con artist, cult members can rationalize ANYTHING. I know, I did it.
Dear Bret (part 2)
Some victims never break the spell. Rational thought has left their building As I like to say, cult members don’t know they’re in a cult any more than fish know they’re swimming in water.
This, of course, applies to MAGA. The reason they “don’t know and don’t care”. is that surround-sound social media has taken them in, removed them to an actual fake reality. They don’t know what hit them. I didn’t. You mention Lonesome’s contempt for his followersSome victims never break the spell. Rational thought has left their building As I like to say, cult members don’t know they’re in a cult any more than fish know they’re swimming in water.
You mention Lonesome’s contempt for his followers. I had the pleasure of studying screenwriting with the phenomenal Robert McKee. One night, he defined a “hack writer” as one who looks down on his audience. I suppose this could apply to any occupation, including those of Lonesome Rhodes and Donald J Trump. .
Interesting how many have turned Make America Great Again an abbreviated slur that they apply to any Conservative. Emotion over intellect. But I guess that's how Cult Members roll….when they don't know they are cult members… .
Funny, it works perfectly if you substitute “Obama” for “Trump.”
I actually apologize for posting my comment. I did it in a moment of annoyance w/o thinking and such activities never end well. I actually really liked the article. Many intelligent people do not understand, like or get Trump supporters and think of them as rubes and dupes and dumbasses. So it makes sense when writing about a trickster/ fraudster, they would substitute “Trump” For fraudsters and Trump supporters for rubes and the deluded.
Its is a very good article and I loved the movie.
I really will keep my mouth shut the next time and move on if something annoys me.
Never apologize.
Funny, you could replace the word “Emilia” with “Utter Dumbfuck” and let more people know who you really are.
Exactly. At least Trump really does love America, warts and all. Obama wanted to “fundamentally transform” America so it would be unrecognizable to its Enlightenment-inspired founders. Look at how he lives. A Lonesome Rhodes living large on the credulity of his followers if ever I saw one.
Trump loves Trump. Period. If you truly think he loves the US, then you are a fool.
And Obama loves Obama.
Oh come now
Great article about a great film. I think I only saw it once, but maybe twice. It would have been decades ago. It came on TV. I don't know why I started watching it. I'm sure that by that time I knew Griffith as Andy Taylor. Heck, for all I know, maybe that's why I started watching it. Just curious. But I became riveted to the TV and, in the end, was stunned.
Griffith is unappreciated as an actor.
I have seen that brilliant film several times, I find it similar, regarding human character, to the 1949 film, All the Kings Men with Broderick Crawford. Power attracts the corruptible.
Another film people should watch today is “The Ruling Class” with Peter O’Toole
When I watched this movie I absolutely loathed the character that Andy Griffith so vividly played. And I was ecstatic when the character was outed as a creepy, white guy who was greedy, pathetic and just loud. And Patricia Neal as Marcia Jeffries represents all the women who have enabled Trump - Susie Wiles, Kristi Noem, Janine Pirro, Laura Loomer, Tulsi Gabbard, Pam Bondi, Karoline Leavitt, and many more creepy women who like Marcia put their personal ambitions before doing the right thing.
Absolutely. I’ve only heard this second-hand, so I might be wrong (and correct me on the facts if you know them more) - but I had seen somewhere that Karoline Leavitt was on that plane with the journos who were on that flying human shield, while Trump had been spirited away on that other plane, and that she has now resigned, right after coming off maternity leave.
Of course, some bullshit reason has been given for why she’s left (if indeed, I’m correct on anything).
TCM played ‘A Face in the Crowd’ January 20th 2017. Thought it was the greatest bit of profetic, passive aggressive programming ever.
This film and Network from 20 years later tell us everything we need to know about how we got here. What they don’t tell us is how we get out.
You had me right up to the point you had to bring Trump into it by way of comparison, which is ludicrous on its face. If you want to play this game, let’s bring in Biden, who was as contemptuous as you could possibly imagine towards his fellow Americans, particularly towards the military.
BS"D
Strange that you don't even mention "Being There"! Thanks for pointing me to "A Face in the Crowd". I'd like to say that you wrote a good article, but really it's an anti-Trump hit piece, isn't it?
The film had a big revival in the 90s during the Clinton presidency as well. Rhodes' Arkansas origin amplified the prophetic vibe.
Yes but you have the wrong politician
Not Trump, who actually adores America
Bill Clinton.
Just ask Monica L or Paula Jones or any of the others he used and discarded
At the risk of pounding the Trump comparisons into the dirt, it indeed foreshadowed him. No wonder Andy Griffith was crept out by it - it may have hit too close to home to see what he was capable of, though if he had been willing to follow this type of role in film, he would be remembered as a completely different actor - one on a par with the great actors of intensity coming out of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
That MAGA bought into the real-life version of the lie so big that when it was clear it was a lie, it’s as if the lie itself was a sign of authenticity - anybody so willing to believe his own bullshit and invest so much effort in propagating it had to have a sense of commitment, which, in the logic of how these things work, feels genuine. And them parrotting his lies makes them feel that this genuineness somehow becomes theirs. It’s completely irrelevant that the only thing he has ever been committed to is himself.
As much damage as he has done in the present, the real effects are not going to be apparent to MAGA until after he has gone, and even there, I will predict he’ll still have his core of true believers. To believe in something that has no value, that is not worth even giving a passing thought to, is no mean feat, and a country that permits this level of moral corrosion in its political life on the highest level has damned itself. Any future president willing to step in to clear out this rot will have more than a handful every day and night.
It is a good film. Andy Griffith in something other than a comedy. That character he portrayed was just an awful person.
Dear Bret, (part one)
Great piece on “A Face in the Crowd.” To see it (as I did) during the Trump years was stunning. You make a fine point about informers “telling the public what they want to hear.” I never thought of it that way—but it fits Trump like a sock. One caveat: He never promised them anything real in the first place. You mention that the Kazan and Schulberg still “believed in a rational audience.” When I was younger, I spent years in a California cult. When it comes to following a con artist, cult members can rationalize ANYTHING. I know, I did it.