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I happen to be rereading some of Mamet's stuff at the moment as this makes the Internet rounds. There's a lot of good information in here, if you can get past the bombast.
Sadly the advice would be a lot clearer if he wasn't as concerned with telling us how smart he was as he was about educating others on drama.
And if he didn't write the fucking thing in all caps. What possible reason is there for that?
Yeah, his whole "I AM MAMET HEAR ME ROAR" schtick is really obnoxious and exists in all his non-fiction writings/musings on the art and craft.
At the same time, if you give him a dramatic scene to write the dude will consistently bring the pain. He IS Mamet, it's just a little annoying that he's so aware of it and wants to make sure you are too.
Just like everything else that Mamet writes, what's missing is back story. For all we know, he sent that after reading a dozen godawful episode scripts - clearly something triggered an overpowering urge to reiterate the fundamentals of drama to the staff.
And there's also the issue that he's right, which doesn't excuse all behaviors, but does buy the cuttage of a certain amount of slack in my book. (See also Cameron, James; Tippett, Phil)
I finished True and False not too long ago, and while it has good information, so much of it comes across as a writer saying, "SAY MY WORDS AND THEN GET OFF THE STAGE, STUPID ACTOR!" And his whole, "I am Mamet, fully formed genius sprung from Zeus' forehead" thing is even tougher to swallow when it's plainly obvious how much he's cribbing from Meisner, which is what "True and False" mostly is.
I'm rereading "Three Uses of the Knife" right now and it's even more deliberately obtuse and self important with less actual informative value. At the moment, it's mostly him railing against "problem plays" - in other words, any play that attempts to tackle a social issue - as wastes of time that exist only to make the audience feel pompous and self righteous. Projection much?
The other thing that's tough to slog through at times is when his dramatic ranting spills over into political ranting. And here, at least, there's hardly anything of value.
But, anyway, he rants about how politicians are just self appointed protagonists acting out dramas with "the future, Change, Our Heritage, Family Values, etc." as dramatic abstractions, while "legitimate political concerns - the environment, health care - go begging for an audience because they are not dramatic."
Uh, yeah.
I think I remember him saying something similar about the media once, although that rang true. That media has neither a liberal bias nor a conservative bias, it has a drama bias. I'd say that was pretty spot on -- although FOX does have a clear conservative bias.
I will say, I like that he calls them "the Penguins." I'm using that.
It is pretty accurate when applied to the media. But politically he's turned into one of those free-market "Democrats and Republicans are exactly the same!" nuts.
And as a Democrat, I disagree with that pretty strongly, obviously.
I will say, I like that he calls them "the Penguins." I'm using that.
That is a good one. But it doesn't replace my own fave phrase which I learned from a co-worker twenty-some years ago.
We were on the set working, the door opened and a gang of suits walked in. My buddy turned to me and said "Uh-oh... squirrel farm."
Why squirrel farm, I have no idea, but I was still stifling my laughter when they left an hour later. Somehow it just fit.
If I ever have a job that involves regular dealing with studio people, I look forward to being able to say, "Gotta go, I got Squirrel Farm at 3:00".
Or you may see it IN AN EMAIL THAT'S ALL CAPS.
SQUIRREL FARM!
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