Would Oliver Stone make a movie portraying Fidel Castro as gay?
The Wretchard and VDH discuss the historical Alexander and what Oliver Stone did to him; Belmont Club’s comments section deserves to be read in full. VDH:
So since Stone omitted the controversial and key issues of Alexander’s career, what do we get instead for at least over two thirds of the movie? Mostly sit-com drama, with gay and bi- subplots, in various bedrooms and banquet halls. Olympias was something out of a teen-aged vampire movie, not the sophisticated and conniving royal we read about in the sources. It is the old Dallas or Falcon Crest glossy pulp in Macedonian drag. Stone’s Alexander is a pouty, wimpy bore; the real figure, whatever your thoughts on him, was a killer and a fearful man of action.
Well, Fidel Castro is a killer and a fearful man of action too. Maybe Stone should do the gay thing with him. Somehow, when we read these comments by Stone, it seems likely that Castro is seen a little differently by the director:
– “We should look to [Castro] as one of the earth’s wisest people, one of the people we should consult.” (via Buckley in NRO)
– “Castro has become a spiritual leader. He will always be a Mao to those people…..I think it would be a mistake to see him as a Ceausescu. I would compare him more to Reagan and Clinton. … They were both tall and had great shoulders, and so does Fidel.” (via Ann Louise Bardach in a terrific interview in Slate)
– “There’s something El Greco-like about him,” says Stone. “Don Quixote comes to mind. And he’s tilting at windmills in the same way as Don Quixote, because after 40 years, he is isolated, he hasn’t changed his position. But he has to stay firm to his revolution. He makes the point that if you sell out to the US one quarter inch, you lose, because that’s where they get in. Once they put the first McDonald’s, they keep coming.” (via SF Said in the Telegraph)
Someone remind me again why anyone, anywhere listens to what Hollywood people think about politics. Must be the same type of people who think it’s a good idea to trust Oliver Stone with $160 million to make Alexander.