Insightful and erudite Terry Teachout offers a piquant report on David Mamet's having come out of the closet as a libertarian/conservative. Noting that the famous playwright's work has been widely understood as conservative in the Hobbesian vein, Teachout reports that Mamet has publicly repudiated the optimistic view of human nature espoused by his liberal associates in the theater, declared good theater to be a product of the free market, and disavowed liberalism as the faddish nonsense that infects the contemporary fine-arts community.
This, says Teachout, makes Mamet the only nonliberal notable playwright alive. That makes Mamet all the more notable.
Mr. Mamet, if this leaves you without a social life, the SWNIDs would like to invite you over some evening for burgers, potato salad, and homemade ice cream.
2 comments:
Are you sure you want to have him over? How many of his plays have you seen? The ones I've seen involved a lot of yelling, usually husbands and wives or other family members yelling at each other? Is that what kind of environment you will provide him when he comes for dinner?
We will play Scrabble after dinner. That should reveal the underlying tensions in the family. Perhaps he can encourage us to play profane words for competitive advantage.
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