Hilton Als writes this in a recent New Yorker magazine:
Among the many terrible realities to which David Mamet exposes us in his exceptional, calculated work, one theme stands out: suckers will never get a break in this wretched world. In the sixty-year-old playwright’s fictional universe, the humane are too soft and dim-witted to survive; their tormentors chew them up with dry relish. Mamet treats the stage as a kind of bloody forum; the gladiators one finds there are skinny con artists, callow film producers, real-estate agents in cheap suits, and ghastly lovers who spar, using the author’s hyper-stylized language as both spear and shield. Even to refer to some of Mamet’s characters as “lovers” feels wrong—like calling a thief a victim. Mamet’s protagonists do not love; they size each other up and assess what they can extract from each other—and the answer is usually money. If they show any physical tenderness at all, it’s brief; they kiss, then withdraw, constantly reminding themselves of the primary rule of survival: Get or be gotten.
Does this not capture the psychopathic world?
Glengarry Glen Ross, for example is a brilliant, excruciating example which has been made into a movie. Business people speak of making ‘a killing’ – Mamet shows the truth behind this choice of words.
Great, apt quote, Dr. Steve…it certainly is a great description of an exploitative culture.
Art imitates life.
6d1ac9c
Literally Sleeping With Mr. Wrong
There he was stunning and charming as ever. He swept me off my feet upon our first meeting. It was on the line of a New York City cruise where we first laid eyes on each other. He had all white on and was very neat. He had a bald head and a goatee. He smiled a lot and had very intelligent conversations. He told me that he had written a book and that he was in law enforcement. He had been working for Sing Sing Prison as a Corrections Officer (at least that is what he said). He also told me that he had three beautiful daughters.
We started dating slowly but continuously. First there were flowers, cards and then the chocolates. We dined at very nice restaurants in Brooklyn (where he was from). This man knew how to treat a woman. I felt special because I was treated like a queen from a handsome, smart and professional man.
We started to get in a serious relationship. He asked for my hand in marriage. I was so happy that with all the bad happening in my life that I had someone good who was by my side. We got pregnant and we were excited. We decided to combine our lives and children and get a new home to support our upcoming union.
Well we found a beautiful condominium that was perfect for us. Mr. Wrong asked my mom for my hand in marriage and my mom happily told him yes.
We moved in together and things were fine for the first four months. He went to all prenatal visits with me and still paid a lot of attention to me. It was great, so I thought.
Tragedy struck
I had four children of my own. Life was routine up until one day I had a family tragedy. One of my children did the unthinkable, took the life of their partner. The charge was manslaughter. I felt like my life was in a world wind. I was about to lose my child to the system and I lost their partner to death. Could life have gotten any worse? Well that wonderful man who was in law enforcement came to my rescue. He came with me to court, jail to visit my child and even helped in choosing a lawyer for my case. He was my media spokesperson. I was indebted to this person. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for him. I was now vulnerable.
I was in the media a lot because of my child and circumstances surrounding the case. I started getting threatening phone calls from people I didn’t know. How did they get my number? To make a long story short I received a phone call from someone I didn’t know. They were asking me to come to a hotel room; they claimed to be an attorney and said they could help my child. I immediately told Mr. Wrong what happened and he asked me to find out the information of the hotel room and such from the caller. I gave it to him. Well, Mr. Wrong claims he went there in stead of me and he told a chilling story to me that included kidnapping and murder. He claims that in order to protect me and him he would not give me specifics on who these people were or where the bodies were to be hidden. I wanted to go to law enforcement but with what evidence. Was this even true? They would laugh me right out of the police station.
Blessing & Curse
As you would expect the fun didn’t last long. I had spent all my savings on our condo. I was pregnant and I found out that Mr. Wrong had two more children whom he didn’t have anything to do with, four girlfriends and a mentally ill mother in which he collected her social security benefits for himself. He fathered 5 children 3 of which were 2 years old. When I asked him why he didn’t tell me about them he said because it was before me and none of my business. I soon found out that he had four residences prior to living with me in one year.
I was 7 months pregnant and Mr. Wrong left me. No explanations just left. My son is 2 months now and I have not seen Mr. Wrong. I went to court to seek child support and was told that if I can not get him served (process service) that they would have to dismiss my case. I eventually found out that Mr. Wrong left and ended up living with a woman (supposed wife of 15 years) and took his two daughters who he told me about in the beginning there to live with him. These were not her children and to top it off she introduced herself to his daughters as there step mom of 15 years. His daughters knew me because they lived with us in the condo for 6 months. To get them to dislike me, he told them that I killed there hamster and stole money out of their room. Now technically he has 6 children by 5 different women but only cares for 2. Not surprisingly he receives social security benefits for those two daughters. They are an additional source of income for him.
My blessing was giving birth to a 7lb 9oz beautiful baby boy and the curse was having a sociopath as a father.
Please visit me at my personal website: http://www.whenyoucryicry.com
Dr. Steve….
This is a video of a dance that I think was created about a malignant narcissist that I know. (Just my guess) Anyway, it certainly captures the pain of interacting with one!!! It is the video on the right called Emotion Tabled. http://www.myspace.com/ryanolawrence
Speaking about a psychopathic WORLD: Did anyone catch Larry King Lives show tonight? BEN STEIN … what did he loose his mind? Or, did he ever have a mind? … he and Dodd insisting that we hand money over to the car industry! What are these people INSANE? At least Jon Stossle made sense … telling Stein that the creative folks will turn the car industry around. Now we got Lutz doing his spin master routine. Why don’t these greedy folks say … hey, you need to bail us out cause we don’t want our buddies in the insurance industry to stop getting all their greedy perks. Give me a break here … change gears guys! Do something for us … the tax payers of the world … you talk about oil shortages … yet, you still want to build cars for what? So the American public can’t buy gasoline to put in them? SHIFT gears guys and put people back to work by building MASS TRANSIT. Now let’s see if any of them can spell MASS TRANSIT. That is M-A-S-S T-R-A-N-S-I-T!!! Then we can relax, take Mass Transit around our country … we want to drive anywhere when we get to our destination, rent a verhicle. No big deal.
Something STINKS BIG Times with these guys and hurry hurry hurry bail us out. What? Is their some sale going on for one of Dubai’s Islands that they need to get their greedy hands on?
Here’s a BIG cream pie right in their mugs.
Now let’s think this out about MASS TRANSIT. Mmmmmmy … you put the construction industry to work because they build the foundations for the mass transportation to float over … yes, we want them up in the air … don’t want to be hitting any wild animals on the ground …
Who else gets back to work … the electricians and the engineers and the blue collar workers … building mass transportation. Then their are all the cities and towns that can build central railway locations … and we put the restaurant industry back to work, waiters, waitresses … and all the people involved in travel … back to work.
My o my, I see a lot more people being put to work in MASS TRANSIT.
My o my, what I see is the Insurance monopoly angry that the American People don’t have to pay outrageous insurance prices anymore. I’m shaking my head … boo hoo, so sad for you.
Oh, yeah, we have factory workers back to work … building the parts for MASS TRANSPORTATION … and I see all the other business springing up around our country … being in close proximity to the central stations in the cities/towns USA. Then there are the brand new drivers USA … that will pick passengers up and bring them to local hotels/motels/Inns … more people, back to work.
I can go on and on and on about how many of the American People would be gainfully employed due to MASS TRANSPORTATION BEING BUILT IN OUR COUNTRY…. during the building and after they are built!
WHAT A WAY TO GO BACK TO WORK!
I’ve heard quit enough tonight … Now they are talking about putting a CAR CZAR (not the King reference to the title … rule # 1, Big Egos need BIG Titles) to oversee how the greedy get their money.
Give me a break … they’ve been playing the gloom doom days for years bilking up the gas and oil prices so that we spend weekly salaries on just getting to and from work … now we have the opportunity to put our money to good use and build mass transportation and the only thing these big egos come up is a fancy title for who can get “1 JOB”:, to hand all the big egos OUR money.
Good nite. We have live in all the American HOMES to witness all the Big EGOS in full BLOOM.
And, it’s all RUSH, RUSH, RUSH … QUICKLY, DON’T THINK … GIVE US THE MONEY.
Honestly folks these people are THIEVES.
The bail out makes me sick too… So tired of the prevailing greed…
Stormee: All these weeks they’re screaming “the sky is falling, the sky is falling … ” … and not only do they show everyone in the US and the WORLD how arrogant they are by flying in on separate jets … they had multiple jets, not one jet, but multiple … with their greedy hands out … then they urgently telling DC to hand over the money to them … then they give these flimsy, probably 30 year old plans that they pulled out of the archives as an explanation for their greed … they come to a solution to put ONE PERSON TO WORK … aka calling that ONE person the Title of a “CAR CZAR” a title of arrogance!!!.
NO plan whatsoever how to save anyone else’s jobs … just make up one position … the CAR CZAR can handle the money to go from the CAR CZAR’s hands to ours.
HELLO … is anyone home in those brains????
We have an oil shortage … and they are still talking about making more cars … to put what in the cars? If there is such an crisis with the oil … why aren’t these people shifting gears how people can travel in this world???
Is it me … or are these people definitely over the edge … their big egos must have lopsided their heads in that tilt position… now I know what CNL was referring to years ago with the CONE HEADS!
But Wini
Their mutimillion dollar salaries and pensions are at stake that can not possibly be allowed to happen ! Period these MEN need that money to put food on the table and cloth their children annd send them to private schools and colleges and pay for the neccieties in life like Dental teeth whitning and computer games and new lexusises and those things they are acustom tooooooooo! :)~