I resigned because the traditional core values of the United States, as manifested in the president’s National Security Strategy and his foreign policies, have been warped and betrayed. I could no longer represent him personally and remain faithful to my beliefs about what makes America truly great.
.. These policies are purportedly being pursued to make good on nativist campaign rhetoric that resonated with many legitimately aggrieved Americans. But I know many of these voters. They are not “deplorables.” They deserve better. They deserve enlightened and informed debate about the true nature of the globalized economy, automation, and the need for education and reimagined job-skills programs to keep us competitive.
.. Moreover, policy options based on fear and hashtags will only offer us a false dichotomy... immigration issue cannot be debated rationally when the president routinely encourages division and disparages today’s migrants with the same hateful language deployed a century ago to excoriate my Irish and Italian ancestors... My goal is to create the conditions for respectful and nonconfrontational dialogue between supporters of the president’s immigration policy and the full panoply of migrants
When Women Took the Wheel
A reflection on the place of women in Hollywood through the lens of a breakthrough feminist film.
I used to go in with my fists up. I’d go, ‘I’m tough, I’m tough, I’m tough.’ Eventually I had to learn that that is the worst thing; that is what men really hate.”
.. A collaboration developed, in which Ridley and Callie went page by page through the script for weeks, making sure he understood the rage and that all the emotion was real. He called them “daily lectures.” He was dubious about all the hideous male behavior in the script and asked her if these things ever happened to her. “The point is, it doesn’t matter if it happened to me,” she answered. “These things happen all the time, and it could have been me and it could be any of the women you have ever come into contact with.”
.. He argued for humor throughout, as he felt it was critical to the overall “ride” of the film. “He thought the men in the audience should eat some crow, but he wanted them to enjoy the taste.
.. The movie became almost as famous for the casting of the hitchhiker—Brad Pitt in his first film role.
.. “Nothing in the script indicated that the intimate story needed such an opulent stage,” Ms. Aikman writes. “He brought that to it,” Susan tells her. “We filled in the emotions and the people.” Once she saw the finished film, she understood: “Because Ridley put us in this heroic setting, the film had the impact it did,” but that wasn’t so apparent at the time.
.. It was assumed that if you were interested in the look of the film you couldn’t also care about the scenes. This dichotomy of course is false.
.. How did they even get to that point? The Look vs. The Characters? That is not a boy vs. girl thing. That is a writer vs. director thing. And it’s ironic because what makes the movie so perfect is the blending of the two.