If you have ever been subjected to the work of playwright David Mamet, you probably know that he’s the worst. Just look at the overt sexism that pervades his plays and writing and how it drives the narratives. It’s almost always there, and if not, the play is still just an okay story because Mamet isn’t that great of a storyteller. But my point is, if you know Mamet’s writing, you probably won’t be shocked to know that he took to Fox News to say some … weird things about teachers.
Mamet went on Fox to promote his new book, Recessional: The Death of Free Speech and the Cost of a Free Lunch. In the book (according to its website), Mamet “calls out, skewers, mocks, and, most importantly, dissects the virus of conformity which is now an existential threat to the West.” Talking with Mark Levin, though, Mamet went on a bit of a tangent about teachers and claimed that all teachers (whether or not they know it) are sexual predators. Take a moment, take that in, and loudly exclaim “WHAT?” with me.
“We have to take back control,” Mamet said. “If there’s no community control of the schools, what we have is kids being—not only indoctrinated, but groomed, in a very real sense, by people who are, whether they know it or not, sexual predators. Are they abusing the kids physically? No, I don’t think so. But they’re abusing them mentally and using sex to do so.”
Mamet continued and dug himself in even deeper, saying, “This has always been the problem with education. Is that teachers are inclined—particularly men, because men are predators—to pedophilia.” Are you asking yourself “Why?” So am I! This line of thinking doesn’t make any sense and just seems like the ramblings of a man who has spent too much time sitting in front of Fox News in the last two years.
This is coming from the man who wrote the play Oleanna, which was based on the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings. The play in question makes the case that women lie and falsely accuse men of sexual harassment.
This isn’t surprising
Mamet has had a history of being “controversial,” and his controversy usually comes at the expense of anyone who isn’t a straight, white cisgender man. He loves to “push the envelope” in the sense that he just writes incredibly sexist things, gets away with it, and has gotten acclaim and awards because of it.
Reading any of his plays will tell you this. It doesn’t even take a deep dive into them. His views and outlook on life as a whole are right there on the page, so taking to Fox News to say that most teachers inclined to pedophilia is … bizarre in general, but not shocking for Mamet specifically.
Fox News is on this “pedophilia/groomers” kick recently all because of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and the continued conservative effort to keep kids from learning anything that refutes their politics, and it has escalated into conservative figureheads making shirts that say “Disney Groomers” with a small print section of the shirt that says “Bring ammo.” It’s horrific, and people like Mamet pushing this warped narrative is dangerous.
(via Uproxx, image: Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images)
