Trump is a bully. Like all bullies, he is a coward, hiding behind tough words. The problem is that Trump’s language is empowering haters of all stripes, who will be physical and violent in acting out their hate and bigotry.
149
“The bar is much, much higher for white guys these days. You just have to be especially special.” The shoe's on the other foot now, huh? Boo hoo.
105
What if heterosexual white men start hurling comparable insults and put-downs right back at ultra-privileged women like Maureen Dowd?
All jerks are jerks, but not all straight white men are jerks, and not all jerks are straight white men.
How about a Requiem for Stereotypes?
250
Columns like this just reinforce white nationals hatred.
Write something constructive.
111
When I hear, White male privilege, it always sounds like someone, not very successful, creating a excuse for their own failure. Fear the mediocre white man, he's like a cockroach, you can't get rid of him. He's had to be half as good all his life to get ahead, that's hard in America. Like always, I will be voting for Democrats, we will need every vote we can get.
43
White men built the most egalitarian country in world history--the United States--with their minds. Every law upon which our country was founded and every Constitutional right that minorities, women and people of other religions--like those beleaguered victimized Muslim Americans the NYTimes romanticizes about--was created by white Christian men specifically. The fact that the USA turned out to be the most egalitarian and free country in world history is just a small accident. It was pure happenstance. It wasn't designed by white men to be exactly what it become. Their ideas, intellect, forward thinking nature and brilliance had nothing at all to do with it. I guess we white men are all just evil, hateful, racist, subpar bigots that Maureen Dowd enviously imagines us to be. Forget all about 90% of the books in your library, the majority of every field of study within academia and the entire canon of Western civilization. Disregard the founders of the United States. They all thought one way--like evil white male Christian bigots. We white men must step up and actually earn our way and do something or contribute something for once. That is, if we all covet the approval and the adulations of the venerable Maureen Dowd... which I'm certain we do.
140
The way NYT can take literally anything and turn it into a polemic against Trump and "white males" is truly astounding.
117
Can't you just enjoy a movie for what it is without looking at it with your "intellect?"
Oh and thanks for not bringing up the Bruce Lee scene and it's inherent racism (sarcasm).
Sheesh ...
46
“The bar is much, much higher for white guys these days. You just have to be especially special.” Trump thanks you. As does most of his staff. Nice. Can we NOT compare everything to the current president? Please stop the incessant whining, your heroine lost get over it. The current crop of your kaleidoscope super hero’s are so far left their are dancing with Lenin, Marx and Mao. Virtually handing over the White House for four more years. Yes to a white guy. Sorry if that makes you cry. Thanks Ms PC. It’s past time to stop all the “ridiculous first” first black man ,first woman , first Latino blab blab blab the list goes on and on. It’s time to stop saying people of color meaning black and brown people soon to include everyone but white people its ludicrous! Everyone one has color with the possible exception of Jack Griffin. It’s a move, many there is no hidden meaning. Sit back enjoy. We are all the same species. Human. That means we are all from the same race. The human race. Relax a white man fathered you and ones running the country no biggie you’ll live.
36
White men still rule here.
20
Stop being racist against white men. It's not cute, funny, or acceptable.
90
So... you’re fine with the blatant racism allowed against white men?
85
Dowd is readying a grave dance for men who, largely, built the country.
Careful you don’t destroy it with unassigned gender, and racial, communism.
40
I pity the poor intern that has to read this to trump
28
I wouldn't be traipsing down this road if I were you. Color and sex (identity) are the currency of todays democrats, and I find it abhorrent that anyone should be judged on anything other than ability. Tarantino is a vexing choice in light of connections to Harvey Wienstien, recall the interview with Uma Thurman from 2 years ago in the NY Times. Will you next be pontificating on how Pink hair makes for a better soccer player?
37
Who is awash in nostalgia? Certainly not me or any women I know. Maybe the media wants us to think so, but no once again it's WOMEN marching on the white house after yesterday.
21
It is more than likely that women, once ensconced in power in great numbers will
be as grubby and demeaning as have white men. Alan Keyes and Herman Cain are starters by race. Hate, resentment and ignorance are generic, we all share it in some "rationalized" form.
22
Ha, ha, ha,ha! Thank you, Maureen Dowd!
10
What if... The assassination of MLK was the start of a battle that peaked with Obama and now has minorities in full retreat?
Democracy doesn't last forever.
4
Ms Dowd is spot on when it comes to patriarchy. It is time to have a 'more colorful mosaic' in the US. She being a financial elitist seems clueless about how political expediency(avoiding impeachment of Trump) is for a stated greater good. The conservatives trot out that term all the time to employ cruel immoral, illegal means to justify wars and other acts such as Vietnam and Iraq. As long as Ms Dowd shuns impeachment, she plays into the hands of the patriarchal autocrats and kleptocrats. Most voters want a party that will speak truth to power, and make a significant life-affirming change in governance. Trump's lies about 'draining the swamp' was a con job, and he actually executed the opposite. By not holding Trump fully accountable, Ms Dowd may see a country with another four years of his racism and cruelty.
6
Dear Mo, you're a mean gal with a word. Keep it up
9
"Requiem For White Men"
Even for Maureen Dowd, this is truly a hateful title.
To what possible good could this result?
66
Well written, not the usual identity obsessed, male hating, social engineering bias propaganda from the NY Times.
Anytime progress is made in America, the last two being Civil Rights for Blacks circa 1964 and equal rights for women circa 1980s the perverters come out of the woodwork.
With Civil Rights it was the limo liberals putting generations of blacks and other minorities on welfare forever saying they are eternally flawed and whites must atone for ever.
Similar with the Neo feminist male haters of today, ie women must get 50%+ of everything whether they are qualified, willing to take risk or even want it because they are women and the male race must atone forever.
When you do that you help elect an ego maniac demagogue like Trump.
Most Americans hate identity politics whether the bigots on the right or male hating neo feminists on the left.
They are sick of it.
27
While many white men in this country are looking askance at women, people of color, immigrants and people who might even resemble immigrants, Trump is sucking up all their oxygen and slowly suffocating them.
9
this article epitomizes white privilege. One black has been president, one woman has been speaker, whites hog almost all the levers of power and wealth. But white Maureen declares: requiem for white males because the bar is much higher for white guys.... Hunh? Smh.
15
Our Apprentice president needs an Extreme Makeover to be a Survivor in The Amazing Race - 2020. He acts like Big Brother, but Below Deck he's Naked and Afraid, 'cause he never got the Flavor of Love from MasterChef. Keeping Up With The Kardashians is hard work when you're always in The Shark Tank. He promised American Idol but only dishes Duck Dynasty in Hell's Kitchen. Any Bachelorette will tell you he's the Deadliest Catch. Come on Real Housewives of America, vote this Pawn Star president out of office. Make him The Biggest Loser so we can all go back to The Simple Life on the Jersey Shore.
So You Think You Can Dance?
26
Maureen, It's hard for me to read your oh so earnest laments about the Trump White House when you worked so hard to undermine Hilary Clinton. Still makes me ill.
43
Is it me or is this column just made up of Maureen Dowd quoting other opinion pieces? If you want to talk about an echo chamber, here it is.
24
I haven’t seen the film yet, but in regard to the trailing white dudes running for President, the only difference between this year and 2008 is that there are more than twice as many, which easily explains the “can’t get above single digits in the polls” factor. I remember Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and a bunch of white-guy also-rans...one of whom dropped out after it was revealed that he’d had an affair with his videographer while his wife undergoing treatment for cancer, one of whom was Mike Gravel doing some sort of Zen thing, and the rest fading into the background...including today’s frontrunner, who stood out briefly for a gaffe when he intended to compliment Obama but came out sounding condescending (but had the happy ending where Obama elevated him to be his Throttlebottom). So, we’re down to 2008’s back of the pack white guy leading the field now, with several women and a couple of men of color also struggling in the single-digits. Hardly the end of the line for white men in America...
5
Just because most of the current leadership in government and business consists of white males does not translate into all or even most white males having privilege.
26
"He is a faux tough guy who lets other people do the fighting for him, a needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry."
An apt description of the vast majority of men who support him.
John Wayne is crying!
16
I think Tarantino is the most overrated filmmaker working in Hollywood. His films are misogynistic and racist. I'm not saying Tarantino himself is like that but he grew up watching movies and learned his craft from them. His revisionist history, ( WWII, slavery, the Manson murders) may serve as a bit of wish fulfillment but they do a disservice to the victims of these tragedies. I don't think Tarantino is doing this intentionally but, as a white male, he has a narrow fantasy view of society and it's reflected in his movies. I have no intention of seeing this film.
12
Who knew so many Trump supporters read the NYT, and that they were so sensitive? Manly men where are you?
11
Isn't this just a rehash of "Mad Men"?
It has not gone without notice by many of us that all these mass murders have also been perpetrated by disgruntled white men.That doesn't help their cause any or endear them to society either.
16
Bravo!!!
3
One of the biggest errors in people's conceptualization of these mass shooters is that they are men. They are 15- to 25-year-old boys who failed to become adults. That's psychology. That's parenting. But of course, let's continue to wax noble about domestic terrorism and hateful ideologies. And disappear several million guns while you're at it.
16
"... need the credits to roll on Trump." Hear, hear.
13
Maureen's concluding litany of contrasts may be facile yet also incisive, in that they certainly nail Trump.
What does not seem so "nailed" are several build-up points that follow in the glibness of a headline that taps not only the fallacy of us vs. themism but also blind wishful thinking like calling us a 'post-racial' society the minute Obama was elected. HAH!
For example, her quote in re Presidential candidate appeal: "The bar is much, much higher for white guys these days. You just have to be especially special.”
Is frontrunner Biden "especially special"? Isn't he acclaimed for being a "regular Joe" - the stupid ole media litmus question of "who you'd want to have a beer with"? Isn't the flak he's facing about just how unspecial his leadership was in all his Senate years? from how blind and/or cowardly he was (in the same way the average [white male] Senator was) as chair of the Thomas hearings or as champion of the 1994 crime bill or as a hedger about bussing or denying abortions to the poor? Isn't lack of specialness why his two previous Presidential runs were busts? Yet, he's a resilient frontrunner presumably because he brings nostalgia for the relative sanity of Obama years.
Contrast to Bernie, whose championings over decades were not cowardly nor blind, to the contrary. Shouldn't "especially special" at minimum mean courage of one's convictions? Trailblazing where others follow? Isn't that what draws masses to Sanders and Warren, regardless of whiteness? ct
5
White privilege is undeniable! The "colorful mosaic" will soon rise and, in time, get the boot lifted from their necks. Will they create a more equal and magnanimous society? Jury's out.
2
Trump's white heroes mow down innocent festival-goers. Shoppers. Schoolchildren. Sunday worshippers. His answer is "More Guns!"
His nasty hate speech is DIRECTLY responsible for the scores of people killed and injured this week.
He must be held to account! Impeach him, convict him in 2021, then throw him in prison for obstruction of justice, accepting bribes, fraud. How 'bout bankrupting him for civil damages stemming from his speech, a la South Poverty Law Center v. KKK?
He's a cancer. He's not joking when he threatens to extend his term to make up for two years he claims were stolen. He'll do anything he can get away with. He and his party are gerrymandering every state, blocking minority voters, inviting Russian interference, openly working to rig the election.
The climate change clock is ticking away and this creep is telling us "What climate change?" Some "leader."
We have work to do and no more time to waste. He's gotta go.
24
What is conspicuously absent from Maureen's column is any mention of Joe Biden. And whether support for Biden and his designation as the "most electable" candidate is due at least partially to due a reluctance by some voters to totally jettison white male dominance and privilege.
8
Bravo, Maureen!!
1
Interesting take by MoDo but I'm not sure she is the one who should be commenting here after her previous non-comments.
2
Trump won because he had a plan (MAGA) and HR was a poor candidate. What is Biden's plan to MCAA (make College Affordable Again), fix our sorry immigration laws, and most importantly lower health care costs significantly? I don't see his plan.
7
"we are awash in nostalgia for it", well, actually, not all of us are, no. But NYT refused to publish my earlier comments on your excellent old-white-girls'-club-with-Nancy-Pelosi, which was itself a strike of the old guard at the young and nonwhite. So, speak for yourself. Your nostalgia is ill-disguised.
5
Sorry to say, but white guys have gotten us into a lot of trouble. I’m ready for a rainbow colored gal.
12
The Republican Party, AKA the Trump Party, is the current spiritual home of America’s angry white guys including neo-Nazis and the Klan.
The country is badly in need of another major political party, one that would replace it.
It probably would start very small.
Maybe, they could call it Former Trump Guys Who Now Know Better.
12
A puerile column that speaks of resentments and pettiness. Counterproductive other than as venting for the columnist. Compare life in the Middle East and India etc. Why such tabloid pieces ?
25
Yes. Roll, baby, roll.
Pitt, Bogart, Newman, McQueen, Eastwood are all white men.
Interesting that Ms. Dowd chooses them as her movie exemplars of the American male.
Interesting....and many years behind the times.
10
Americans need to understand how integral so-called "nostalgia" is to fascism, and as Madeleine Albright warned us in her recent book, Trump is bringing fascism to America.
Fascism, whether German, Italian, or American today, includes nostalgia for a racial purity of the distant past, and a pledge to rebuild that past. Mussolini harkened back to ancient Rome, and used the Roman symbol of a pack of rods ("fasces") as the name of his movement, "fascist." Hitler harkened back to an Arian world of Nordic purity.
Trump pledges to get make America entirely White again, pushing out immigrants who are not White (Norwegians are OK).
Fascism also includes the use of violence, or the threat of violence. No surprise that Hitler's SS terrorized Jews, Mussolini's brown shirts beat up opponents, and Trump encourages his supporters to beat reporters and protestors.
"Nostalgia" doesn't even come close to what Trump is creating in America.
13
White men do lead one demographic, it’s front page news.
6
Right on target, Ms. Dowd, but we don't need Tarantino to invent anti-Trumps. If we need good male nostalgia, we can summon up a lot of them from Hollywood and politics:
Frank Sinatra. George H. W. Bush. Barry Goldwater.
Chief Bill Parker. Fiorello LaGuardia. Earl Warren.
John Wayne. James Cagney. Yakima Canutt.
Tommy Lasorda. Frank Robinson. Billy Wilder.
John McCain. John Chafee. Warren Rudman.
Darryl Gates. Jimmy VanHeusen. John Ford
William Wellman. George C, Marshall. William T. Sherman.
and even Rhodes Scholar/Army pilot Kris Kristofferson.
Think about these folks and understand that Trump is a faux white male: Frank would call him a bum.
5
Maureen Dowd likes to stereotype people. Her columns do not add much to our understanding of issues, or to identifying solutions. Too bad.
27
Gee whiz, Maureen, after 3 GREAT columns in a row, you write this silly comparison of a Tarantino movie and the Trump administration? What, you having a bad week?
5
Another racist misandrist column attacking white males. Racism and sexism are fine to liberals as long as the targets are white males.
We understand it - you love the benefits and freedom of this great country we participated in building - now we’ve served our purpose - and you hate us. I voted for Obama - I’ll be voting for Trump.
31
Ahh another example of the liberal press reaching to find ideas to generate anti-white male articles. The concept of this movie somehow linking to white male privilege is comical. The good news is almost all of us white males don't care about this manufactured liberal fantasy of white male privilege, we just continue putting in our 50 to 60 hours a week, taking care of our kids, and doing what we think is right by our friends and family. hate and criticize all you want we really don't care and it bothers the liberals that we just keep moving on and working hard and ignore the PC hate. it is very PC in liberal wacko world to criticize white males these days, and it must sell newspapers because it is completely in Vogue in this liberal rag to trash white people and especially white males on a daily basis. Again, the good news is white people/males don't care about the haters, we have never been victims, are not now, and never will be! Trash us all you want we will just keep working hard and being proud even in our fantasy lib buzzword privilege, what a joke.
34
I'm an old white guy who understands that I'm still unlikely to be shot by a cop on a traffic stop, have police called because I'm in a park, refused service at a coffee shop, gawked at on the street, or told by my employer that my haircut is upsetting the customers. My advantages in life have diminished from great to just very good.
18
This obsession with identify politics divides the Democratic Party and the working class. Money and class are the great dividers. There are rich corporate-type Republicans of all genders and races, and they know it. They are disciplined and they vote together to maintain their economic privilege, which is more powerful than racial privilege. Marx understood this when he tried to organize a unified working class, but that effort fell apart and divided the workers when they chose nationalism over class during WWI. The American working class of all races should be voting Democratic, but the Democratic elite is busy dividing the country by trying to score identity politics points. If you want to defeat Trump, unite the country, don't promote its division.
20
"[T]oughness without belligerence, charm without smarminess, loyalty without question . . . stoicism and style." There is no need for a new identity, but only new champions of the old ideals, regardless of race, gender, color or creed. Excellent column, Ms. Dowd.
Maureen, you are clearly jaded and out of touch. The USA needs more Clint Eastwood types, not less. It is truly what made America great and is what will make America great again and keep America great. What we do not need is another Obama who dropped refugees in here like flies. Illegals pouring in here have made America unsafe. People feel unsafe. We want to know “who are these people, what are their goals, why are they here? Do they bring with them diseases? These questions need answers.
16
All of the people who are making America “unsafe” are white men born in this country. White Christian men. So if “illegals” really are the problem, how do you account for these men who are domestic terrorists?
13
Clint Eastwood is an adulterous actor. You really think America needs more of those?
7
When my father, in his mid-90s, called to tell me about today's El Paso WalMart massacre, I told him the villain would probably be a young white man who hates Latinos and other nonwhites and he would be someone from 4chan. So except for it being 8chan -- 4chan's even worse bro-site -- I was right. This is what happens when racist sick young white men are encouraged by a racist sick old white man living in an old white house.
The U.S. never had to fear "Death from America" chants coming from Tehran or other Middle East cities. America's death is a suicide.
Too bad!
18
@Richard Grayson
Wrong assessment Richard. This is what you get when you had a president like Obama, who dropped refugees in here like flies in order to change the vote in red districts.
Illegals pouring in here have made people unsafe and they feel threatened. I don’t condone violence but people do not want their rights as law abiding citizens usurped by democrats attempting to change the demographic makeup. Be aware you are playing with dynamite here with the border situation. Unless the border is controlled you will see red necks take the law into their own hands unfortunately. I would advise self restraint and let cooler heads prevail. Quit attacking this president. He won legitimately.
14
"Tarantino’s movie is about illusion...."
No! Really?
Why hold the presses. No wonder the "smart" critics are trashing this excellent film, while audiences don't pay attention to their idiocies and are giving Tarantino a huge payday.
I mean, for Hollywood to make a movie about illusion....unheard of!
Thanks for the warning.
I enjoyed it immensely. Especially when the Manson family does not slaughter Tate and her friends, and the Pitt character cares enough to check up on his elderly friend at the Ranch.
Too bad these values, loyalty without question, selflessness, and toughness without belligerence, are viewed by Ms. Dowd merely illusory today.
It kinda made me want to just "jump out of my white privilege" and go lecture suburban women on how to avoid the pitfalls of "regressive politics."
Thank goodness Wyoming university is experiencing an unprecedented demand for their merchandize which proclaims, "The world needs more Cowboys," despite an effort by "progressives" to shame them into discontinuing the marketing campaign.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/03/13/rep-liz-cheney-defends-colleges-world-needs-more-cowboys-slogan/
After reading Ms. Dowd's column, I'm going to see the movie again. How do you like them apples?
14
"Tarantino’s movie is about illusion...."
No! Really?
Why hold the presses. No wonder the "smart" critics are trashing this excellent film, while audiences don't pay attention to their idiocies and are giving Tarantino a huge payday.
I mean, for Hollywood to make a movie about illusion....unheard of!
Thanks for the warning.
I enjoyed it immensely. Especially when the Manson family does not slaughter Tate and her friends, and the Pitt character cares enough to check up on his elderly friend at the Ranch.
Too bad these values, loyalty without question, selflessness, and toughness without belligerence, are viewed by Ms. Dowd merely illusory today.
It kinda made me want to just "jump out of my white privilege" and go lecture suburban women on how to avoid the pitfalls of "regressive politics."
Thank goodness Wyoming university is experiencing an unprecedented demand for their merchandize which proclaims, "The world needs more Cowboys," despite an effort by "progressives" to shame them into discontinuing the marketing campaign.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/03/13/rep-liz-cheney-defends-colleges-world-needs-more-cowboys-slogan/
After reading Ms. Dowd's column, I'm going to see the movie again. How do you like them apples?
3
Tarantino was casting minorities in lead roles before it was cool. He doesn't have to follow your 'equality trend' to advocate for equality, and is not going to sacrifice the quality of his art for the illusion of social justice. Stop alienating people from the left. This kind of stuff pushes me further and further towards the center.
13
I'm glad to see an unspoken acceptance of white privilege, and specifically male white privilege, beginning its inevitable decline, but I'm not sure how helpful it is to dismiss white male candidates simply because they are white male candidates. We wouldn't dare dismiss the white female candidates simply because they're white. We can't achieve true diversity in this country without everyone being included. It seems that the negative approach to our ills - celebrating the denigration and dismissal of a class of people - is so much easier than working to advance a truly inclusive society.
924
@MD
MD, I basically agree with one of your points: "...everyone being included."
I disagree with the over broad idea of "white privilege" in a sense of branding all "whites" as being privileged. There is a underclass in all of the 'tribes'; I would agree that the percentage of underprivileged individuals is not equal in all sections of the country/locality.
Nor are the successes (a better descriptive) all equal in percentages. That is a failing for relying on statistics to tell the story. Some individuals/families are, in their minds, privileged. This is an idea we fought a war over to found our country, we have been working on equality ever since. It is a struggle we will need to be mindful of in perpetuity.
The answer, in my opinion, is to view each other as individuals (another struggle we face). The individual is where the Constitution places the rights. I understand many Americans oppose corporations as having rights (Citizens United); thought corporations are made up of individuals (stockholders, etc.).
I hope we move forward on inclusiveness, as you do.
45
@Kenneth Galloway
there is already a term for what you describe: intersectionality. Means you might have privilege over here, but not over there.
All whites are in fact privileged, even when their life circumstances might not, at first glance, seem to reveal that privilege. But it's hard to "see" things that are absent; for instance, the fact that they are not going to get stopped just for "driving while black" (DWB). Or refused a mortgage (or given a higher rate), because of their skin color. And their kid will more than likely receive a lesser punishment at school than a child of color, when engaged in the same misbehavior. And if they themselves are breaking the law, they are less likely to be seen as "threatening" by police and less likely to be shot for it. The list goes on and on. Privilege is not a one size fits all kind of thing.
If we are truly to "move forward" into inclusivity, those of us who, by no merit of our own, have received a larger share of the bounty already, need to learn to move over a bit on these little islands of privilege that were constructed for us (and which, as with fish who do not understand that they surrounded by water, we often do not see and cannot identify).
110
@MD The problem is ...what" class "of people(an interesting phrase used to describe people the first place)....what "class" of people have "denigra(ted) and dismissed other classes of people in the first place?Now that we white people are being "denigrate(ed) and dismissed" by others we are suddenly clambering for a "truly inclusive society".I agree with your words and sentiments but they are a long way from actually healing the cultural divide we have tolerated in the past.
24
So I went to bed last night with many dead in El Paso and I get up this morning, turn on the tv and discover many dead in Dayton.
My question is: how do we stop white men from continuing to kill in our America? If this is not terrorism, what is? What is our 'president' going to say about all of this besides 'thoughts and prayers'? Who is going to say the obvious, that our 'president' is a white nationalist who will say nothing to condemn these white men and their white nationalism?
My one and only child is in Europe right now. I don't want her to come home. I want her to live in a civilized country and be safe from such white men and their insanity.
I don't watch Tarantino's movies. Ever. There's enough violence in the daily news. I don't want to pay to see more.
If all white men could magically disappear from the Earth, it would be a much more peaceful world. If only.....
9
@sophia
There were white men killed in those shootings. Have some decency and respect.
23
Ms. Dows writes, "But first we need the credits to roll on Trump." It can't happen too soon.
8
I am getting a little sick of the media and Trump bashing. This is a movie review. How did Trump become the main topic? I don't like Trump because of his character and politics. I will never vote for him. But, I am getting equally turned off by the constant drum beat of down with Trump by the democrats and the media.
23
The original column and most of the commentators seem to have forgotten that white male straight (and old) Joe Biden is the Democratic front runner and white male straight (and old) Bernie Sanders is in second place. Well qualified white men aren't being cut out of the picture - just white men who assume they are well qualified just because they are white men.
7
This may well be your best column yet. I haven’t seen the Tarantino movie and was kind of on the fence about it, but now I’m going to.
3
Yes. White men are out of fashion. Or at least appreciation of white men is out of fashion. But white men, its seems, are going to be harder to take care of. Even though we try legislation, and law suits, and out right discrimination, which is sanctioned as being justice in the long run, white men keep popping up. What's the deal?
All the writers and artists and inventors and geniuses of every stripe, responsible for so much progress, how do we accept that so many of these have been white men? Has it all been part of a rigged game, a historical conspiracy to oppress others? That may be part of the answer But how do we explain Picasso, or Woody Allen? How do we explain Steven Jobs? Flawed characters they may be, but their achievements are undeniable. Is it possible that even with their human shortcomings, there is something about these people that really is special? No, I am sure it must be wrong to even suggest that
19
White guys, eh. At some point in all this, we might pause to remember that the human race was born in Africa. Yes, I'm sure there will be those who disagree with that, but it doesn't change the overwhelming evidence for an African origin. So let's suggest that Republicans who support Trump, starting with Trump himself should also, 'go back to where they came from.'
7
“He is a faux tough guy who lets other people do the fighting for him, a needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry.”
Could not have said it better, thank you!
5
Such hosannas to Hollywood filmmaking (“Tarantino fashioned his nostalgic world out of love”) from Maureen Dowd! Funny, I can’t recall seeing any black characters in the film. It was as if Los Angeles circa 1969 was inhabited only by whites. Alas, Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is a stale, narrow portrait of that fascinating time and place.
3
'Brat' & 'Cheesy' are two way too benign adjective with which to describe this evil in society. We are becoming anesthesised to the horrors of the man who by some quirk of fate became President of the USA. It is time he was stopped. Any Latino who voted for this punk has blood on their hands today. The community needs to unite and fight in the ballot box. White privilege has been living on borrowed time for too long. It's time to share the wealth. As for the movie, as William Faulkner put it 'The past is never dead. It's not even the past'
6
"A black man had made it into the White House. A woman in hot pink claimed the gavel in the House. A Latina congresswoman with a Bronx swagger emerged as the biggest media star in the capital. Six Democratic women — five pols and one mystic — earned their spots on the stage in the first presidential debates."
Funny how Dowd omits the fact that a woman was the Democratic nominee for President and won nearly three million more votes than her opponent - or any white male candidate.
7
@PJ ~
Thanks for pointing that out. Perhaps hateful is a better descriptive than funny.
6
I think the NYT is on a mission to drive white men from the ranks of liberals. There isn't any other rational explanation for the unceasing and sweeping attacks on us.
Every day, the NYT is trying to convince white men that they are not welcome to this publication. It really doesn't matter whether the white men come from working class backgrounds, worked every day of their lives, marched for civil rights, served in the military, none of it matters.
All that matters in the eyes of the editors and their opinion writers is that white men have benefited from "white privilege." If we won't admit to that, then we must be racist or sexist.
Seriously, this could, perhaps should be a communist era kangaroo court where nothing matters except accepting guilt as accused. Only then can one be cleansed of our original sin.
Yes, I know, Ms Dowd is a sometimes satirist and writes well. It's getting to the point where it doesn't matter.
Keep beating this drum and we will see a true reversion to tribal behavior. If every white man is a racist or a sexist then why in the world would a white man want to associate with, let alone support anyone but white men? You are making this a survival game.
White men at some point will simply walk away from the liberal causes they once and try to continue to support. See how many elections will be won by liberals should that happen.
39
I’m a 60 year old white man. I’d like to know when I’ll start living the life of privilege that comes from growing up in Queens in the ‘70’s. Of graduating from a NYC public school that was underfunded due to the city flirting with bankruptcy. Of the sole guidance counselor for 1,200 kids whose all but required boys to take the ASVAB and where military recruiters freely roamed the halls. Of a father who had to leave school in the ninth grade to help support his family and worked at least two and sometimes three jobs the rest of his life. Of a grandfather growing up in a West Va company town who was pulled from school at the end of the sixth grade because he was deemed big enough for factory work until he’d grown enough to be put in the mines. That privilege. I’m not diminishing the effects of slavery, just pointing out that in 2019 people cannot be painted by a single brush simply based upon the color of their skin.
30
Tales of our demise have been greatly exaggerated.
11
what an awfully tone-deaf title, especially in light of El Paso.
I'm for inclusion and diversity for the sake of equality and love- all are God's children.
Too many liberals advance a zero-sum game that's vindictive to white men. How does that bring people together?
And what's laughable is that the women referenced in this article -and probably Dowd herself - have enjoyed the fruits of white male privilege more than i could've dreamed. They should rail against their fathers for the comfy upbringing and expensive colleges.
My wife and I are both from poor, dysfunctional white families. We're raising our little boy to love all people, no matter what they look like. But we're also raising him to love himself. Sorry, liberals, if this offends you.
21
Well done. You on a roll.
1
Requiem for White Men--Maureen, recommended reading "The End of White Christian America" by Robert B. Jones. Solidly researched.
1
I console myself with the fact that every day some elderly while male Trump voters die. This is the level of viciousness that I have succumbed too. Once Upon a Time is the best film I have seen since Berlin Alexanderplatz, La Strada, Last Tango in Paris and The Godfather. Having lived in Southern California as a child, the film was a long reminiscence of my days there. For the first time in 10 years I saw it in an actual theatre. Most films today are what I call "fluff."
4
As a white man, it's amazing to me to read how many white men in these comments have such a low opinion of themselves, betraying their belief that they could never compete on an equal playing field. I guess they do need a con man like Trump to maintain their fragile sense of self.
5
The attention given to so called "white privilege" is yet another bad mistake that will guarantee a Trump win in 2020. Apart from the fact that the so called privilege is a myth created to further divide this country along racial lines( identity politics), pushing the so called privilege will in fact drive white men who might otherwise not vote, to vote. The motivation is resentment of those claiming there is such a thing as the privilege and all the baggage that goes with it such as everyone else in the world is deserving of, you name it, from free college, a salary regardless if you work or even refuse to work, reparations for slavery that ended 8 generations ago etc, etc. Yes, Democrats and Ms. Dowd among them, your short sightedness will re-elect Trump. But, how about getting smart and running a moderate with a moderate agenda instead of a left wing fringe agenda? And, drop the white privilege, hate mongering speech. That is the way to beat Trump and get this country out of the miasma that now engulfs us.
12
Interesting how many defensive white male comments are written here! White males don't know the feeling of being profiled, of living with the weight of a constant negative assumption from people around you: from the grocery store guard, the receptionist at the doctor's office, the interviewer when asking for a corporate job, all the way to the golf store if you dare to play golf while being a person of color, or fly first class if you have worked hard and can afford it.
It must be hard for white males to feel singled out later in life after they have been able to live without it.
I feel for them! I know how horrible it feels. I learned it when I was four and somebody pointed out I was brown... and I have lived with it ever since.
9
"White male privilege is out of fashion these days."
Yes, with (some) minorities, and angry women. Mostly, the "privilege" discussion turns out to be a projection of frustrations, weaknesses, lack of success, laziness... onto a convenient scapegoat.
14
Today, we’re facing fallout in real time from Donald Trump. This is no movie. Thirty-nine people are dead in a matter of hours, other lives are changed forever. This white, racist, macho-man wannabe has infected our culture, urging those yearning for fame to do his bidding. Hate, kill, glory in your white, supremacist self....is this what happened to those who realized their moment had passed, and they would never be anything?
2
Wow, the envy/jealousy/hate of the planet-altering contributions from white men has reached it's peak. Now comes the fall. It will not be pretty.
Why not join them on Mount Olympus? Instead of trying to take what they created? Every society has had the same opportunities.
It's tough being King of the Hill. Every time you step down, the hill starts to crumble and you, by necessity, have to get back on top to keep the hill intact. Others resent that, and will hate you.
Petty.
11
Hmmm. Requiem for White Men? If true, seems odd that Joe Biden, the whitest of white, is well ahead in the polls; we're likely to see an election featured two old white guys. Just sayin'.
9
How did we get to the present state of affairs in politics? Read the document, not an opinion piece, by Professor Nancy MacLean, "Democracy in Chains". Read just the Introduction; it will take just 15 minutes. You can get the eBook version from your library. Followed by 60 pages of footnotes stating the source of the facts.
2
Not so fast, white men and their associates still rule the world. The last time I checked Putin was still Czar of Russia. Xi was running China, Abe was in charge of Japan, Bin Salman was installed by his family in Saudi Arabia, and Angela Merkel, Theresa May were gone or retiring and the woman with silver hair retired from the IMF.
WHO DOES THAT LEAVE IN POWER? Nancy Pelosi? AOC? Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris? But who runs Wall Street, who runs the biggest baddest companies in America, who runs the big media corporations, how many billionaires are either white men or their allies in other races? Tell me?
My point is, don't flatter yourself. It ain't over.
7
Trump is a child of the sixites. Wasn't that the sixties all about subverting America into a Russian run comedy? Once upon a time in America wasn't it heroic to get a medical deferment? Not only heroic back in the day but he continues to this day. Doesn't that make Trump a Heroically Subversive. A Russian success story.
A sixteen year old girl, or should I say woman, is being heralded as the leader of the ecology movement. She is self described autistic and Aspergers. She also hates democracy.
There's some scary people out there isn't there?
2
Sounds like a good movie and unfortunately Trump is an oaf.
We whites are on the way to minority status. Get used to it folks and move on.
1
Not right now Maureen, we’re busy.
1
What kind of man doesn’t love dogs?
4
The white male patriarch is dead. Long live the white male patriarch.
2
Amen, sister.
1
White privilege is when 39% of California is white but only 22% of acceptances this spring to the University of California system went out to whites. What is astounding is to see the effeminate white men saying that this situation and many others like it is OK.
15
Vidoes has surfaced showing Trump and Epstein partying in Mar-a-Lago with teen girls.
That should give us a clue what he really meant with MAGA:
Molested
Another
Girl
Actually
1
Trump can't even make a convincing fist. I laugh every time I see pictures of Trump biting his bottom lip and holding up his fists like a four-year-old threatening that his dad's gonna beat up your dad. He's the classic bully: all mouth and no real courage.
4
Yes while Trump denigrates America’s cities and people of color,rural America gives us white guys who commit mass murder.
1
And what about the model minority Asians who defy stereotypes yet get stereotyped...half the contenders in the second debate, Yang, Harris, Gabbard ( HIndu) ...why does Harris have to hide the fact that she is half Indian to get support by the establishment...why is it scary to white left wing Democrats that Harris is Indian...cant we get past identity politics and look at the issues
3
What a reach this article is.
8
Trump, does he not keep his promises? Unrelatedly, he may not seem too concerned with his image in the perspective of liberal personnel, so long we see essentially he hasn't done anything wrong. though his behaving could seem very wrong in some ways. His high five does not look like a nazi salute.
Well Maureen, you columns over the last 20 years have certainly fawned over white Republican males and not democratic black or white men or women. So we know where you stand.
3
People toss around white male privilege like it's something that's just given, duty and tax free. My white male privilege was crafted and steeled by my parents and grandparents, who worked in Manhattan sweat shops and WV coal mines. They worked sixty hrs a week to support us. They made us work, and study. Instead of partying, they sacrificed and bought a home, and demanded that we do our homework, and our chores. They taught us responsibility, dedication, loyalty, respect, and most importantly, how to delay gratification. You want my privilege? Start with learning from my grandparents and parents. They built it.
19
If Biden wins the primary, the unspoken question to undecided white male voters will be to consider the stark difference between him and Trump and who they rationally think will save the image of white maleness down the line. They will have to chose Biden to rehabilitate their own image.
1
I really wonder if there is any rational thinking left in the Times. In the 20's Fitzgerald got closest to " privilege ', only to savage it in memorable ways. In mid century, men, most farm and small town men were Fonda, Tracy and Stewart. Heroic characters , noble in difficult situations were the focus. No privilege that i recall. Later , during the war years , we were about sacrifice. No privilege in the Pacific.
Post war , we changed a bit as we prospered and a working class was a bit more separated from the " suit " class. Yes , there was discrimination , very different that privilege , but Gentleman's Agreement helped....still no privilege that was in play, just bias that we sought to overcome.
Later , we saw the ascendancy of African Americans in our culture and sport, dominating football and basketball. Now Hispanics are dominating baseball. Privilege is as rare as a White defensive end.
What is so troubling about all of this nonsense is that it is being taken as a justification for actions we would have roundly condemned in the past. We are close to pushing all objective merit aside if it does not conform to a social view of who deserves what. I read stuff like this and no longer wonder why Superhero's have replaced real men, why anonymous Tweets replace talking, why young people feel so isolated, why so many resort to drugs ( white underprivileged by the way), why men refuse to date , why saying what you think is too filled with risk.
25
Here's a challenge for NYT columnists: take a vow to not mention the go-to words"Donald Trump" for, say...one week. It will be refreshing--and you might write about something that is, well...interesting.
Who's first?
19
Social intelligence is a developmental measure of knowing oneself and others. Somewhere in that process is a passage from seeing others as different from you (and something to fear) to seeing others as fundamentally the same as you and deserving of respect and consideration. For those who have achieved that passage, Trump, Jeffery Epstein and others in the news, show us that wealth cannot disguise such developmental immaturity. You just can't buy love, nor transcend into mutual respect without a heart that's been burned-out enough to hold love. And walking through the humble door is the only way to get there.
2
As Will Rogers observed, “Ah, the good ole days. Things were never the way they was”.
3
What this shows is that The Times can't even manage a movie review without bringing President Trump into it. Do you people realize that your obsessive reporting of him was key to his election victory and that every one of your negative articles and think pieces aids his cause? You hate the president of the United States that much? Stop writing about him except when he (quite rarely) makes real news. And go to the movies and relax and enjoy the show.
As for white guys on film: See The Wild Bunch. The scene known as "The Walk" is about the last time in cinema that white men got to to play the role without comment, irony or regret.
16
Balderdash! Maureen like many Leftists sees the world as she wants it to be, NOT as it is!
12
Under Trump's presidency I see great cracks form across the country. Gorges that widen each day sucking in all that was decent and wholesome about America-- leaving decay, toxicity and vile pools of ignorance.
Make no mistake, good and evil filter down from the top. Impressionable individuals are subject to adherence to their leader's desires. Trump and politicians, who are blind supporters of NRA gun idiocy, bear responsibility as accomplices before the fact. They are as responsible for gun violence mayhem as those who pull the trigger.
We , as a nation, are enduring an unholy period of our political culture. Will we survive intact?
1
"He is a faux tough guy who lets other people do the fighting for him, a needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry."
Ah, gee, Mo, where was this description of Trump in any of your columns leading up to the 2016 election? You are a day late and a dollar short with this one unfortunately.
8
If successful American female politicians had what it took to be anything other than a second fiddle in American politics, they would have by now.
8
Has anyone noticed that all of the recent waves of shootings are usually done by young white males? Maybe its because that lately young white males have become the convenient targets of contempt and ridicule. The media endlessly stereotypes white males as unrepentant racists and sexist slobs. Every problem on in the USA can be attributed to white males. Once upon a time white males accomplished impossible feats that made everyone gasp such as landing on the moon. Even that remarkable achievement has been downplayed in the media as a waste of time fifty years later. So what if "Whitey Landed On The Moon."? Who cares?
Maybe that's why frustrated young white males are picking up guns to go on a shooting spree at the local Walmart. Young white males know they have no future.
15
Not all of us hate white males. Probably because white males come in all ages, sizes, beliefs and some of us choose the best ones who are civilized.
11
True. If only the afterglow of the Second World War wasn’t so brilliantly cast ....machismo wouldn’t be all American.
Whether it goes back further to the Greeks is questionable but this manliness played itself out as a Nietzschean Ubermensch.
Trump is an Ubermensch ... that rarest of men who forsake the Christian sentiments for mundane power and flesh.
Ecce Homo!
"President Trump is a master class in whining and looking cheesy." Is it only white males that are sanctioned for using the term "master"?
2
When you can show me a man who whines and acts cheesy and who is also not white, call me.
1
Ok so this was kinda prescient. Go grrrl.
1
Readers, you should look up and read the interview of Senator Bennett by the LA Times editorial board, done on July 3. The guy is extremely impressive. You should too, Maureen.
4
What really stands Out ...in this article is a Movie....is turned into a racial rant and goes political as if there is some correlation with it and Trump/// News Flash...it has ZERO correlation, what you see here is liberal Obsession going viral and really showing casing how Empty the Morality of substance The Democrats have become....The Mythical So called White Privilege was buried back in 1992 or Bill Clinton the first Black President as he has been called Never would of been elected , the fact that we are reading this is a cry for Help from liberal's that in there Heart's should KNOW Better that the rest of the World Does NOT Play FAIR!
8
We certainly don't have to aim very high if Trump is setting the bar for white guys.
I am a white man and I wish that all of those aggrieved guys who identify as white men like me would go just away.
We are always the problem.
We are never the solution.
We are responsible for messing up so much or what’s wrong with the world.
And we’ve done so since the beginning of time.
2
The now fashionable ‘race and gender’ hustle against ‘white males’ and perceived ‘white privilege’ continues unabated. It’s enough to induce me...a minority female and lifelong Democrat...to vote for ‘he who shall not be named’....in protest.
16
White men aren't going anywhere. We have just been resting
3
You don't have to be an "especially special" white man to get nominated for a Federal judgeship.
Since we're making up endings--why not Sharon Tate her own hero? Pelosi is Trump's Foil Tate could've been Manson"s
Haha ....good luck in 2020 when you’re out flanked.
Get on your high horse and claim to be above it. But you just hate the game; not the player. You’re in love with power too, only you’re loosing.
3
Given that this bit of shallow fluff was published before the dreadful and horrible murders by an outraged racist White man, who clearly wanted to live lazily and resents that others work hard when he should but doesn't want to, this column seems awfully out of place.
Today, we've seen, yet again, the toxicity of the myth of strong, superior White men. I'm a White man. I like to think I have a strong and moral character. And this young murderous thug is what happens when Gorka's "The Age of the Alpha Male is back" is taken to heart by such a sick twerp. I hope they throw him in the deepest darkest hole, and cut him off from furthering his hatred, and basking in the applause of his fellow sociopaths.
And, of course, he's innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
1
"In “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Brad Pitt’s character reflects many values that America once proudly stood for: ... charm without smarminess"...
"In New York magazine, Madeleine Aggeler wrote “A Guide to All the Indistinguishable Men Running for President.” Under a picture of Steve Bullock, the governor of Montana, she wondered, “O.K., this is clearly just Michael Bennet with a wig and a different name?” Under a picture of John Delaney, Aggeler offered a tip to remember which unmemorable white guy he is: “He looks like if a thumb split from the other fingers and went to dine at Hooters alone.”
Not to worry, white woman have taken up the mantle of smarminess....
5
@No Kids in NY...And it fits them so well...
.
Great American Value there,
"loyalty without question."
.
That would make for a Good German, too --
in the Nazi era
.
1
Be careful with stereotypes of white men. The violence of some white men towards other white men is the stuff of legend too, if you deign to look for it.
1
Gee Maureen, wasn’t our last president charming without being smarmy, loyal to friends & family, respectful of women, bright, hard working, well read,sophisticated & loving of his country? And didn’t you regularly pen columns in which you made snarky comments about him, suggesting he wasn’t down to earth or tough enough, calling him Barry rather than Barak?
8
Being a “privileged white guy” got me shrapnel from Iraq in my hip, permanent limp, and constant physical pain. I also get to enjoy working 60 hours a week to support a wife and an ex-wife too lazy to get a job, along with 34 employees who get paid before me. I haven’t had time for a vacation in 12 years, and my retirement 401K was used up paying to put my kids through college.
I can’t wait to let women and minorities have all my “privilege” so I can sit around and whine about how those who work harder than me, and sacrifice more than me, have it so good. Don’t forget to tax the heck out of yourselves too, so I can finally slurp at that government trough.
30
@John. FANTASTIC!
8
I'm sure that Trump will love that Ms. Dowd compared him to Brad Pitt. And the title of the column is particularly insensitive, in light of the shootings in Texas. But anything for a grin, I guess.
1
White men in a fictional story misbehave, and Ms. Dowd concludes that white men in the real world should be ashamed. Wow!
11
Pssst, Maureen, a whispered question: how do you do a whole exegesis on the Brad Pitt character and touch on all the topics you have here, without mentioning that he was rumored to have killed his wife?
1
Maureen, nice to see you getting out to the movies once in a while. Everyone needs a break, so no need to justify it with a column full of incoherence and confused historical confusion; that’s what we have Tarantino for in the first place.
4
Just imagine if someone wrote a piece entitled, "Requiem for a Black Men" or some other color. It will be vilified by every one of these leftist NY Times posters. But white men are fair game and as long as you tie Trump to them, you're good to go on all the white male hatred you care to expound upon.
Sad, that leftists don't see their own hatreds.
18
The real requiem is for white women who have chosen to make their existence totally inconsequential to the future by closing their wombs, indulging instead in a life of transient personal pleasure.
2
Republican old white men are ruining our country. In the name of free speech, in the name of freedom, they are fueling hate, witness the back to back mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. These spineless republican lawmakers have no guts, they are pawns to the NRA who fund their re elections. Democrats are equally spineless, brothers of different mothers, that's all. Do you for a moment think, our country could stop this gun violence, this hate rampage, if our lawmakers had a spine? Old white men. So called Christian. They are the worst of the worse Jesus could have imagined as what humans would look like, what Americans would become. Jesus would never attack fellow humans, but these white men who profess to be followers of Jesus, fuel hatred, encourage violence, incite ethnic cleansing and genocide (what kind of madness would lead to a white guy driving 600 miles to vanish Hispanic people from Texas by shooting them out of existence!?).
Maureen, it is time you call out these old white Republican men. You and all so called journalists owe it to us, we the people. Enough is enough. Canada cannot possibly take all of us who are sick of these spineless lawmakers in this country.
2
My all time favorite liberal progressive real American white man will always be John Brown.
Mr. Brown tried to ' purge this land with blood' in an effort to violently end the enslaved black African bondage that marked and made callous corrupt cruel cynical inhuman inhumane American historical hypocrisy reality.
Mr. Brown's stern righteous visage and vision should replace all of the Confederate traitors ' monuments '.
2
“The bar is much, much higher for white guys these days. You just have to be especially special.”
Oh, you mean that now, the 'special' white guy only has to work half as hard and only be half as smart to be as successful as an African-American, right?
Trump is more about treason and inciting domestic terrorism.
1
Ms Dowd,
Your thesis is necessary, but not sufficient.
To Wit: It ain't just trump.
Unfortunately, there's millions of 'em "infesting" the land.
Old ... Scared ... Racist.
And it ain't just one gender that fits the profile.
2
I just finished two articles about "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," both by women, one in The Atlantic and this one by Maureen Dowd. You win, ladies. I'm going to see this film.
2
Let the credits roll on Trump, his lemmings in the rubber stamp GOP own it. Just soon please...!
In Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Tarantino goes back to his winning formula of rewriting history (or part of it) so the good guys win and the bad guys lose. See Inglorious Basterds (Jews incinerate the Nazi leadership); Django Unchained (slaves blow up the plantation). Along the way he thumbs his nose at the PC police like Richard Brody who criticized the movie because it was “ridiculously white” even though Tarantino has a pretty solid record of featuring Black actors. It appears Maureen can’t decide which side she is on.
1
If you want to play the identity politics game then you should at least be rooting for Tulsi Gabbard a woman and a person of color. Oh yea the identity politics only works if they are within the NYTimes Opinion column spectrum of neoliberal to neocons - their favorite flavors of corporatism. The NYTimes has been cheerleading most every war since WWII, since it is profitable - can’t have someone interfering in these profits.
First they ignored Rep Gabbard, now that she filleted Kamala Harris in the debates, they have a hit piece on her today “Tulsi Gabbard Thinks We’re Doomed”. Kamala has pushed back with personal smears but has not answered the accusations about her DA misdoings.
Rep Gabbard met with Assad on a trip to Syria to learn more about the war - that is what members of Congress should do. Nancy Pelosi also met with Assad twice, is she also an Assad apologist? Obama was against the Iraq War is he a Saddam apologist? Are those against Assad al Qaeda apologists, since he is fighting Saudi backed al Qaeda aligned terrorists?
4
Dowd's writing about "nostalgia for white men" may be a reflection on her own personal life.
5
Maureen, your Hillary bashing got Trump, your self-confessed "friend, elected. Don't act like it didn't.
4
I just recently saw Once Upon A Time and admit I was a little star struck by Brad Pitt as well. That was until yesterday when I sat down to watch Streetcar Named Desire with Marlon Brando, compared to whom Pitt looks emasculated. The decline of the white American male is hardly anything new, just comparing those two proves it. As an older white male I got past it and used to my subordinate role long ago. Enough with the all this adding insult to injury, it only sounds like gloating.
5
Brando was incredible. I remember watching The Wild One on TV when I was ten, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. I wanted to be as cool in 4th grade as he was as a biker in that movie. I sure tried!
Brad Pitt has that sort of star quality, and rather than compare or contrast him to Brando, Newman, or McQueen I feel grateful to Quentin for giving Pitt the chance to bring this perfect character to life.
3
This is a fine column with excellent insights. The negative comments on this piece demonstrate gross misunderstanding based on a sense of personal alarm at inevitable social change.
5
It's going to be requiem for all of us if we don't stop buying into the business model's zero-sum game.
Self-promoting businessman Donald Trump is the Grand Dragon of this game, where he figures he can only win if he can make others lose and doing it by any means at hand.
We have an entire culture based on this win-lose premise: Whites can only win, if people of color can be made to lose; men can only win if they suppress women, and feminists can only win if men lose, and so it goes.
So while we are all busying feeling sorry ourselves, like the aggrieved Donald and his supporters, the work that must be done is not getting done and in many cases is being undermined and made worse--climate change, rising inequality, infrastructure, foreign relations and peace, the high cost of health care, the future of education and a lagging job-wage market, displaced refugees the world over.
I thought we could at least count on the Democrats to work to bring us together and promote a win-win game for all by addressing the above neglected problems that affect us all and our future generations.
Alas, what did we see at the Democratic presidential debates? If I am to win, then the rest of you are to lose. Not much about climate change, infrastructure, foreign relations; off in the weeds and sand traps of health care, immigration, reparations. Harris prosecuting & nice guy Booker tearing away at old Joe Biden.
Hey Democrats: Try country over politician and win-win for a change!
11
With 20 candidates trying to stand out, these early debates are probably doing all they can to let us see what they each possess. Soon there will be far fewer of them up there and our choices will start to make more sense.
@PB...Considering the history of the Democratic Party, what would have lead you to believe it was ever a win-win organization? Politics is always about the other guys losing. America can't win as long as politicians infest D.C.
1
I'd cast Will Farrell, in his music teacher/keyboardist persona, in John Delaney's bio-pic.
The white male candidates you mention are “Corporate Democrats” who seem to be motivated by telling us what we cannot do or aspire to. They are more in line with old school Northeastern Republicans than FDR, Truman, JFK and LBJ. That has more to do with their limited appeal than the color of their skin or their gender.
I am a white male living in the south and have not decided who I will support for President in 2020, but I like @AOC and what she stands for and her willingness to speak plainly and openly. Unlike my cookie cutter Republibot Congressman and 2 Trump serving Senators, she advocates for values that I hold and for a vision I can support. I do not care about gender, race, ethnicity, orientation or any of that stuff. What I do care about is someone who clearly speaks for my values and concerns- period.
With the exception of Senator Sanders, no male running for the Presidency sounds like they represent working people (meaning wages - not salary). Mr. Booker seems interesting but has expressed foreign policy views that concern me. Mr Castro looks promising, but 2020 does not look like his year. Joe Biden is too far center-right, has too much baggage and seems ready for Aricept.
I can probably support Sen. Harris or Sen. Warren and cannot support those who threw Al Franken under the bus (Gillibrand & Klobuchar) under any circumstance. Tulsi has an important message regarding the endless wars, but it is not her time.
Policy and record gets my vote.
14
I couldn’t have said it better my brother.
I’m a 70 year old white man. Born and raised in South Central when it was called Watts. Moved to a very white town near Boston after 8th grade. Graduated Fordham in the Bronx. Lived in Brooklyn for five years before being transferred to London for five years before returning to live in NJ until today, moving permanently to SC this week. I have a heart transplant from a young man whose family fled Nicaragua and found asylum in Miami. I’ve known and enjoyed some 47 countries and every state in the US. It’s me your talking about. I guess I need to say good bye now, hug my six grand children and fade away. I need to accept I have nothing left to contribute to anyone or everything of value. I’ve decided to keep on living and doing my best to make things better for everyone. I always have. I hope I always will. No Dies Iraq for me. No requiem just yet.
9
@Mark, sounds like you had a good life. But you missed the point. It’s time for the white male to leave some room for others to contribute, make a mark, and have the opportunities that have been dominated by the male patrimony and old boys network.
2
What a great film....
1
I am a Jewish white guy in my mid 80's. I recall 70 years ago my dad, who owned his own small business and employed his workers based on skill and experience, telling me that we have to give colored people and even break and stickup for their rights, because whatever "they" could do to them we are next and they will do it to us.
No doubt the best way to protect your rights is to protect the rights of everyone else. But I also understood the reason why Jews of my generation needed to own their own businesses or become doctors, lawyers, scientists, college professors, etc., and why top colleges and med schools had quotas limiting how many Jews could be admitted.
The gentleman's agreement was organized antiSemitism and I knew as a Jew I needed to be twice as good as everybody else to get or hold a job.
I worked for an insurance company while I went to law school at night and my very Catholic and antiSemitic supervisor wanted to have be fired for lateness and the head of claims said if he fired Bunin what would your group do for brains. He's been catching your mistakes. I went to law school because one of the other department heads told me that I would never be promoted unless I became an attorney.
So much for being white. Hate wears a thousand hats from non-whites and Jews and now Muslams and soon to be liberals and Democrats. The cancer of hate is spreading. We must stop it.
14
@Sheldon Bunin
Stop it at one of its sources, the manipulated internet. All posts might be from registered individuals only. No more anonymity. It’s too easily abused, by Russia and a host of other bad actors.
4
Really, you think Trump won by harkening back to an ideology based on nostalgia?
Not sure even close, he sold fear and hate to stupid racist people who were still in shock that an intelligent, competent black man with style and grace had been president for two terms years and rescued the country from a spoiled frat boy who almost wrecked the world.
These left behinders weren't going to vote for a woman and still the corrupt buffoon in the White House needed help from Russia to pull it off. Nostalgia had nothing to do with it.
10
The new poster for 2020 is "Anybody but TRUMP--really I mean it -anybody but TRUMP" put that on a placard-
4
A real tough guy will stand toe to toe, chin to chin, and tell you the truth.
Trump...never mind. Whatever he is, it's not tough.
4
Race is a red herring & the elites want it that way.
Back in “once upon a time” land (or MAGAland): from 1945 to 72 GNP went up 100% (in just 27 years) & the median (meaning everyone’s) wage in lock step with it.
The real political issue is that the median wage has been flat for over 47+ years even while the GNP has gone up 150%: all those gains from all that wealth creation have gone to the <1% elite.
As some workers wages have gone up (health/tech) & some in good unions (7%) have managed to float along, it means the broad majority of workers have had 47 years of declining expectations. (Remember when a salesperson at Sears made enough to commit to a career there & retire w/ a respectable pension? That’s MAGAland)
That 47 year trend was not possible w/out complicity from elites in both parties. The fact is the same cast of characters are still in charge & they want to keep things going.
To do that they want the public to not address the real issue, the flat wage & collapse in bargaining power to both middle & working classes so the rich could use their bargaining power to get richer still, so foment racial issues.
Trump foments it bc its his only chance of getting elected. MSNBC foments it bc they are complicit. They both hate progressives. The real issue is flat wages not racism.
We aren’t a perfect country, there’s no shortage of racists. But we did elect& reelect an African-American president.
Ignore the racism red herring. Work to get your bargaining power back
8
@Tim Kane It's a "red herring" only if you've never been asked: "What are you?" "Where are you from? No, you know what I mean, your ancestors?" "When did you come to this country?" "Are you pure_____?" "Why is your English so good?" Or been classified as "ethnic," or called any number of racial epithets, or told to "go back to where you came from." All of which I've had directed at me more than once, sometimes in job interviews, and I live in "liberal" Southern California.
1
Democrats may not have to win a majority of the votes of white men to win, but they certainly need to win a majority of the votes of white women. In 2016, the grabber-in-chief won that demographic over ... a white woman. Go figure.
6
Oh, give it a rest already!
Is it a surprise to anyone that Democratic white males are running for the exits when we’ve been “awoken” that nothing white/straight/male is virtuous?
We now know that anything female/gay/minority (Asians and Jews need not apply) is all that is good in the world.
I handed out campaign lit for Humphrey, contributed to Hillary’s fund, and voted for every Dem in-between.
Now I’m ready for my MAGA hat.
18
bravo! keep the commentary coming. you really know how to write about trump. use tarantino's film anyway you want to drive home your points.
Why widen the rift, Mo?!!
11
Not to worry, Ms. Dowd. NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio, like Mighty Mouse, is here to save the day!
3
LOL- I cannot wait until you have to deal with four more years of Trump. I hope you all have collective strokes and our forced to be tended to by your uncaring children.
3
"and slurs against Mexicans. ('Don’t cry in front of the Mexicans,' Pitt warns..."
'Mexican' is not a slur against Mexicans.
3
As I read the comments from white males, I find it difficult to sympathize. As a woman who had to claw her way, ever so slowly, from a lowly clerk to manager, I cannot tell you how many white males with fewer skills, education and brains sailed past me over the years simply because they were men. White males are now just starting to experience what women have experienced throughout history. Don’t whine to me—!
7
You lump all white men together in a way that resembles the bigotry, anger, and myopia of “the base.” That’s too bad.
10
“The bar is much, much higher for white guys these days. You just have to be especially special.”
It’s called discrimination.
7
@Alexandr
Fortunately, the voters will decide, not NY Times columnists or political insiders.
3
I'm a big Maureen Dowd fan, not usually asking first what flavor the Kool Aid. But, "White male privilege is out of fashion these days. Yet we are awash in nostalgia for it" Really? Where do you hang out, lady? Could be me of course. As T Bone Burnett wrote and Sam Phillips sang, "Nostalgia isn't what it used to be."
There were two leads in Tarantino's film, Rick Dalton (DiCaprio)and Cliff Booth (Pitt). While Booth seemed to show there were responsibilities associated with white male privilege (Honky's Burden?), Dalton was whiny as his privilege slipped away, being relegated to playing the bad guy. Dalton managed to bump along through various enablers, perhaps to a future in real estate, reality TV and politics. Booth's future was much less hopeful, particularly after Dalton had no more use for him as his stunt double and laborer when his shtick changed.
Playing the demise of white male privilege as a cause for resentment, Trump-like con men have managed to keep many Cliff Booths of the country loyal and ever less critical. It would be wonderful if we could see what the current state of sociocultural-political warfare is doing to many of us. We've gone medieval on one another with tribalism, willful ignorance, increasing retaliation, and claims the gods are on our side. Perhaps we can transition a bit and recognize that retribution is not a step forward, no matter how momentarily self-satisfied we feel afterward.
Can we enlist you in this transition, Maureen Dowd?
2
I think the unapologetic, dismissive mentality toward "white men" sounds well-deserved at best and harmless at worst with respect to Donald Trump.
Too many people in New York, LA, and apparently everywhere else forget that MOST white men live not in the White House and not in a high rise and not on the beach... MOST of them struggle as most Americans struggle. And while they (collectively but not individually) have been the beneficiaries of historical injustices for which they (individually) are not responsible, plenty of them were born without hope and will die without it, too.
It is disgustingly arrogant and insulting that you repeat ignorant, bigoted words about the interchangeability of white men. Can you really be stupid enough to be surprised when individual white men feel personally disrespected and devalued by your tactless idiocy? Did you think it took a brilliant snake oil salesman to sell something better to them than "y'all white guys all look the same and are cancelled lol even those of you in trailers in 'bama who have no teeth and no financial security and live out a third world existence in America, you too lol this is all so funny and amusing for me!"
These are still people. And this kind of idiotic rhetoric does Trump's work for him. The Democratic Party is diverse because its economic platform seeks to lift all who need help. It is not an identity-driven smorgasbord competing against white men. If that is what we make it, we will lose again.
10
Way, way too late, Maureen. You should have figured this out in 2015, as we did.
2
And this was published a day after an article about the attempted comeback of Playboy.
Hmmmm....
2
Is Ms Dowd trying to stir up more trouble against us, people of color? As a kid who liked movies I never thought of Humphrey Bogart and Steve McQueen as white men. They transcended race and nationality.
10
Dogs have such a keen sense of human character, it's no surprise Trump doesn't like to be around dogs, who would sniff his out immediately.
3
Some great writing and wordsmith in this article, Maureen
No equivocation about Trump. You slammed him good. Alas, there goes your invite to MarLaGo.
The one very important fact Americans have going for them in the Age of Trump: Trump is an coward. There is no value, no principle,that he will not bend or toss aside. Argo, there will never be a war. He is a coward through and through, and he knows this about himself.
no fan of Mr. Tarantino, but
I wonder whether a column
entitled "Requiem for White Men"would have been published if it had
been the other way around? white men,at
least Trumpian white men,
are in the ascendancy
because of the profound
resentment such columns
create.Ms.Dowd can often
stun readers with her great
insights, but when she
turns to Hollywood, she
comes off as a starry eyed
worshippers of the worst
of it's overrated excesses.
6
All this woke-ness is so self defeating. As a white male, why should I ever hire a minority? Based on everything I read, they’ll come in full of resentment and grievances before they even start. If I correct them in their work, they’ll assume it’s racism and fail to learn from their mistake. Don’t blame me. I’m told everyday I don’t deserve what I have and should just disappear.
13
I did hire a lot of minorities in my career, as well as white women — but as racist as this sounds, I checked once/twice/three times on their background and experience.
Why? Because if they somehow don’t meet the requirements of the job, you cannot get rid of them. They will involve HR, lawyers, human rights groups, anything to cling to a job that they’ve failed at.
2
@Max Please resist the temptations you face. Answering hate with hate or anger with anger or division with division will not help.
The media and politicians exaggerate to get attention. There are many more good people than you May think. Forgive the others, move on, do your best.
I hear similar things — try being the only open Republican or Evangelical on a College faculty. yes, being criticized for your gender, age, race, religion, or politics is not fun; but look around at the many who suffer far more than you or me. Help them. The rest will work out.
Trump is so odious that I cringe every time I see a blue suit, a white shirt and a red tie.It is the uniform which Trump wears to make all of his ugly pronouncements-it is what he wears when he lies.It is what he wears when he stands next to criminal authoritarians.He May think he looks patriotic in red, white and blue but he looks pathetic and conniving.Real men do not wear red, white and blue and do not have an orange hairdo held together with hair spray.I personally like the Gregory Peck look and it doesn’ hurt that he will always be remembered as Atticus Finch-a real hero!
"One TV entertainer clinging to a vanishing macho myth." I missed the point where this ignorant, bloated, orange-pancaked, petulant, whining, crybaby became a symbol of "a vanishing macho myth".
A silly ramble steam of consciousness which goes nowhere
Is Trumpy baiting and scapegoating?
Or is he demanding better governance in Baltimore and other places with corruption and very high crime rates ?
8
As opposed to demanding better governance in poverty-wracked entire states like, Mississippi, Louisiana, West Virginia and Kentucky. Oh wait, those are "Trumpy"-loyal red states. Never mind!
1
...toughness without belligerence, charm without smarminess, loyalty without question, masculine yet chivalrous. I am a white man. I think I have these attributes, at least I hope have them, most of the time. And there are millions more like me. Shame on you, Ms. Dowd, for throwing dirty water on us all, and fanning the flames of hate.
11
"White male privilege is out of fashion these days. Yet we are awash in nostalgia for it."
Oh GOD, speak for yourself Maureen. I know you always do, but this is ridiculous. White male privilege hasn't gone anywhere.
4
I would love to see the description of Trump in this article carved into his tombstone. Better yet why not present it in neon lights above Times Square? Perhaps the UK would lend us the baby boy Trump balloon to attach to the Washington Monument. Regarding Dowd's description of this buffoon no truer words were ever written.
1
Were you high when you wrote this column? It's hard to believe any movie that was years in the making could emerge to be a statement for our times.
I'm just going to have to see this movie for myself to see if it
has the "the same narrow, reductive and mythologized view of history that has made red MAGA hats the couture of conservative fashion.”
Heavy lies the head that wears the crown.
3
"Requiem for White Men"? Great message for winning over middle America in 2020.
10
Trump is exactly the way Maureen Dowd describes him but a society that votes for him (roughly 48% of the voters) is collectively responsible for the monster (same with Bolsonaro or Boris Johnson though the latter was not elected directly). Trump polled a majority of white women so his toxic maleness is not the only factor. And focusing only on "white male privilege" totally obscures the class explanations and the responsibility of those who disappointed Obama voters. The best analysis of this terrible Trump phenomenon is David Bromwich's American breakdown. the decline or breakdown started a long time before the conman got to the WH. He is the ugly face of breakdown not the cause of it.
1
The white filter doesn't begin to cover the innervating disappointment of 2020 donkey party livestock show.
Use any filter you want and get the same result: who are these people?
Has the bottomless mendacity of our current president so lowered the bar that *everyone* thinks they can hold the office now?
How is “don’t cry in front of the Mexicans” a slur against Mexicans?
4
Faux tough guy used to weaseling his way with just enough money to succeed in his own eyes. A 21 st century American cheeseburger of a wanna be Mussolini, Mr. Trump touts his friendship with Xi, his respect for Putin and Erdogan, and his love for Kim. Throw in the death squad leaders of the Philippines and Brazil and you have a rogues gallery on the modern version of fascism and totalitarian rule. This is the real movie of 21st American with a time out for yet another mass shooting and white nationalist attack.
1
"an oaf with no trace of courage, class, or chivalry."
Bingo! Right between the eyes.
Mo is definitely off the White House Christmas card mailing list now.
2
No Joel McCrea "Ride the High Country" males in Trump's entourage.
This old 74 white man is supporting a 12 year old grandson with no help from either druggy drunk parent. Like lots of white males we were taught to stand by and support our families. For some of us being a responsible and dependable male matters.
12
'Requiem for White Men'
In the immortal words of the plague victim in Python's 'Holy Grail' - 'I'm not dead yet!'
2
Let's not be chauvinist. It was white women who committed the murders.
5
You may not want to hear it , but white men made this country great and people will always long for them like a wise grandpa. Thank goodness America woke up before they were all dead. Get off my lawn finally resonates again!
12
So many words with nothing to say. Is this a movie review? If it's another excuse to take a shot at white men, it's a weak thread if there ever was one, but that has never kept anyone at this paper from trying.
Ms. Dowd has, within just a few days, turned in the two ubiquitous NY Times op-ed pieces that write themselves:
1. Democrats must put forth a moderate/centrist candidate and not someone from the "crazy" left.
2. White men are terrible. Am I right, ladies?
3
Very good article Maureen. I am putting all the egomaniac males and their toxic behavior in my rear view mirror! Saying goodbye, adios, don't need you messing up my life. And one more thing...don't ever grab my remote!!!
1
Be sure to stock up on batteries. You’ll need ‘em.
1
The problem with this column, which is irredeemable, lies in the problems Dowd helped to create in 2015-16: a shocking inability to separate reality from reality TV then, and a continuing conflation of reality with Hollywood fantasy now.
You are alleged to be a journalist, Mo. Want Hollywood? I suggest you stick to (archconservative) Jack Webb, “Just the facts, ma’am.”
4
This is so mendacious.
If a white male like Tarantino would do something about women, gay people or blacks everyone would cry "cultural appropriation".
5
Can we cut my man Delaney some slack? And what is the comment that he looks like a “thumb split from the other fingers” to eat alone at Hooters supposed to mean? Russian code?
This whole piece is in the context of the most bizarre democratic primary since the McGovern fiasco, which the Dems seemed dammed to top. This could be the biggest train wreck in the history of presidential elections. Could even top 2016!
So don’t worry about white guys. As Old Lodge Skins said in Little Big Man, there is an endless supply of the White Man.
2
This just might be the worst opinion piece Maureen Dowd has ever written. Normally, I thoroughly enjoy her style and her take on America's political shenanigans -- especially when she goes all acerbic on The Trumpster. But to compare Tarantino to Trump? No way, Jose. And she came away from Once Upon a Time without a clue. No, Maureen, it's not about aging white guys losing power to women or minorities. It's about aging white actors and stuntmen losing their livelihoods to younger Hollywood dudes. Tarantino has talked about his role models for DiCaprio's character -- actors like Clu Gullager and Ralph Meeker, who had their moments in the '50s and '60s, but never reached the stardom they sought. No, it's not a fantasy about making older white men the true heroes of life. It's a fairy tale about what might have been if one of those aging actors had his heroic moment in a worst possible real life scenario. Maybe like if he'd been in an El Paso Walmart this morning.
4
I cannot believe MD wasted her time and mine to write about a movie that is not worth talking about. How low must we go?
2
Reports of the white male’s death have been greatly exaggerated.
7
I have a hard time buying it. I just read this morning that George Hamilton, a legendary actor, said that actors have no qualifications for saying anything political - none. Is every thing always race? Your article is nothing but racist. And your paper's 24/7 rant about Trump being everything evil grew tiresome long ago.
Our country's being invaded with welfare seekers and it's okay with you. Democrats want to turn this country into a communist paradise and it's okay with you. Bernie says he wants the middle class to bear the burden of 400 trillion dollars in tax hikes to pay for mythical green energy and other free stuff. Let's be clear, the rich aren't going to pay, they never have. Why work? What's the point of college? I just don't get it you democrats and your quest for absolute power (oh wait, you're on a quest for absolute power).
9
@tdg
Or we can just keep voting for Republicans until the rich people have ALL of the money and the rest of us are their servants.
1
It is sad when people cannot just enjoy movies for what they are: art and entertainment and story telling, instead of looking for some "deeper" meaning to make themselves look oh so smart. I don't think QT was making any big political statement about white men or nostalgia or Hollywood. It is a story about an aging actor. Could have been any color. And QT had fun re-writing history. And I had fun watching it. Watch this movie win some major awards including as Oscar for Pitt.
6
Many white men here complaining. Some agreeing. Part of the issue, no?
How many of the mass murderers have been of color or female?
How many major international corporations are lead by females?
How many countries are lead by women?
How many men are "house husbands?"
How many female sports or movie celebrities are paid the same as their male counterparts?
How many of the sexual perpetrators accused or found guilty have been women preying on men?
How many of the "christian" right preaching the doctrines of suppression of women are women?
How many men have had their sexual "reproductive" rights restricted by women? (Ha! That's a funny question!)
How many female generals are there in our armed forces? In the Pentagon?
How many people of color in any of the above situations where they are in charge or hold important positions?
You do not need to be a statistician in order to answer most of the above questions. You need only read this paper and watch anything besides FOX.
To the men who write here complaining "you don't appreciate us noble white guys" I say this: when we really have parity in all areas: work, health, status and power, then maybe you can complain, but a couple thousand years of having male dominated society has produced two world wars, many smaller wars, climate disaster, and the greatest divide in income in decades. Making many more billionaires has not made much difference except to them in their own lives.
9
@Jeanie LoVetri
To believe that powerful women are by nature more noble and virtuous than powerful men is to greatly misunderstand the forces of power and the people who strive for it. You will be greatly disappointed if/when the day arrives when women are in charge.
6
The claim that women would be different hold no water. Women are as capable of ineptitude, arrogance, stupidity or corruption as any man.
Margaret Thatcher is as heartless as Reagan, Theresa May as feckless as Gordon Brown, Sarah Palin as unfit as Donald Trump. Ms Fiorina is only one of a number of high profile CEOs showing that women can be as big a disaster as any man- she presided over the destruction of H-P.
6
The entertainment media plays a huge role as well in subconsciously telling the masses that white males are at the "top of the ladder." Hollywood has been doing this subtly for a century, with Tarantino's newest rag of a film being another example. Tarantino is one of the most overrated, unoriginal directors of all time, but he is complimented as a "genius" (hah). Perfect example of the mediocre white man being hailed in this country.
1
@Sarah Johnson, the entertainment industry is directly responsible for selling violence and exporting it to other countries.
1
Good Column from Ms. Dowd. Great summary of the character of our president.
“He is a faux tough guy who lets other people do the fighting for him, a needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry.”
And, how does he operate? He brainwashes his followers by leveraging grievances aired through the megaphone of Fox News and enabled by GOP supplicants.
“Trump has inverted all the old American ideals ...,reshaping it around his grievances and inadequacies.”
Seems not be be a stretch to suggest the analogy that Mr. Trump is the Charles Manson of American Politics... Difference is that this time the sociopath has 40 million followers.
In goading the extremists our midst while dividing the country, his hopes for victory lie in the strategy that in our fear we will turn on one another.
We must resist letting that happen.
4
It is constantly made obvious how much Dowd hold President Trump in disdain. Leading a resurgence from the Oval Office against the Progressive/Socialist thrust headed by Warren and Sanders with the reminder and reapplication of the immense power of the American economy to world leadership.
Leadership is a difficult skill to master, and let us be reminded that Ike wasn't the first American to hit the beach on D-Day, nor was Patton in the lead tank at Bastogne. Leaders can choose the incorrect path, be they Custer or a failed president, results matter. Voters vote by their wallet's content. This President's results in that field expose previous administrations failure to insure that the raising tide lifted all boats.
2
I think that Maureen Dowd has nailed Trump, who loves all the attention and power, and who will continue to divide we the people. Frankly, I am amazed that there are people who still stand with terrible President.
4
Maureen Dowd's misreading of Quentin Tarantino's film is so off-base as to suggest parody.
Brad Pitt's character "reflects many of the values that America once proudly stood for: toughness without belligerence, charm without smarminess, loyalty without question. He is masculine yet chivalrous."
Is this remotely serious? The character is a barely employable possible wife-killer who lives in a trailer with his dog. His behaviour consistently suggests that of a sociopath as much as a hero -- and even his show-down with Bruce Lee is framed within his highly suspect flashback. DiCaprio's character is a bipolar border-line alcoholic. It's obvious to me, at least, that Tarantino is exploring the contradictions and aura of those masculine codes. As for the Manson family representing "hippies", they were hardly that -- they were a violent white supremacist cult. The fact that the ending is counter-factual is surely a Brechtian device, a way of jolting the viewer out of any delusion that this "hero" story is to be taken at face value.
7
again, I'm reminded reading this column of what I've believed for the last three years.... its the history of monochromatic, white privilege that has brought us to this very moment in the life of this endangered country.... NOTHING ELSE! So, his trogloditic blame-game willmnever work with me..
The 2020 election can't come quickly enough, unless Congress is able to produce sufficient evidence to remove the nations worst president before we can vote him OUT! In my 80 years, I've never seen the country more upside down than it is at this present moment in time.
With some positive and constructive leadership, we can certainly turn this current mess around. May GOD Bless America, as we work our way onward and upward!
2
I am not white and I have nothing against white men. I refuse to tie my fortunes and misfortunes on the white man. My successes are mine and my failures mine too. I have done considerably better than the average “privileged” white man. If someone tells me that it was because of affirmative action, what I hear is that I do not deserve my successes, I was privileged, I needed help from the government to compete with the superior white man. And I cannot disagree more with that statement. But if that was the case, I will be ashamed for the rest of my life and I will apologize profusely to the white man. I do not agree with the government tilting the scale on any ethnic group’s favor. The government must be neutral. When a group perceives the government to be openly unfair, division and disintegration of society will follow. It is tempting to fix the ills of society through government action. But history shows that it leads to disaster. Communism promised to fix the economic injustices (rich versus poor) by force, and look at the results. To fix society’s ills, the government should use encouragement, not punishment, and maintain neutrality. I did not come here to change America, I came here to live America, become American, the old American. The new American may or may not be better. Only time will tell. The requiem is not for the white male, but for the old America.
12
Wish I had read this column before going to see the film. I probably would have been able to take it more seriously. Both actors Pitt and DiCaprio are favorites but I had a hard time sitting through the film. This column will encourage me to download it from Netflix or whereever to watch again with a different view.
no, no, no. The reason most of the white men running for the Democratic nomination are indistinguishable from one another is that these are too many eogtistical regional figures running. Trump rose to prominence through his vitriolic whites only language, proven through his so-called "birtherism" and anti-immigrant language and policies to "send her back". Trump tapped into racial hatreds and fears that already existed but he gave these haters permission to speak out openly and act. Face the fact that these haters are also reacting to the election of an African American s US President. Women and people of color in governmental position stand out because they are rare and they speak with unusual forward thinking and clarity. Supremicist ideologue white men have lost popularity among the larger diverse segment of the population, that hopefully. including some white men, evaluate all Americans equally when assessing their viability a candidates. White men with talent, sound ideas and policies remain "fashoinable". White men, notably Trump and McConnell, need to operate within societal norms and speak out against white nationalism.
2
Once again people are blaming djt. djt is the result of years of republican degradation of the American ideal. djt happened because of the republican party and they endorse him and his policies, including the policies of intentional violence against citizens and non-citizens.
Do not blame this on djt. That lets the real culprits off the hook.
Kick the bums out in 2020.
3
A real stretch here. Father knows best is long gone. Attractive women of color advertise everything under the sun. Cultural history is very easy to misuse. Here is a case and point. Trump is way beyond the picture that is portrayed. He is a man who would disrupt the social stability of the country to promote hate and then use it for political purposes.
1
I saw Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and was very taken with with Brad Pitt character. He was thoughtful, gentle, caring, yet capable of horrific violence when necessary. He was the stereotypical antihero of filmdom. But I don’t confuse Hollywood with reality. What is going on in the country today is a confluence of many factors. Technology is moving faster than our ability to acclimate to it. Diversity is occurring faster than we can get comfortable with it. Guns and drugs are everywhere. This is a deadly concoction. You feel ignored, you feel aggrieved, you get angry, you turn it inward (drugs) or outward (guns). We need leaders with ideas that can help us navigate through all of this without hurting ourselves or others. Unfortunately what we have now are leaders who are ignorant, selfish and greedy. No, it’s not a good time time to be a white male. But it’s not a good time to be an immigrant or person of color either. It’s just not a good time to be an American, period.
5
As a 74 year old white man, I've lived through the change Ms Dowd speaks of. I still feel like I have the opportunity to be someone decent and productive--white privilege and "decline" notwithstanding.
4
Yes Maureen, you wrote:
" ...America is struggling to find a new identity with a more colorful mosaic, moving beyond our monochromatic past. More new heroines and heroes need to emerge, both onscreen and in life."
Did you think about that while trashing Obama and Hillary Clinton in your columns? I still remember that one about the happiness in your brother's MAGA dinner. Trump wine and steaks? Remember that one?
5
Why is Trump in everything that liberals think about?
Can’t a movie, just be a movie?
6
This article merely substitutes one form of "racism" and bigotry with another.
The tactics of today's Left can best be summed up as combining the worst elements of Stalin-ism and McCarthyism.
Stalin-ism has any accusation (founded or unfounded) leading to elimination.
To this, McCarthyism adds ostracism and loss of employment by dredging up events that took place decades ago.
If experimental rats (in this case white males) are able to read the label on their cages, you can expect them to react by doing things like voting for Trump.
8
Trump is more "faux " than "tough guy."
1
This is an embarrassing column that should be mortifying to both writer and publisher. Is this really where we are going as a nation, making hate-mongering, race-baiting points of view like this column acceptable and mainstream? Let's read more from people who have ideas and criticisms about the substance of ideas, and less from writers and politicians who are pronouncing judgments based on skin color, gender, or religion. This read more like a manifesto or a screed than a legitimate piece of journalism.
10
Actually I wrote a poem about this. I called it Dirge for the white man. I will send it to the NYT. Perhaps they will be interested in publishing it! As a brown man I think my perspective is different!
As a middle-aged white guy I can state without hesitation that anyone with the proper credentials can come to my table and do business with me. Black? Female? Transitioning? No problem here. The only credential you need is the God-blessed American greenback, which I will attempt to relieve you of as often as possible. We white men have been doing this to each other for many generations (all in the name of “progress”, of course). If you want to participate in this game- and it’s the only game in town- feel free. Everything else is just fancy words and nonsense, trust me.
4
Curiously absent in this article is the fact that an Asian American man, Andrew Yang, is fourth in polling. This fact should have been listed in the second paragraph among the other facts extolling the social progress made in the mainstream.
Also curious is that Brad Pitt's character is described in complimentary terms, but no mention is made of his perpetuation of emasculating stereotypes against Asian men, during the controversial scene featuring an ahistorical caricature of Bruce Lee. I find nothing "iconic" about Pitt's character or performance.
1
In bubble worlds on our coasts this feministic fantasy may seem real but it’s not. Bashing men, in any color, isn’t the way forward for women or our country.
7
So let's get this straight---the current president is derided for mocking and dissing all sorts----so mocking and dissing white men is OK ?? Should America mock or diss any one or all ??
Replacing "white privilege" with every one else's privilege seems counter intuitive and sets up conflict -- if as the declaration states "all men are created equal" should we begin there and dismiss history by looking forward instead ??
6
Always a brilliant analysis of America's cultural underlying darkness and from a female point of view. As a Canadian and female it's like being a voyeur on a relatives very slow car crash that you can't do anything help them.
1
I am a big fan of Maureen Dowd’s independent thoughts and her clever way of expressing them. Very disappointing to see her giving PR to Tarantino and his movie. He is one Harvey Weinstein’s best buds and enablers. How quickly the villein is forgotten.
1
It seems like a certain coterie of white guys are busy buying arms and ammunition to mow down the rest of us...in fact, white men are doing just fine.. let's save the requiem for the dead in El Paso and all the rest of the race based mass killings we are currently suffering.
4
"But first we need the credits to roll on Trump." Yes, Trump is the start! As the recent mass shootings in this country prove, hateful Moscow Mitch and the other lackeys in this incompetent Republican/NRA party also have to be included in that credit roll. And this doesn't happen quickly...
The next time a mass shooter harms some relatives in the above mentioned families, America may quickly find the "colorful mosaic" desired in this this article.
Maureen, I think you missed the point of the line “Don’t cry in front of the Mexicans”...maybe I am giving Tarantino too much credit, but I think Cliff is sensing the absurdity of feeling sorry for yourself in the face of real hardship.
5
There are truly courageous people and then there are the heavily armed people. Take your pick.
2
Dismissing white men in the presidential campaign is a Beltway thing. No one else dismisses them. In fact, Old Man Joe is still leading the pack.
4
Beautifully said. Thank you.
Trump has made a parody of the past into his theme. He pretends that he can turn the clock back to a time that never existed, when giants (such as he thinks he is, but everyone knows he isn't) walked the Earth. He pretends he is Superman, fighting for "truth, justice and the American Way".
But, to say that is to recognize how ludicrous it is. Trump's world contains only lies, corruption and villainy. There is nothing American about him -- just the ethical and moral swamp into which he and his lackeys have descended and are trying to drag the rest of us.
Evil like Trump's thrives on a false cloak of virtue and victimhood that confer extraordinary superpowers to bully, abuse and hurt others. The poor, self-pitying, forgotten and abused villains who inhabit Trump's supporters' world are dreamers. They dream of lost power they only wish they had: of a simpler world where they ruled, of their lost ability to abuse others with impunity and of being worshipped for their abusiveness.
They're the heroes of their own fantasies of a past that never existed and that they're trying to create in a present far too complicated for their simple, deranged minds to understand.
They don't understand how much they are the bad guys in a real life story. They, never will.
1
Trump couldn’t even cut it as Best Boy.
1
Since Trump will most likely be president for another 6 years, I hope Dowd gets over it. Her editorials used to be funny and ironic, now they’re just preachy and angry
3
"Donald Trump built a political ideology on nostalgia for times when crime bosses were feared, and business owners and people ran scared. Make Tea Pot Dome, and Watergate and all crimes look like child's play, he will show everyone how to pull the most fantastic scam of all time, the best the biggest, the likes of which no one has ever seen. He is perpetrating a crime against humanity, and we all sit and let him. Good lord.
2
Yes, Donald Trump is not exactly hero material. But it's not just white men who are not heroic. I don't see any heroes or heroines at the top of national politics.
Anything heroic in Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez? Nancy Pelosi? Elizabeth Warren? Kamala Harris? Cory Booker? Julian Castro?
I don't think these people are brave, or have noble qualities. They don't have style or class or honesty. They are greedy and grasping and false. They attack others to boost themselves. They don't serve others as much as serve themselves.
They are, after all, just human. Just like white men. Just like Donald Trump.
4
I'll share a story.
It was at a discussion group after a Unitarian talk that happened to be by a light skinned woman of slave heritage, who "passed" in the white culture. She bought the ice cream cones in the "No Black" shops for the family waiting in the car.
The previous week, in a discussion on the long process of integration in this country, I mentioned to a woman that even after the six decades since Brown v. Board, we have barely achieved any racial integration of public schools in our country. She responded with a sharp "I reject that" My pointing out that the statement could be affirmed by data, having no effect, as she turned her back and walked away.
At a discussion after the aforementioned previous talk on how to fight bigotry, several techniques were presented to bolster the movement. One of them was to simply respond to statements that impede the movement of enfranchisement with "I reject that," expressed with the exact tone of the response to me a week ago.
The prescription was to reject any observation that might open conversation as being the voice of the enemy, and it's to be responded to in the tone of evangelicals, Get Behind Me Satan!
This is the excoriation of Al Franken, Gov. Northem for wearing blackface three decades ago, And, yes, even Brett Kavanaugh for being a stupid horny teenager. "Identity politics" is too anodyne a term to describe the rejection and suffering of those of us "cursed" by Y chromosome disease.
2
The demise of the white guy is a result of the demise of the white woman. America has become a place where the rules have been changed We either don't know who precipitated the change or don't want to admit it.
Everyone has become a "victim" screaming their return of hate to the accused people who caused them to be victims. It's a free-for-all.
Our leaders who should be the referees are white males and white women and black males and black women and Muslim women. They are all promoting their particular victimism against the "haters" who caused it. It's Me-me against you-you.
You don't play football on a tennis court or practice high diving on a baseball field. America was liveable, at least, until some people found that rule breaking caused the media, like the Times, to make money from those headlines, so the media promoted not resolutions, but headlines.
Viva Tarantino! But first, we need the Democrats to roll on Trump, which they've not even started so far.
1
Tarantino owns a movie theater here in L.A., what used to be a decent revival house which now screens primarily action B-movies from the 60s & 70s, Grindhouse and regular "Kill Bill" festivals. Midnight movies are nearly all Tarantino "films," all the time. Guess what's on the screen for the entire month of August? The 9th "film" from a second-rate writer with arrested development, glorified by Hollywood for his "genius."
If you look critically at the imagery Tarantino uses when it comes to people of color, his excessive use of the "n" word to "disempower" it (while having a great deal of fun using it!), it's not hard to see a regressive world view. But this is Hollywood, and Hollywood is "liberal." Can't be any racism here, just...entertainment.
What "credits?"
1
What is so funny to me is the left thinks you are a Trump fan.
1
A white guy needs to be especially special?
Good start. Anyone running for and serving in the highest political offices in America should be just that.
Could you imagine someone describe the lack of difference in the politicians of any other race in this way? No, it would be outrageously racist. But it’s ok if we talk about white guys. Towards them you can be racist. You can discriminate and get applause in
the media.
Progressives don’t want any equality. They want to discriminate the same way some white males discriminated in the past. There is no moral high ground. Just a crown.
4
We elected a black president. The country’s hard right turn to racism can be laid at the doorstep of one Vladimir V. Putin.
Example: He took both sides of “ black lives matter” to great success on social media.
That’s my hypothesis.
3
This article had an intriguing start but then seemingly ended with a flat tire. Dowd’s ire towards Trump is blinding, as he’s accomplished more than Democrats like to admit, which is why they scream, moan & whine so.
2
Dowd's commentary is dead nuts on target. There may be no immediate remedy but cowed legislators need to examine their own culpability and take legislative action.
And yet the leading candidates in both parties are old white men.
1
I just hope Ms. Dowd doesn't wipe her world clean of ALL white men, as if we were a monolithic, undifferentiated entity. That, too, is reductionist, simplistic, and, frankly, petulant.
4
I've spoken out against trump and his policies more times than I can remember here and on many other forums. I look forward to Ms. Dowd's columns and read most of them. This one is off base in making a connection between this movie and the larger society. It is a movie and meant for entertainment. At that it was very enjoyable and well done with great acting and a quirky script. The 2 big stars were great as was the entire cast. We have enough evidence to impeach the rat in the WH without having to turn a movie into more than what it is. I highly recommend themoscowproject.org and it's accompanying podcast The Asset.
3
Toughness without belligerence. Only in the movies. Certainly not in reality. I remember those days.
4
As much as I despise Donald Trump's presidency, and distance myself from the people who support him, I find the new antagonism towards white males unexpectedly liberating, and I am one. Now, the ways in which this is liberating will not please the identity politics crowd who would rather see me miserable, but I don't really care much about them. I like to connect, not always but sometimes, with other people who have similar experiences to my own: Similar interests in reading, similar priorities in education, similar liberal or even sometimes Leftist politics, and similar immigrant ethnic families. Many of those people are other white men (gay and straight, in my preferred group). I certainly understand why African Americans like to connect with one another for friendships or support. I clearly see why women enjoy having women-only spaces. I support those and other groups coming together in commonality. I like that too. And to the extent anyone from any of those other groups finds a problem with my interest in the same, they are hypocrites. What amazes me, though, is the contemporary judgment that white men wanting to read books by other white men, or spend time talking about something other than white male privilege, is somehow a transgression, as if we need to be ashamed of our own accident of identity. Of course, that's the backwards identity politics that resulted in Trump, and is as responsible for the current nightmare as are those in the MAGA hats.
10
@Tintin - Thank you so much for this beautiful and thoughtul post. I've had similar ideas kicking around in my head of late - why is it suddenly crime to feel a kinship with people you have things in common with (at least if that thing is being a white male - or just being white at all)?
We are literally hardwired to seek out the company of those we feel are similar to ourselves. That's not even a bad thing, it's just something to be aware of. I don't want my entertainment options censored to eliminate any character or perspective the P.C. crowd deems not to be "woke" enough.
And no, of course, we should not be ashamed of our "accident of identity." Anyone who understands the toxic effects of shame would never try to inflict that on another.
Anyway, again, thank you for your post - you expressed these ideas beautifully.
5
Structural privilege exists, but it's an abstraction, and not the whole truth. In the real world, there really are warm, good, kind, generous, non sexist white men. Many of them. I was married to one. We all need to dig deeper into our own experiences, refuse the generalizations of the press and the pundits in defining our realities, and celebrate the goodness that lives in all our hearts, despite differences of opinion. We are all starved for this attitude of wisdom and kindness, and for the Democrat who can deliver it as our country's leader, whatever their race or gender. We are all in this thing together.
13
This is a superb description of the problem with generalizations. My husband is like the man described by the writer. There are men that do not permit egos to stand in their way. I have met the “other kind” and I’m grateful I didn’t marry one.
6
One more thing...I do not want to be in a time machine with either Pitt or Trump.
1
Recent Hollywood movies aside for a moment, there have been a few that helped, I guess... FDR, JFK, Lincoln, Winston C, Alex Hamilton, poets galore and, lest we forget, most of the infrastructure like highways, airports, water/sewer systems, internet, computers, cell phones, etc, etc were designed and manufactured by or were realized by these folks.
Lets focus on who will step up and carry us into the new era with massive upgrades in all these areas, especially sustainable/renewable energy.
1
"America is struggling to find a new identity with a more colorful mosaic, moving beyond our monochromatic past".
Those words speak volumes. They are the most important words in this essay. America has to come to terms with the realization that if we are to continue as a viable nation, we have to accept that all people/s want a place at the table. What's wrong with that?
10
There's nothing wrong with that, unless it involves a reversal of the prejudice, which is often what happens now. As Dowd's friend notes: “The bar is much, much higher for white guys these days. You just have to be especially special.” That's no different than what African Americans faced previously. Of course, any group that is held to a higher standard will fight back, as African Americans rightfully did, as women rightfully did, and as white men now will. When white men fight back, you'll get more Trumps. Treating people differently creates anger. Why would people expect otherwise when the people being treated differently are white men?
2
The transitioning demographic focus reminds me of some other transitions. Fred Astaire has always been lauded as the greatest and then there was the cartoon: 'Sure he was great, but dont forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did…backwards and in high heels.’
14
I read this column with profound sadness in my heart for the recent victims of mass murders committed by hate-filled, angry white men, most recently in California, Texas, and Ohio... all in the span of a couple of weeks. At this very moment more attacks are being planned and more people will die and we've got our "thoughts and prayers" mantra all ready to go. Contrast these real images of white males with the stylized, tough, macho image of white leading men going all the way back to Gone With the Wind and there's certainly a disconnect somewhere. We very rarely discuss role of white males in systemic and state sanctioned violence. That's a mirror that betrays the white supremacy dogma and presents a look that even the media is hesitant to explore. Whether as slavers, ku klux clansmen, labor union violence against black and immigrant workers, law enforcement agencies targeting and profiling minorities, or the criminal justice system that does the same, white men have blazed a long and bloody trail of violence and oppression we are still too afraid to fully discuss. Movie images are one thing but real life bullying and violence is a horse of a different color. Of course demagogues like Trump are providing fuel for these deranged acts, but let it be noted he did not invent racism or xenophobia. America was well versed in these evils long before Trump or the movies were born.
12
@John Valentine
Violent men of color are devastating whole communities. Do you feel no sadness in your heart for their victims?
Why is the media so hesitant to explore that and call it out the same they do with white men? Can't go there, can we? I'm all for having an honest discussion of media models of maleness and violence in America, but this isn't it.
We're all connect, we're all in this together, and there's enough responsibility to go around. Until that is understood and brought into the discussion, there's little hope for the societal changes we desperately need.
But I suppose it feels better, or at least safer, to sit in a comfortable chair and blame white men for all of societies ills.
6
This and many other columns in the Times are more about division than equality. This is Trumps play ground, divide and conquer. I’m an older white guy myself, and trust me, if you get laid off in late middle age, in this economy, there's no privilege. It doesn’t matter what color you are. And, that’s the issue, the U.S. economy is centered around service industries, which are low paying, not even subsistance work. The so called, “booming,” unemployment rate, is in fact, a cruel joke. Those guys who voted Trump in the Mid-west just wanted a lot less status quo, and a positive differance. They weren’t deplorable, they were desperate. Unfortuantly, they played into the hands of a lying corporatist that in most ways made their lives worse.
23
Scapegoats are so convenient. I imagine that in the early eighteenth century somewhere in Massachusetts a drinker in a red cap nursed a shot and a beer, musing fondly about how much better things were when people of god could drag witches from their homes and kin because apocalyptic visions appeared to readers of 8chan (an alternative channel used by prophets as far back as Uriah and Daniel) assuring them that the harvest would be bountiful if only they cast out the unclean--permanently.
Similarly, we on the left have lost our minds and focus because of the embarrassing ignoramus in the White House. First, how are we shocked when the MAGA crowd cast their votes for Bush and Cheney and then seemed eager for a Palin presidency?
However, we have taken the bait, just like Old Nick hornswoggled the Pilgrims back in 1692. We have lost sight of the hijacking of the American Dream by oligarchs who miss red-lining and King Cotton, those on the Supreme Court who have recast corporations as people and those in the Congress who, among other things, refuse the majority their wishes that assault guns be, at the very least, regulated, and that votes cast be counted.
It's true that some day DJT might have to be dragged bodily from the Oval Office, but while that ordeal garners boffo ratings on "fake news" CNN, Mitch McConnell will rally his Make Salem Great Again crew and continue his assault on one man, one vote and freedom of speech.
Pay less attention to the man behind the curtain.
14
We have entered a Dark Age, and the white male, chest beating Trump is symbolic. Most people agree he's been a disaster for America, but he didn't cause our problems. He just exposed our dark side.
Hollywood has never been the Real World, but it has influenced us subconsciously, creating expectations and changing our behavior, often for the worse. The violence of men killing other men with fists, bombs, and automatic weapons lives within us. Our movies today reflect the zeitgeist. We verbally chastise the violence, but we allow it on our screens, and we allow our children to watch it. What are they learning? The mess in this country will not be cleaned up by dumping Trump. The wise opossum, Pogo, once said, "We have met the enemy, and they are us."
7
For decades now people have been demanding that we refrain from judging people by of their skin color or their gender. And yet the world doesn't raise an eyebrow when someone writes a requiem for white males.
Trump is a white male, he's reprehensible, and the only similarity between him and me is our gender and skin color.
By the way Ms. Dowd, have you seen any other movies lately? The bulk of heroes are non-white, and many are females. The industry will sell you whatever they think you want to see.
21
Michael Bennet has a hard time breaking through in his run for the Presidency because he speaks like a teacher, not like a politician, and because he does not have a mean bone in his body.
Meanness is rewarded in American society today. That's how Trump has succeeded. Maureen Dowd too.
13
In light of the massacre in El Paso where a wholly inadequate white man decided he wanted to reclaim being special, this column's simplistic and facile take on white male privilege is glaring.
The reason men like Bennett and Delaney aren't breaking through is literally because they don't have anything "especially special." The bar for them isn't higher than it is for Gillibrand, who also doesn't have anything especially special. There is nothing mysterious about the failures of some of the white men running in the primary. They are clearly not up to the task.
Nevertheless, Dowd has written a column where she takes up for aggrieved white men. That this column appears a day after El Paso shows Dowd's own lack of anything especially special. Dowd has written a column that is both wrong on the facts, wrong on the substance, and completely inadequate for this moment in America.
But I hope her dinner parties with our nation's political and cultural aristocracy, while the rest of us are being gunned down, remain fun.
3
Great writing!
2
Movies are movies. Reality with the Trump crowd is horror.
6
This white male knows he hit the sweet spot. He didn't have to fight in a war like his father and isn't fighting to stay afloat in the world of cut-throat capitalism like his son.
But demography is destiny, and as a scientist, I saw the white-male demise coming. I never suffered from nostalgia, and don't now. Look at Europe. With low fertility rates they are a sinking ship. Say goodby to the white male.
And I never paid much attention to Hollywood. Obsession with Charles Manson always seemed a bit sick.
Obsession with Trump is understandible. He isn't sick but he is a narcissistic blowhard with plenty of company among the world's present and past leaders.
As long as Trump doesn't start a nuclear war Americans probably will come out of this a stronger nation. Just in time for the climate alarm bells to start really going off, and a huge flood of refugees at our border as a result.
The world's misery index will be a better reason for nostalgia then.
2
Someone please explain how saying “Don’t cry in front of the Mexicans” is a slur against Mexicans.
6
When I asked a friend who once worked for Barack Obama why a smart and appealing Obama protégé, Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, was having a hard time breaking through, she replied: “The bar is much, much higher for white guys these days. You just have to be especially special.”
Oy vey. Ms. Dowd should introduce her friend to Donald Trump.
1
I can envision a presidential Democratic ticket that features Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris. It would be fascinating to see how bone spurs handles a gay military veteran with a deployment to Afghanistan under his belt and a black woman who knows how to handle hostile witnesses and entitled white guys. This would be trumps worst nightmare.
3
Priceless final sentence Ms Dowd!
4
What are you talking about??? White men are still the “saviors” of everything!!
Try the life of an average non-white person anywhere, if you doubt me.
The only people who are getting a break are white women. They are getting there just like white men did, trampling on everyone else’s rights.
Those white women the get to write columns like your column last week.
2
Every time I read your Trump bashing columns, I can’t help but think of all of those anti-Clinton columns you wrote that helped get Trump elected.
16
beyond the outright sloppiness of this editorial it does raise some interesting questions...not the least of which I suppose is are we to completely turn on what brought us to this day or are we to collectively attempt to rectify it celebrating both its messy past and its messy future?
1
There was a time in the run up to 2016 where Maureen equivocated Trump and Hilliary. Hard to believe.
9
Honestly? I want to vomit. In its lack of any truths at all pertinent to our present dilemma, the movie sounds simply horrible. The last thing we need is somebody in a position of influence telling the nation that it must fall into line behind the red MAGA hats and preserve and augment the never ending, unmerited and undeserved entitlements, prerogatives and dominance of white conservative Christian men.
All those who demean and vilify white men should have the courage of their convictions and refuse to use anything and everything invented by white men. Start with the Greeks' logic and democracy, then move on to science, engineering and medicine. How those brutal oppressors have burdened humanity!
10
Your comment is a great example of “Whataboutism”, a losing argument meant to deflect rather than posit real thought.
1
I don't know that Trump is an accurate representation of "the white male" whether of the past or present. How many white males were given hundreds of millions of dollars by their fathers, have gotten away with all kinds of immoral, indecent, & illegal behavior (even before becoming POTUS), or have risen to positions of power (not just the ultimate "leader of the free world," but any elected political office, CEO of a corporation, even military higher-up)?
It is Trump's atypicality that makes his being president so galling (along with all the bad things he does).
Switching over to Tarantino's latest film, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt's character) is closer to the typical white male, but I agree that while he has admirable qualities & moments in the film, he also represents some of the worst of what it has been to be a white male. Cliff killed his wife (whether accidentally or intentionally is left ambiguous), & his and Rick Dalton's (Leonardo DiCaprio) attacks on the Manson followers are the most vicious, graphic, & over-the-top against the females. Rick burns one woman to a literal crisp with a flame thrower (we see a close up of her charred corpse floating in the pool). Cliff bashes the other woman's head into a phone, a fireplace, & other hard surfaces. I found this scene disturbing, not funny as many reviews called it.
Violence toward women is something shared by Trump, Tarantino's characters, & actual white males. Hopefully, "Me Too" & 2020 will begin to change this.
5
As brilliant as Maureen is, like all of us she is still human enough to be caught up in the hysteria and trends of the time.
Fact is white men, welcome the contributions of any and all; the same way most people do.
They recognize the brilliance of CRISPR discoverers Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna and reward them accordingly. But they do not deny that Shakespeare, Newton, Einstein achieved what they did because of something deep within them that propelled them, and not because of white male privilege.
This irrational anti white male mantra that rises from the Dem party ignores the fact that historically W.M. as a group have given their lives and souls in efforts to civilize and lift up and be merciful.
I attribute this bias to the quota system within the Dem party
which is designed to ensure 'egalitarianism'.
Today by law exactly 50% of the delegates at any Democratic voting convention must be women, and 50% men. There must be special rights given to minorities as delegates as well. A problem is that not enough women are really interested in politics and the result is you get the reserved voting slots being filled with the most ideological of women; same for minorities.
If you went to the voting booth where 50% of the officials elected had to be women and 50% men the outcome would be very irrational. Yet, that is the farm system of Dems and why no new moderate will ever again get nominated within the Dem party...
3
"He is a faux tough guy who lets other people do the fighting for him, a needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry."
Thanks for the movie review, Maureen Dowd: from the trailers and your tidbits, it sounds worth skipping.
I've had it with white male nostalgia. As for your Trumpian observations, the thing that continues to amaze me is how somebody with no redeeming features can be such a hit. There's not one iota of kindness in the man, only bile, self-pity, and resentment.
Such is the ugly underbelly of hate nostalgia, where what's mourned is how whiteness was once its own reward.
As I write this, there are reports of another mass shooting, still under way, in El Paso at the epicenter of Trump's main grievance and injustice: the border.
Nostalgia porn is getting more dangerous every day.
5
I believe it is a myth that power in the hands of white men is declining. It's apparent, McConnell has more power than Pelosi, Trump more power than both. Some, not all professional sports are dominated by black athletes but ownership is still mostly white male. WNBA players still play below the rim. The fillies can run with the boys as 2-yr olds but rarely after that. There have been and are beyond great black entertainers, Ray Charles, Della Reese, Denzil Washington, and Morgan Freedom to name a few but I don't see a predominance of minority producers. I saw a sign back in the early eighties on the wall of an oil field construction company, "Black is beautiful, Tan is gran, but white is the color of the big boss man." Whether we like it or want to believe it, it is still true to a large extent. The only place where there is a mix of power is in the Democratic party and it is rarely in power.
2
This half-thought of a column is embarrassingly insular.
Hey Coastal Elites, no one cares what you think.
You can console yourself with the idea that Hillary won the popular vote, but if you take out CA and NY, the election was a wipe-out for Trump.
Worse, Trump won 87% of the counties. I don't know what's more bigly than a wipe-out, but this would be whatever that is.
Deluding yourself that this had something to do with nostalgia, or white nationalism, or racism is your ticket to losing again.
For example, in what category would you put a disabled black lesbian? Will she fight for the disabled tribe, the black tribe, the female tribe, or the homosexual tribe?
Theoretically, if you are American, and can pay respect to the Constitution, you would just categorize this person as an individual, like everyone else. Equal, not more than equal; entitled to equal opportunity, not equal results. And certainly not to any special rights or reparations (except for the disabled part, to which the ADA applies).
The illiberal enterprise, which is hurtling towards outright authoritarianism, has perverted the historic premise of this species of American liberalism. The original idea was that the poor should be freed from the oppression of their poverty, which had been aggravated by the economic collapse in the 1890's.
That's what the illiberals should stick with. A "liberal" should be for freedom; not oppression. Not even of white men. Gasp.
7
Is Mr. Pitt wearing 2 watches?
One more not needed discussion about the potus from another angle, which gives publicity to a movie that plays to the bottom. Couldn’t find a better topic?
1
"...needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry."
Nailed it Ms. Dowd in a nutshell. Perfect!
It is unfair to hold Ms Dowd responsible for a column that was written before the dual tragedies in El Paso and Dayton. However, this bit of "movie review "fluff is no longer welcome in the age of Trump and creeping fascism. Ms Dowd, you helped bring us to this point, and I am sure People magazine has a spot for you.
“We need the credits to roll on Donald Trump”. Can that happen sooner than Nov. 2020??
Fun column...
I have to say that Richard Brody’s review of “Once Upon a Time...” in the New Yorker was a pearl clutching waste of space. Art cannot be viewed primarily through a lens of wokeness. Critically speaking Brody is writing a polemic essay, not a movie review.
4
@KxS "It is important to say: kitsch is not art but the opposite of art. And the attraction to or glorification of kitsch is not artistic, it is an intellectual dereliction of duty. It is the worst sort of worship of the accomplished cultural fact."
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/07/31/once-j31.html
I am a very old lady and my heart is breaking for the disaster that has become my beloved country since the Republicans have taken over. I should say The Tea Party has taken over. How on earth did we allow this to happen? All this racism, hatred expressed against people who are not white, and cruelty that I have not seen in America since George Wallace and Lester Maddox were alive? Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country and take it back from the racists, the hate-mongers, and the lovers of deadly automatic weapons that are ONLY for the rapid murder of our beloved citizens and children. Ban automatic weapons NOW, you cowards in Washington!
9
America without white men leading is simply over. It's finished. The entire project has amounted to nothing of value.
2
How many non sequiturs and racist comments can be sloppily crammed into one editorial? That could be the subtitle.
3
News Flash!
I regret to say that the White Men (why the capitals?) are going down shooting.
Dan Kravitz
1
Sure wish you thought the Clinton bashing through. Now we have this.
6
Maureen, point of information.”AOC” was indeed born in the Bronx as was I.Please note that her formative years were spent in the suburbs in Yorktown Heights where she graduated high school in 2007 as a top student. It seems that she is as much a “college educated suburban woman” as a “ swaggering Bronx woman”. How about we let “AOC” be herself.
3
Also the only Black President we had remained true to his wife !
Now it is trump in power, Maher said last night , that trump have said even he loses he is not going to leave.
Is it white man privilege ?
He could do whatever he wants and the only black Republican congressman we had Will Hurd decided he could not survive and is retiring.
Jared Kushner is the owner of rat infested housing but he is White, so it is okay.
But powerful Congressman Elijah Cummings is black so easy for trump to spread his venom, and no one in his cabinet was protesting.
3
@B.Sharp - Trump being the way he is has nothing to do with him beingmwhite, or so-called white "privilege."
Trump is the way he is because he is a malignant narcissist and, in addition, appears to be suffering from the first stages of dementia. His declaration that he won't leave even if he loses is a symptom of his mental illness.
That is not meant to defend him or make excuses for him, but only to try to direct your attention to the fact that bad behavior by white males isn't because they're white, anymore that bad behavior on the part of, say, black women, isn't because they're black.
The headline doesn’t really address the movie review in the piece. I guess it’s fashionable to dump on white men, as though a new ruling class of mixed race and gender is automatically better. Those who understand history know it isn’t true.
3
Maureen, you SERIOUSLY think this film is all about TRUMP? I doubt that. Given how long movies take to write, produce, get funding, then film and edit and post production....Tarantino started on this in the Obama Administration.
Also: IT IS FICTION! hello! it is not a true story.
Lastly....so Trump does not have a dog? Who cares? The Clinton's were mocked in 1992 for "only having a cat (Socks) and not a dog" -- how stupid was THAT? The Obama's owned no pets at all, until AFTER he was elected, and then it seemed a publicity stunt.
Did it ever occur to you that maybe Trump is ALLERGIC to dogs and/or cats?
2
Tarantino — and the rest of so-called liberal Hollywood — is a big part of American gun violence. He displays it gratuitously in every movie he makes. He glorifies it. He justifies by saying bad guys need to die and revenge is the most exalted of human emotions. And he takes no responsibility for the violence his movies model. Yes, there are too many guns. There also are too many movies that have guns in them. Hollywood came round (slowly and incompletely) to the idea that you don’t have to have people smoking in every movie, but can’t give up its obsession with guns. Maybe a little more attention to story and less gratuitous violence is what we need.
3
When does eliminating another person's subjectivity ever result in something good? Adding to the long list of "others" simply entrenches stereotypes. Alterity is a necessary condition for violence and self-hatred. Let's not make this situation worse.
Apparently Western Civilization has run its course. I'd like to live to be 120 just to see what replaces it. Will it be a color-blind utopia or a third-world miasma?
Look around the world. Which of the diverse countries is run better than the Western democracies? There is plenty of room for improvement, but we might want to be careful not to throw out the baby with the bath water. The rule of law, universal suffrage and the middle class are all artifacts of Western civilization, and they are all under threat. To preserve those things while making room for diversity is not going to be easy.
Without the cooperation of white males, it's going to be even harder. There are enough of us to either create, or derail the future, and writing requiems for us is not likely to convince us to get on board.
Perhaps you meant to write a requiem for an image, not for a class of persons based on skin color and gender.
11
@mlbex, well said! What white men created was good enough that the rest of the world wants to live in our supposedly oppressive society.
2
Reading comments to Ms. Dowd's columns, I'm regularly surprised at how many people seem to take her a channel for Democratic Party ideas, or liberalism more generally. Ms. Dowd speaks for herself and perhaps a segment of the Washington media world she's been part of for decades. Anyone wanting to know what Democrats think, can visit any of the candidates' websites, read a news report, attend a meet-and-greet, or talk to their neighbors. It'll provide refreshing and inspiring counterpoints to Ms. Dowd's speculations.
5
Yes, Trump; He always circles back to himself.
1
THE PRESIDENCY IS ALL AN ACT! IT HAS DEVOLVED INTO A LA LA LAND MYTH. I DO NOT REGRET THAT THE DON HAS TORN THE MASK OFF THIS CYNICAL CHARADE. ITS AMERICAS WAKE UP CALL!. IT STARTED WITH FAIR ACTOR AT BEST REAGAN AND LEADS TO THE CROWNING ACHIEVMENT OF THE DON AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF .SO THE HEROES OF YORE AND THEIR VALUE SYSTEMS ARE STILL GOING WHERE IT COUNTS.
This piece says more about MD’s negative opinions about white males than anything else. Name calling President Trump is more mean girl slanders. Does MD hate the great economy, enhanced employment of black men, women and other minorities, better trade deals, eliminating ISIS? Where’s the beef?
2
Alas, Trump is not the director of his own movie. He is the product of deeply entrenched failings of a working class that for generations relied on heritage and race to make up for their lack of education. President Obama’s rise was the sign that lower class white privilege would no longer guarantee good jobs, including the civil service police and fire sinecures that were handed down like gifts from father to son (visit Breezy Point in Queens and you will see what I mean.)
The Dems embraced a global economy but failed to follow up with education and training for the under-educated whites and they lost the Upper Midwest.
The question for 2020 is not will Trump win, but rather if the white underclass feels it has punished the establishment enough. They know Trump is an idiot, but his chaos is their hammer. It is as if they are saying “move on without assuring our place and we will continue to give you a human wrench like Trump again.”
5
I don't have any nostalgia for it! It's way past time for our "representation" to change. Our country and indeed our world is a mess after centuries of mostly male rule. It's time for women to lead.
@suz, after millenia of male rule, the world has gone from being powered by stone tools to being driven by microchips. Almost none of the improvements along the way were designed by women. Pushing the architects of civilization aside so another group, one with little track record of ruling, can have a turn is more likely to lead to dystopia than utopia.
1
Ms. Dowd, take note:
White women are more privileged than white men.
Women as a group have better health, live longer (men die sooner of 14 of the 15 leading causes of death), matriculate at higher rates, own most of U.S. personal wealth, have stunning privilege in the legal system, etc., etc.
The wife of a CEO gets half of his benefits without any of the training, educating, and 70-hour work-weeks. The wife's efforts to "help him succeed" are relatively minuscule.
When there is a pregnancy, abortion gives a woman the right not to be a parent. What gives that right to the father, who is subject to the whim of the woman? Women have all the reproductive rights. If they lose them, they'll be equal to men.
On the Titanic, at the peak of "patriarchy," "Women and children first" cost the lives of many children: for every two adult females seated in the lifeboats, three children were not. Even very old, privileged women were saved at the expense of 18-year-old boys, who had just begun their lives.
See Warren Farrell's "The Boy Crisis" and Martin van Creveld's "The Privileged Sex," a well-documented history of women's centuries-old privileged status. You'll be stunned to learn of the massive cover-up of female privilege, especially in the legal system.
Also:
“A Comprehensive Look at Gender Equality: The Doctrinaire Institute for Women's Policy Research” https://malemattersusa.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/the-doctrinaire-institute-for-womens-policy-research/
9
The notion that the bar has risen for white men during this election cycle is a purely mythical one. In fact, tribal, polarizing politics has succeeded in lowering that bar for all men and women everywhere. That's primarily why Biden, Booker, Delaney and New York's Mayor DeBlasio are allowed to flail around in those debates by sub par debate moderators, aided and abetted by a sub par DNC. We currently occupy an unfortunate age of deviancy, when what succeeds in our broader, decrepit culture has also contaminated the body politic. Being trite like Trump works, or most of the women on that debate stage would poll much higher than their mostly under performing, predictable, feckless male coumterparts. For example, Obama followed the rule of law as President by effectively and legally deporting illegal immigrants, yet the mindless, opportunistic DeBlasio took issue with that on a NATIONAL debate stage, mainly to placate his vocal New York Hispanic constituents. He, with no national following and zero chance of winning the Presidency succeeded in stumping the demonstrably weak Biden. It is clear, more than ever, that our best and brightest continue to forego politics, and for good reason. That leaves us with the mediocre dreck that clutter the current political landscape on both sides of the aisle. But "a change is gonna come". Change always does.
1
Just brilliant writing and observation.
"Trump has inverted all the old American ideals, soiling the image of our country in the world and reshaping it around his grievances and inadequacies.
He is a faux tough guy who lets other people do the fighting for him, a needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry."
1
A more accurate headline for this pap would be "How to antagonize good people who are also White and male" By Maureen Dowd.
If you were to criticize jerks with power, you would find men (some white, some not) as well as women (some white, some not).
Trump has and has had a few (men and women) in his employ and I have not seen much to distinguish them from each other in terms of ability, morals or integrity.
Fox Fairy Tales also employs a number.
I take exception to the glee with which you applaud the "downfall" of White men regardless of ability or morals or integrity. The only matter of importance is that they are White and male and therefore, ipso facto, to be condemned, laughed at, etc.
We used to call that racist or sexist.
Now it politically correct normal.
And you wonder why Trump has such high ratings.
9
Spoiler alert! Once upon a time is about male toughness, not a celebration of it. Dalton plays a tough on screen, but is insecure and berates himself for his weakness. Booth is the real tough guy, but also murdered his wife and is unreliable at work. Recall too that the scene in which he climbs to a roof is played for laughs.
2
Ya, ya, ya, then why are you going to elect Trump to another term?
1
I'e the B'y, because Trump's better than the competition. Not a one of the 24 Democrats running can match him.
Courage, class and chivalry have little to do with accomplishment, unfortunately. (Not that the Democrats running have any more of those qualities than Trump.)
We vote for results, not for looks or resumes.
1
Forget Hollywood. The whiny reality star in the White House is the antithesis of everything that dads have told their sons about what it means to be a man since men started having sons. Not just a white man. Any man.
Has any man ever advised his son to be a cowardly, lying, cheating, preening, irresponsible, entitled poser (aside from Fred Trump, Charles Kushner, Louis XV...).
Maureen didn't mention John Wayne. But even as a racist in The Searchers, he was brave, honest, tough and responsible.
1
Ms. Dowd, screenwriters have been busy since that stolen election, but have an unusual problem of new vile and crazy popping up every day. How to select the most cinematic? Is it worth trying to paste in a human storyline, like Hitler’s love life, or is it not going to play? Do the credits only really roll after some apocalyptic event, or does the villain get away with everything and ride a golf cart off to the sunset?
Then, too, there’s the audience problem, where embarrassed trumpers in their millions would prefer not so see an honest depiction of their country losing its mind and its way. Can’t get them into the theaters.
But all things considered, even if the box office gross isn’t the best, I’m waiting for the movie. Just hope the era depicted ends in early 2020.
The comments about the men's appearance is just childish trolling. It's a well-worn trick. Once you take the bait, the response is "Now you know how it feels to be a woman." Except you don't. You'll never know how that feels from your perch of "privilege". And on and on.
3
The key to heroism is a concern for other people in need—a concern to defend a moral cause, knowing there is a personal risk, done without expectation of reward.
Most of us are capable of this. Sadly. Donald Trump is not. He is a coward.
A lot of us were repulsed by white hate in 2016, and saw what the Trump campaign was all about. Some of us, though, indulged in diminishing the candidate who represented liberal America. It sounds like you're ready to support who the Democrats nominate. Welcome aboard.
1
This is very dangerous cultural territory to navigate, at a critical time of explosive Fascist White Power nationalism - clear lines need to be demarcated.
I'm afraid that this column not only doesn't do that, but in its attempted nuance, fans the flames.
1
Trump supporters, you have to admit you have never seen a billionaire or alleged billionaire who whined all the time about not being treated fair. Loser, big time.
3
If negative views of women in general is the sine qua non of bias and sexism, then so is trashing men in general. Holding white males in collective contempt will do nothing to defeat racism and sexism. It will do the opposite.
3
Perhaps the white men who perceive a loss of privilege should reflect more on their lazy high school records, settling for the first factory job that paid enough to support a muscle car, and figuring that the world should dumb down to meet their lack of inquisitiveness.
I'm the product of that environment and somehow I was able to hack my way through its kudzu of bigotry, ignorance and simplistic answers to have a moderately pleuralistic personal and world view. Those who support Trump's version of "good ol' boy" white supremacy should remember the denials and regrets of late 1940's Germans. How will you frame your denials and regrets when Trump is no longer Dear Leader?
1
Before you can kill people for their ethnicity you have to objectify the victim. Trump's rhetoric is objectifying ethnic groups.
2
That is the writing of the Maureen Dowd I use to gleefully read when she would skewer Rummy, Cheney, and G.W. Bush (the Trump triplets). That put what is happening culturally, perfectly. I also can't wait to see the movie now.
Jeeze Louise, it’s a movie, for reason’s sake. Both Mo and Mc must have been hard up for content this week. I mean have we lost our ability to detect and appreciate irony? Talk about false equivalencies: the “don’t talk in front of the Mexicans” line, for instance, is clearly an aside of the Times not a political stance by Tarantino. I could go on but I’ll stop with this: I hate Trump, I hate assault rifles, I hate McConnell, I appreciate AOC, but I also hate puritanical political correctness and these evaluations of “Once Upon... ...” are that. Take a breath and enjoy the movie.
1
I think all this fading white guy stuff is much ado about nothing. What I wonder about is how one party has produced two clueless white guys - a grade b movie prop and a “reality” combover- for the office of president. Likely the powers that be simply see such fools as useful tools.
Dowd should ask one of her cultural critic colleagues to explain the use of irony in art, and in Tarantinos's films, in particular.
1
Is it just me, or has your writing become more clipped and cute and telegraphic as the years have rolled by. It reminds me of someone at a party managing to keep up by saying every slick slogan they've just overheard at the bar.
Who writes these sexist headlines? And how does the typically trivial, if not entirely vacuous content of this opinion piece support a headline announcing a “Requiem for White Men”? As if more tiresome name-calling directed at Donald Trump represents any thoughtful contribution to our national discourse. Pure tabloid click-bait. But maybe I’ll check out the movie anyway.
4
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but when I do, I’ll keep reminding myself of the feminist critique of it. Would that be OK?
1
So much white privilege, so little time left to use it. I'll do my best.
6
We don't need to lose Bullitt & Shane to add Calamity Jane & Annie Oakley.
We do need to lose the Fox Bizarro world where Robin Hood is the bad guy and Prince John is the hero.
“Trump has inverted all the old American ideals, soiling the image of our country in the world and reshaping it around his grievances and inadequacies.
He is a faux tough guy who lets other people do the fighting for him, a needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry.”
He does not deserve the respect of the office of the President. His election and his presidency are fraught with corruption and fraud. He has a record of sexual predation, racism, fraud, theft, perjury, and subversion of the Constitution. Trump is a clear and present danger to America, democracy, civilization, and the world. Should we respect such a man? There are 29 more murdered this morning. Trump must be removed and deserves nothing but contempt and revulsion for what he and complicit Republicans have done to America and to us all.
White male supremacy is behind the mass murders, behind racism, and sexism. Fear, ignorance, loss of jobs, and diminishing income, loss of male privilege is evoked by politicians who are parasites that thrive on fear and hatred. Without male supremacists Trump would never have “won”, despite Putin’s help.
1
So I'm wondering where we would slot Trump in the credits? Best Boy? Nah. Gaffer? Hmmn. Stunt Double? Unlikely. Catererer? There ya go!
1
> He is masculine yet chivalrous.
Did you actually see the movie?
Pitt's character murdered his own wife...
Never trust a man who doesn't drink and doesn't have a dog.
2
The “tradition of (...) toughness without belligerence, charm without smarminess, loyalty without question (...),” in a man man who’s “masculine yet chivalrous” still exists and it doesn’t have to be a caricature of a white guy. It’s neither reserved to the midcentury, nor is it a “vanishing macho type.” I know because I married one. He doesn’t carry a gun, go to church, hold racist beliefs, or consider women anything less than his equals. He votes Republican on some issues. He’s thoughtful and intelligent, and doesn’t feel threatened by his wife being a better kickboxer and chess player than he is. Incidentally, he’s no fan of Tarantino.
The “toughness without belligerence” attribute allows him to support men or women of any color to have a voice when that voice is constructive and unifying, and to just walk away when he faces unwarranted verbal assaults because he happens to be the successful white guy in the room.
I realize your column doesn’t vilify white men, nor do you in general. It just happened to be the last one I read after a slew of identity politics pieces elsewhere in the opinion section, while CNN droned on in the background about toxic white supremacy while dedicating minimal time to how we can help in the aftermath of the El Paso tragedy today.
I’m in bed sick, writing a NYT comment. My white male, mostly Republican husband is at the local Red Cross.
Everyone whines about "white male privilege" without realizing that white males built the modern world. If there is a privilege, I'd say they earned it through hard work and being exceptional at warfare. White males built the modern world. White males continue to improve it. Be careful what you wish for.
3
@Mike
"being exceptional at warfare"
there's a great thing ! for millennia improvements in technology have been focused on methods to maximize attrition of foes
now we have unmanned drones , satellites , submarines loaded with missiles , etc.
improve it ?
Only white men are nostalgic for this brand of paternalism and unquestioned privilege. The rest of us are cheering and pushing forward towards a more mentally healthy, socially and civically equal, society. You white guys will just have to struggle to find your place in it (I would suggest, without violence,) as the rest of us have struggled to keep our heads above water, and keep you from shoving us under, again.
2
@ChesBay - I'm a white progressive female and don't you DARE presume to speak for me. I am not cheering anything that is going on. The racism on the left towards white males is just as vile and destructive as the racism on the right towards non-whites.
And by the way, I have managed to build a decent life and to whatever extent it might be lacking in some areas right now, that's on me. It's not because I'm a female, it's not because white men are trying to keep me down (quite the opposite, white men have been fantastic mentors and supporters over the years).
Try taking responsibility for yourself instead of trying to blame others. You'll find in short order that what was holding you back wasn't the patriarchy at all but just your own belief in yourself and the energy you were expending holding onto the idea that you were a victim.
2
It's so nice to see Maureen Dowd has finally seen the light on Trump. Has her far right brother disowned her? Nice slicing and dicing!
1
Donald Trump is the poster child for the privileged white male. However, those entitled heady days enjoying deference are winding down. White men have to learn that they are just as human, no more and no less, as everyone else.
1
The irony is that Trump, for all his sleaze and more, is the peace candidate, while the party of our "more colorful mosaic" is on a McCarthyite binge of Russophobia, tossing out "traitor" and "act of war" the way it used to toss out "pig".
Don't listen to what they say. Watch what they do.
2
I don’t know what’s worse, you’re supporting the treasonous inaction on impeachment, or your conflating Tarantino’s beautiful new film with white man nostalgia. It is pieces like this that are slowly pushing me to the other side.
2
So, Maureen, you say Trump has fashioned a political ideology based on nostalgia, a nostalgia based on “hate” and not love. Apparently you did not spend much time in fly over country prior to the 2016 election.
The only hate that I see are from those who were shocked and surprised with HRC loosing the election and “hate” that Trump won and is now the President. They continue to project their “hate” as if Trump is the one who “hates” everybody but white males! Nonsense!
3
Nice photo of Brad. He's still lookin' good to me.
He looks even better in this trailer for "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" as he takes his shirt off. Brad still has what it takes to make it big in the movie business! But don't blink or you'll miss it. In this trailer at least, it's just a tease:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELeMaP8EPAA
There is no brush broad enough to paint Brad Pitt and Cadet Bone Spurs in the same stroke. White men come in lots of different flavors (at least the non-Republican ones do.)
I LOVE Brad Pitt (as a great guy and nice looking; not just as an actor). As for Trump, I'd have to agree with Rex Tillerson. BTW, I think Trump's hair is changing from orange to yellow. No, not just blond, I mean yellow. He should tell his hairdresser "You're fired!" Maybe he's trying to become Norwegian.
1
Three things:
1."A Latina congresswoman with a Bronx swagger?" I guess Maureen is taking a week off from defending Pelosi and attacking AOC and her colleagues in Congress.
2. Bennett says "the bar is much, much higher for white guys." Really? Then how did W and Trump get to be president? As Maureen might put it...whatever happened to the strong, silent type? Today's white male leaders are the wimpy, whining type.
3. Maureen, as someone who supposedly has her finger on the pulse of popular culture and movie nostalgia, you didn't know how to spell "Bullitt?"
1
Every time an article like this is written, another young white man, along with his parents, in a key swing state registers as a Republican.
6
Quentin Tarantino has made his career directing movies with strong female characters (including Jackie Brown, in which a white woman in the Elmore Leonard novel was replaced by Pam Grier). The attempt to peg him as "nostalgic for white males" is just...bizarre.
At Cannes, a reporter from this esteemed paper had the gall to ask Tarantino "why didn't you you give Margo Robbie more lines?" He declined to answer, responding, affably, with "I reject your hypothesis." This was reported in Salon (or was it Variety?) as "Tarantino explodes at female journalist". Thousands of people complained that the title was inaccurate, and Salon deleted the tweet and re-titled the article.
We're tired of identity politics. We're tired of outrage porn in the press instead of journalism. We're tired of the ease with which privileged journalists sneer about "white men" (Hi Sarah Jeong, hope you're well). We want to go to the movies to have fun and Quentin Tarantino delivers. The fact that Tarantino has become a target is just more proof that the nutty side of the left needs to be reined in.
For your part, Ms. Dowd, if you don't like Trump, stop writing articles called "Requiem for White Men". The body of your article is reasonable enough, though a bit thin, but most people will just read the headline inch closer to voting for Trump. Is that what you want?
3
Not exactly what this column is about, I know, but we've just had a devastating chain of gun-toting violence. In the past, after even one of these events, presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton would have visited the site, talked to the community, expressed their grief and commiseration. Yes, we're way too used to the all-talk-no-action in the past, but at least these formers had class and oratory. What do we get from this guy, this buffoonish, classless, all-about-me officeholder? A tweet - for God's sake!! - saying "bad, really bad." How inspirational. What leadership. What empathy. What insincerity. Heck of a job, Brownie.
At least Pitt helped to rebuild New Orleans.
In general there are more bad movies than good ones. The trouble is not with the "we" who need to roll the credits on Trump. It's with the fools who pay their money and don't know a bad movie when they see one. Over 60 million of them helped turn our movie into a horror flick starring an idiot. If you think the original was bad, imagine the sequel.
The irony is that this essay paints ALL white men with as broad a brush as any tract from the KKK or similar groups do for people of color. "Them and their kind" is an old trope, now come full circle, it seems. But then, payback's a mother dog, isn't it?
4
To those thinking that this column is denigrating white men, I (a white man) think you are missing the point. What the column is discussing is the supposition of privilege that many people carry as part of their personal viewpoint. And yes, a large proportion of people who have that supposition are white men. And only some of them are justified in holding that supposition by their actions and outlooks.
This is shown by the paragraph near the end where Ms. Dowd states:
“His [Trump’s] entitled and grabby ways illustrate why we need to leave that world behind. America is struggling to find a new identity with a more colorful mosaic, moving beyond our monochromatic past. More new heroines and heroes need to emerge, both onscreen and in life.”
This does not say that the new mosaic should not contain any white, and it does call for “new heroines and heroes," so men can still be there.
Anyone (over 34 years old and a natural born U.S. citizen) can run for president, but not all of us should. I, for one, do not have the vision, temperament, or the experience for that extremely difficult job. That could be said about a number of the people in the debates this week.
1
Wow. I wonder what the reaction would have been if Madeleine Aggeler had instead written an article about all the indistinguishable women of color running for President.
It is truly remarkable how willing we are to accept, even embrace, racism and sexism when its target is white men.
Understand this: If true equality is one's goal for a society, you will never, ever get it simply by swapping out the target of the bigotry and discrimination.
14
"An oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry." Yes, that is the kind of white man we need to see off the stage. For that matter, anyone, male or female, white or green, who embodies those awful qualities. There are plenty of good people out there who can become our next leaders. We've had enough of loud fat oafs.
1
Cliff, the character played by Brad Pitt, is a more complicated creation than he appears here. He may have killed his wife and gotten away with it. Or he may not. Robert Wagner, anyone? (It apparently did take place on a boat.) The movie too is more complicated than the quotes used suggest. But you are interesting in your compare/contrast of Cliff/Trump. However, an even more interesting comparison would between Manson and Trump: ugly creeps who are able to inspire in their cultish followers unquestioning loyalty that lead to violence.
1
50 years ago, my white friend took the orals requirement for his DFA. He performed so well, a new level was created "with distinction."
For 5 years, he tried to get a job teaching college.
Over and over, he was told he was the first choice, but the department had to a minority.
He supported his family by proofreading for a law firm.
After years, he finally was hired for a tenure track teaching position at a state university. His students nominated him for "Teacher of the Year." That same year, he lost his job. Hispanics all over the state were lobbying to get more hispanics hired as professors. Since he was the most junior faculty member, his job was given to a hispanic.
His family moved to a tiny 1 bedroom apartment. And there were more insufferable years.
Fortunately, he finally did land a job. The minority he replaced had moved on to a better school. Qualified minority professorial candidates can pretty much write their own ticket. And this college was so small and obscure, it was unable to offer much. But my friend remains positively thrilled to have landed a tenure position, and dearly loves his students, and teaching.
It is interesting how the "privileged white male" myth persists.
8
@delores: In the technical companies, males face a serious headwind if they work in supporting functions such as HR, training or documentation. Because there are so few female technical leaders, to balance the books, they advance women from those areas, occasionally offering them "double jump" advances. Discrimination is alive and well.
4
Perhaps what went around from the beginning of the 20th century has now come at its end and into the 21st to haunt and aggrieve that white male one, two or three generations later. Unfortunate, yes, difficult to accept without anger, yes, but imagine yourself African-American or Hispanic, for example during the 50-60’s, and you might just get a different perspective regarding who had and did not have access to privilege. Then one meekly took their seat at the back of the bus.
@Jack Triplett: I can empathize (or try), but that doesn't mean I'm going to willingly be consigned to the back of the bus. I'm perfectly happy to share my privilege with everyone, but I'm not willing to become underprivileged.
Remember who gains from all divisiveness - the elites, who happen to be mostly white males today, but might be more diverse tomorrow. But they will still gain from divisiveness. Perhaps the whole notion of eliteness is the problem.
3
How sad for the country that you and so many others didn't choose to publicly acknowledge Trump for the monster he is during the 2016 election, instead of doing his dirty work by trashing Hillary Rodham Clinton.
14
@Michaelira
Hillary trashed herself. Worst candidate ever for any party. Well, until the current crop of Dem candidates.
Using the Tarantino movie as a cinematic analogy for all things Trump is really a bit of a stretch. Just wait a month or two for the opening of Paolo Sorrentino's outrageous Berlusconi biopic, "Loro." As I watched and chortled over it I couldn't get America's Great White Dope out of my mind for even a nanosecond.
4
Beyond sickening, Maureen Dowd, America's 2nd mass shooting in 24 hours by a young male white supremacist in Texas and Ohio. First responders prevented further "American carnage". How much longer will Donald Trump's legacy of hate lead to innocent Americans' murders in public places? How much longer can we stand domestic terrorism in the name of "Requiem for White Men"? In the name of Trump?
6
"He is a faux tough guy who lets other people do the fighting for him, a needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry."
Great summary. He is also as shallow as they come. Without morals, values or principles. He is lazy, sloppy, incoherent and incompetent. He is a perfect role model for angry, selfish people who, like most Republicans in Congress, are cowards, hypocrites and willing to sacrifice the ideals of a nation for power.
As a white adult male I find the notion of an "aggrieved" white male ludicrous at best. It's having the luxury of spouting nonsense only because of being born white and not African American, Native American, Muslim, Asian or Latino. The vast majority of white males in America will never understand or experience the unfairness and pain of being discriminated against and being treated as inferior.
Most of the white men I have known and am friends with do not view the world through a color lens. We have lived our lives and raised our families believing honesty, decency, morality and integrity are what matter, not the color of someone's skin, race or religion.
That's the promise of America.
3
Can you address the problems with society and stop attacking people based on gender and racial background? Its racist and sexist regardless of what group you are attacking and it is disgraceful to have this kind of talk simply to counter Trumps nastiness. You dont have to sink to his level.
5
We need to become a nation that respects rule of law.
A race war, a class war, scapegoating white people is not the answer. Fact it: we are awash in guns, and we have judges who will not allow us to secure the borders.
Less and less respect for law means there will be more and more scenes like Saturday's in Texas, and now Ohio. Politicians listened, now it is time for judges and non-elected people to stop trying to rewrite the laws, and simply let them be enforced.
It is illegal to discriminate based on skin color. Period.
It is illegal to break the laws in entering, and remaining, in this country. It is illegal to employ... wage slaves.
If we can't begin to enforce our laws now... when?
Newspapers like this one have been stoking a race war. Who benefits, and who pays?
I pray this Sunday morning that there are no more requiems for anybody but older Americans who pass peacefully in their sleep. That's the America I want: not worshipping some hot white guys who make me horney starring in a Quentin Tarantino flick.
Don't be a part of this, Maureen.
No matter how much they pay you.
5
More cheers for the progressive circular firing squad. You go, girl.
Sorry, but all of the nonsensical blathering about white privilege, white men et al will backfire bigtime in the next elections.
If that is the objective, then you are well on your way to institutionalizing Trump and his apologists.
"Dumb" doesn't begin to describe this line of political strategy and commentary.
6
The myth of the macho White Guy, the guy who saves the town from the Indians and the farm from the prairie fire, saves the girl, almost always white, from the moody guy, saving towns, homes and people like John Wayne does in “The Searchers,” Clint Eastwood in “Dirty Harry” and Trump, surrounded by a cheering Base, in The White House.
The White Guy has been raised-up to protect the home and the land and to get the girl. To get the girl, one way or another, after his adventures, is a given.
Maureen Dowd ends her column saying: “More new heroines and heroes need to emerge, both onscreen and in life.”
Isn’t it impossible to see our modern day John Wayne types acting the heroic roles of a Martin Luther King, Jr., a Cesar Chavez or a Toni Morrison? This won’t happen.
Didn’t Mrs. Jorgensen in “The Searchers” get it right? “Someday this country's gonna be a fine, good place to be. Maybe it needs our bones in the ground before that time can come.”
2
"Pitt's character . .. reflects many of the values that America once proudly stood for: toughness without belligerence, charm without smarminess, loyalty without question. He is masculine yet chivalrous."
Except for the, um, killing his wife with a spear gun on a boat in the middle of the ocean, right?
1
I don’t really care what women or people of color choose to do or how they want to behave or how they want to live their life or what businesses they start or art they create or movies they make or clubs they join, etc, etc - just please extend the same courtesy to a white male such as me.
3
Because you are being denied that right?
3
In the year this movie is set, I was a 27-year old white guy, just getting out of the navy, and getting married. I liked the navy and I like being married but I certainly do not yearn for either a Trumpist or a Tarantino-esque turning back the clock to 1969. I would like to turn the clock back to President Obama's election in 2008 when I was naive enough to think we Americans had finally grown up.
8
Steve McQueen was Bullit. That is all.
When white male privilege is as entrenched -- to be more accurate, make that white heterosexual male privilege -- as it is in this country, we shouldn't be too shocked that we're experiencing (almost unbearable) pains as we transition from the old system to a newer, better system.
Yes, it hurts like crazy to watch this idiotic coward tout the pretense of being a brilliant being of courage. But there's no other way the transition could have finally gained some real traction. We had to see it magnified to lengths that daily seem unbelievable before we'd stop wishing it were different and finally up and get ourselves going.
We can't let it destroy us individually, no matter how awful it gets, because this change will continue. And now it's ready to go all the way. Let's all stay out in front, do whatever we need to maintain some emotional balance, and let's take every norm in our society over the line to where it should have always been.
1
I am a regular reader and true admirer. But you were really stretching on this column. Not your best.
3
Right on! I ask myself why it is taking so long to get rid of Trump, when the qualities this article applies to him have been obvious for years now. The answer seems to be a lot of gutless, mostly white, mostly men, in positions of responsibility in our country.
Come on, people!! Let's go, throw the bum out!
2
~"He is a faux tough guy who lets other people do the fighting for him, a needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry."~
One of your best descriptions of trump, ever.
1
Meanwhile another angry white guy and Trump fan just massacred more innocents in Texas. Enough with glorifying violence. Enough clinging to some past that never was anyway. The past was never really even the past anyway. Even Tarantino and Pitt have both have been revealed as abusers. It's becoming like a domestic abuse situation on a national scale. Like if these guys can't get what they want, they'll take us down with them. We really need to end their reign of terror.
1
Trump’s “sleepy joe” taunt is an exemplar of Trump’s punch-drunk cognitive malaise, a total lack of class, gumption, and marbles. America needs its cup of morning Joe!
2
"Trump" the movie is pure film noir.
This column ought to warn it contains a spoiler for all those who haven't yet seen the movie (only out a week, after all).
Oh look. Another article that ties itself to Trump. Just what we needed. Maybe tomorrow there will be an article about how to bake a cake. A red cake. A TRUMP CAKE?
Democrats have now defined so many “identity” groups and claimed them as their natural constituencies that they have only one group left to demonize for electoral gain. White Men.
By magnificent coincidence the hated Trump himself is a White Man from whom All Evil springs.
Obviously the sources of all our country’s problems and especially those of every Democratic constituent group.
Were it not for White Men, there would be Peace in the Valley and all would prosper. Except of course White Men, but they have it coming. A sort of reverse reparations for all their intrinsic faults and past transgressions.
If White Male Democrats have to suffer too, so be it.
3
Perhaps the " toxic white male " meme works for Democratic primaries, but not too sure how successful it will be in the general election.
1
“Who doesn’t miss the good old days when cars had fins and white men were the heroes of everything?” Everybody else, maybe? But I'm with you about cars with fins.
That is just great Maureen.
Maunder on about another film starring two of Hollywood's biggest white male stars, which ostensibly and nostalgically mourns the loss of white male cultural authority.
Meanwhile, another young white male nationalist just went on another killing spree in El Paso.
Are you wondering what he was wearing? Probably camouflage fatigues.
Use your bully pulpit to remove the Rabble-Rouser-in-Chief.
I am a white male, and I wasn't aware that I had a tenacious grip on power. Or that I treat women roughly or make slurs against Mexicans. But this is the age of identity politics, which used to be called "stereotyping", and that means I get lumped into the same group as Donald Trump, whom I consider a criminal and an idiot.
By the way, I have never seen a Tarantino movie, have no interest in doing so, and wonder why you attribute so much importance to this one.
4
Maureen's latest "too cute by half" column seeks cultural relevance by drawing false correlations between "Trump's America" (a contradiction in terms) & Quentin Tarantino's latest movie, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," as though "Pulp Fiction" "Jackie Brown," "The Hateful Eight," & "Django Unchained" had never been made. More or less accurately setting a movie in a particular historical or cultural milieu has nothing whatsoever to do with Trump's racism.
When I started practicing law in 1993, every single judge in front of whom I practiced, except one Black female county court-of-law judge, was male. All were White Men except one Black make, who pulled me into chambers to tell me I was "in the wrong profession for a woman." Another White male, through clenched teeth, told me that "ladies do not take (higher paying) felony criminal cases." That same man reported women complaining about judges known for sexually abusing women to those judges. He himself is now a judge. I had to be 10 times better than men to advance in my career: I was double board certified, the 2nd woman to ever Chair the Texas Criminal Law Exam Commission (which was all White men despite my efforts to get women appointed), & I did the 2nd ever DNA exoneration in Texas despite there being no law on the books at that time allowing post-conviction DNA testing. Even that wasn't enough in 2011 in that liberal bastion of Austin, Travis County, Texas.
So give me a break, Maureen.
...awash in nostalgia for white male privilege-that's hilarious. Already?
What a pat on the back you must have given yourself for this thin buzz word laden thesis conflating Trump with a film. You say nothing new about Trump and nothing particularly incisive about the film. The entire article is a non sequitur--it would have made for great for PhD funding I'm sure.
Trump’s brand of white supremacy is virulently anti-feminist. Like the alt-right that support him, these people live in an ‘alt-reality’...
1
I see you have learned well from your colleague David Brooks: plucking one isolated example from the cultural zeitgeist and then going all in on it representing some larger social truth.
2
In this presidential election cycle, we’re looking for the candidate that exhibits values that represent us the voters, the nation and advances our goals for peace and prosperity. That was the feeling with former President Obama and that’s the reason he got elected twice. That’s what we have in the Speaker of the House and that what we have among new members of Congress, including AOC or Katie Porter (D-CA). Not as hyphenated, or with stereotypical attributes (“Latina with a Bronx swagger”), but as able individuals with new ideas for the new century. But, “Bronx swagger”? Really?
We’re saddled with the most corrupt and inept person in the WH, because the country is controlled by a few people with the tons of money looted from tax payers that caused the Great Recession.
Was it just “White men” who caused the recession, or is there more to the story. The pitchforks that didn’t come out in 2008, are coming out now. So, to avert it, Steven Miller, for example, has launched a fascist racialization policy against Central American refugees. He, along with other geniuses, have launched this incredibly divisive campaign to obfuscate the truth. Yes, men have been in control for too long, and they’re not always the most intelligent, able or moral individuals. So, yes, it’s time for able women to come in and help us regain our moral center. But as voters, we’re looking for the best equipped American to help the nation navigate this complex world.
Another mainstream media piece about the worthlessness of a group of people based on race and gender.
Bigotry is so boring.
3
You may have noticed one thing about Tarantino’s new movie; the wealthy and (relatively) successful were still earth-bound. They had the same appliances as everyone else. Drove cars that were nice but not outrageously expensive. Houses were modest by today’s standards. Life was more about experience and the deployment of consumer goods to facilitate those experiences.
Now it seems like it’s the other way around; all goods are some kind of signifier or status symbol that seeks to categorize and divide us.
I am not too comfortable with " all white guys are this" or " all black guys are that", but I definitely feel a preference among Dem primary candidates for anyone who is not a white male. It's like a visceral-level boredom and just... sick of it. Listen to Sanders rant about health care, he's right, but he can't get past the demagogery. Listen to Warren - details, plans, nuance. She makes an effort. Even Mayor Pete feels entitled to show up with no specifics, just broad philosophical strokes. Beto screams entitlement. I am drawn to Castro, Booker, Harris - people who understand the need for justice from first hand experience. I have been surprised by my own attitudes towards the white guys running - I think Trump has created some negative feelings towards his own demographic.
3
I wonder how it be taken if a male pundit would take down a woman the way John Delaney gets steamrolled here for outer appearance. I remember there was a months long stampede shouting misogyny each Groundhog Day anew in this very paper's comment section over how Hillary was treated. And how come the same folk who berate Trump for disrespectful nicknaming are tripping all over themselves to join the chorus throwing the whackadoodle epithet all over Marianne Williamson? Also: the commenter community of this paper produced a top comment in 2016 dismissing the support at Sanders rallies as people pampered by parents or Social Security money with too much time on their hands whereas Hillary supporters had jobs and more-than-one-person households to attend to, so that's where they showed up, not in vanity rallies, implying: to cheaply show off their basically value-added-free existences. And a few months later the same community went lyrical over the women's marches turn-out. So why can't the Democrats even have a dawn of peace in their own house? How loud will you cry foul when the whackadoodles will stay home instead of supporting the corporate-sponsored candidate you are about to force down their throats? Marianne dedicated her entire life to serve the greater whole of humanity and gather insight, wisdom and skills helping her to craft ground-breaking policies to go about life and benefit us mutually. Why do we dismiss and scorn her for that and tell her she's like the con Don?
2
“The bar is much, much higher for white guys these days. You just have to be especially special.”
Senator Bernie Sanders is that especially special white guy.
If you have looked at NYT's detailed donor map,
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/02/us/politics/2020-dem
you would see Sanders ahead with 746,000 donors,
Warren/421,000, Harris/277,000, Biden/256,000
and Sanders ahead with money raised, 36 million,
Warren/25million, Harris/24 million, Biden/22million
A recent [7/19/19] Gallop poll showing Sanders, again, as being the most well liked candidate, got very little coverage... https://news.gallup.com/poll/260801/biden-sanders-best-images-among-democrats.aspx
That poll got very minimal coverage, as the Establishment media likes to pretend that Sanders doesn't exist, or certainly isn't a front runner.
I'd like to see a requiem for most Democrats seeing everything through the identity.
In 2016, it seemed Sanders was more in touch with his feminine side, than Hillary was in touch with her feminine side... perhaps because she had fought so long in the male world.
President Bernie Sanders
an especially special white guy, with courage, integrity, vision and bold ideas!
A Future To Believe In!
1
"He is a faux tough guy who lets other people do the fighting for him, a needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry."
Thanks for telling it how it is Maureen. Tarantino's two white guys are way better people than Trump with all their flaws and limitations. They are not trust fund cripples, but guys that had to figure out how to make their way in the world with varying degrees of success. They don't whine like the trust funder about how "unfair" everything is, how badly little lord fauntleroy has been treated. People without the silver spoon in their mouth are to me always infinitely more attractive than a whiny spoiled brat. White guys like Tarantino's need not fear some democratic backlash against us. We won't lose our place in the rainbow coalition. White men like Pitt and Dicaprio still possess charm and emotional strength. We are needed in America going forward.
But what makes white men anxious is to be represented by a reprehensible demagogue. He gives us all a bad name. He's simply horrible. He wakes up every day and starts running his mouth and viciously smearing and attacking Others. Like he's done with Elijah Cummings, calling him the brutal bully and hater that he actually is. Then gloating about his house being robbed, then coming on television because he sort of knows that he revealed too much, denying the "wise guy" gloating is him. Brad and Len would never do that.
1
OMG! Please do not EVER compare Donald Trump to Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio or any of the characters they play!
Can’t we just plain got to a movie and FORGET about Donald Trump for a couple hours? Please let us sit back, enjoy the popcorn, watch the screen, and block out the White House - even if temporarily! A movie is an escape of sorts. We do not need Donald Trump there, in any sense of the imagination!
Maureen, you insulted the actors and the movie, which was totally enjoyable.....
3
Trump is a straight-up racist and misogynist who barely bothers to dog whistle.
But on the left, where I find myself politically, there is a never-ending mill of articles, columns, books that gleefully point out how white men are finally getting theirs.
When accused of misandry or reverse racism, these clever, self-righteous writers lecture us on the need for historical correction which justifies their personal (and often fierce) prejudices. I certainly prefer the left's racism and sexism. But not by all that much.
1
Democrats on the stage in Detroit were that mosaic on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, the only African American republican in the House, Will Hurd, offering the only reasonable questioning of Mueller amidst tirades by his GOP colleagues, resigned.
One party is inclusive and the other is headed by a racist.
3
The paragraph “He is a faux tough guy...” is so succinctly spot on. I am pretty sure most readers of the NYTimes could read this paragraph out of context and automatically know whom it is referring to.
1
History shows that white male privilege was earned by the men who founded this country with noble Enlightenment sentiments and who fought for this country in various wars. (Of course, that history neglects the various contributions of women and people of color, but, at least there was a notion of privilege earned.)
The painful cries over the fading of white male privilege comes from those who did nothing to earn that privilege other than being born into the right family.
It is hard to read this column about the hopefully last gasp of this unearned white male privilege after the latest mass murder carried out by the new icon of white male privilege: the pasty-faced basement dweller who emerges with ear muffs and protective glasses with a military-style rifle to shoot unarmed innocent men, women, and children shopping at Walmart.
If white males and their adoring families are betting on either the lumbering old man with the bleached blonde combover and the Mussolini swagger or the pasty-faced basement dweller to champion unearned white male privilege, they will lose.
Let’s hope Trump and the pasty-faced basement dweller represent the last, desperate gasp of an old, outdated way of life.
4
One of your best columns, Maureen. You aptly described Trump in a nutshell; a true coward, uncountable for his actions, and a miserable entitled human being, who has others do his bidding. Let's hope we can change the narrative in 2020.
3
@expat. - I love that. Can't wait to get one and start stamping away!
What a perfect portrait you have drawn!
Or maybe it was just a great movie.
3
Ms. Dowd's piece makes me, a white male raised on the East Cost, feel like pushing back. If asked today what candidate I would vote for in the presidential race, I would say a dream ticket would be Warren/Sanders. But her implicit animosity under cover of a movie review (even a single movie - out of heaven knows how many- is taken as a sign oppression) makes me wonder if I am welcome, even as a progressive.
10
you are welcome as long as you reflect on your privilege and are a true ally!
1
@Dino - Exactly. And that is one of the reasons I am becoming increasingly convinced we're looking at another four years of Trump (which I'm not sure we can survive). This kind of article makes ME want to push back, and I'm female. I'm sick of the slamming of white males, and the hypocrisy of doing so under the guise of seeking equality and inclusion is both nauseating and infuriating.
Dems, beware. If you keep slamming our brothers, our fathers, our husbands, boyfriends, co-workers and friends, acting as if they no longer matter, you are going to have an even harder time winning the vote of white women than you did in 2016. And this time, it's not just going to be Republican women voting for Trump that are your problem. It's also going to be progressive women like myself, who simply choose to stay home rather than cast a vote for a party that has told them again and again and again that a significant portion of their friends and families are obsolete and have nothing to offer except as the punchline of tedious jokes by the "woke" crowd.
8
@xyz
That's a good strategy for going from a big tent party to pushing everyone else out of the tent.
2
Americans so often confuse reality with the dramatic license of storytelling. It's a shame really, that not only aren't they smarter than that, they don't even aspire to be. This time did exist, these people as well. Am I happy that we're trying to go back there? No. Should we not forget where we came from? Yes. White guys made lots of mistakes in leadership roles in this country, but without them we wouldn't have a country where we're free to villify them. It's the American way, build someone up so you can tear them down. Oh btw I am not leaving, so don't bother to tell me to.
Today's playing field is more level but there's still a very long way to go, and if the straight white male wants to play at all, we should learn to share better than we do.
3
Anaologizing 'Once Upon a Time...' to Trump world, is myopic at best, puerile at worst. The movie, which I saw three days ago, was brilliantly done especially the 'alternatve universe' ending. I rather agree more with the grown up take provided at slate.com, e.g.
"Tarantino’s lavishly detailed re-creation of period Los Angeles, from vintage radio ads to the wrapping on a box of crackers, is an act of love, for both the city and its products—which include both the movies and Tarantino himself. But the movie’s languorous pace also feels like an attempt to stave off the inevitable, to drag out every moment before the one it can’t stop from coming. Some of Tarantino’s critics have accused him of trying to turn back the clock, but the movie’s vision of the past is tainted by the knowledge of the future, like a photo of a happy marriage long since gone sour. "
2
HERE, HERE!!!
Our whole culture has been poisoned by the right-wing propaganda machine of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones --- namely, our government is the problem. Our country, our great experiment in democracy is not functioning well, due to this common belief. It has infused our people with a negativism that is very hard to fight. Why vote, when all the politicians are liars? Why try to effect positive change when it will be somehow defeated? We yearn for heroic leadership and then tear them down as flawed individuals. The USA has done some terrible things and has done some magnificent things. We have to strive and seek excellence, not perfection.
Blue wave 2020!
4
Excellent piece... but the fraction of young white men who are mentally ill also see this trend. Trump is inspiring them to reach for their guns and take matters into their own hands. Lets ALL vote this time and repudiate them and Trump so we can turn the page on his chapter in American history.
5
Let me take the opposite view to the horrors of discrimination, now against white men, the endangered species. Sometimes discrimination makes a group work harder, get stronger and achieve excellence. Look at the Jews for example (my tribe). We have been discriminated for the past few thousand years by every society we were a part of, often kicked out, and sometimes exterminated. Yet we have achieved prominence and found a way to be major force and great contributor to every place where we reside. Conversely, showing preference, in my view makes you weak and produces the opposite result.
1
Wishful thinking on the part of progressives that only comports with reality on the coasts. America is currently 70% white, and will remain majority white until 2050. Further, the multi-ethnic community is not to be found outside of the liberal cosmopolitan areas. Ignoring the concerns of the majority is bad enough, but to paint them as evil and pronounce that the inequalities for all other ethnicities (except Asian and Jewish of course) are due to white privilege is wrong and also a foolish political approach. The people who take this approach fail to see that they are like the New York socialite who, upon hearing that Reagan has won the election, stated that the election must have been fixed as she didn't know anyone who voted for Reagan. Interestingly, those living in multi-cultural areas face the most daunting and depressing of social situations: massive income inequality, housing unaffordability, and rampant homelessness. Rather than hold a requiem for white men (a racist statement), it would be better to seek freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear for all people, and stop acting like white men should not have those freedoms anymore.
5
@Dr B 2050? Not so far off? (I prolly won't be here, but I am glad for the women and minorities who will be.)
Asian is considered a race, while Jewish is an. ethnicity!not the same!
1
As I watched "Once Upon a Time..." I dreaded the scene I knew was coming-the murder of Sharon Tate. Taratino's violence doesn't usually bother me because it is so over the top but this was based on a real event. To my surprise, history was changed. Changed into what Americans have always thought white men did... protect and save. Some Americans have nostalgia for a time when white men protected and saved. Some Americans never experienced protection and have rightly called it out. However, the rabid belligerence of mob rule has forsaken common sense. Insisting that white men feel guilty. Not allowing diversity of thought. Embracing nationalism. Changing history and hating the founding fathers instead of realizing bygone leaders were complex humans living in a different culture doing the best they could. The mob is sliding on the slippery slope to total socialism and contributing to the national frenzy of hatred that will result in an America who will wake up with a hangover in a prison of their own making and marvel at the destruction they created. America may be struggling to be reborn but we'll probably abort her at the third trimester.
2
Let's say the unsayable here: angry white men with guns are a key demographic for the Republican Party.
The party has been cultivating them for years, feeding their fears with dog-whistle messaging and right wing media designed to keep them angry and afraid. Donald Trump gives them legitimacy - and the GOP is fully behind his messaging because they can now say it out loud.
The NRA and the gun lobby have been fully on board with this - because angry white men on a constant diet of fear and resentment are people who buy guns.
The internet is where these people can now go when the hate hit from the GOP doesn't get them high enough; the crack cocaine of hate flourishes in the dark corners of the net and behind the facades of social media billionaire's companies, whose concern isn't about making this a better world but on how they can use technology to make money from people's darkest nature.
The corporations and the rich pushing for more tax cuts and deregulation are fine with this, because it changes the subject away from how they are breaking the economy, killing jobs, and killing the planet while they shovel more and more money upwards.
The coming apocalypse, when most good jobs will be lost to robots and the climate crisis really hits, is going to make the current spate of mass shootings look like the good old days.
We've been holding the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse at bay - but they're ready to ride, egged on by the Fifth: Greed.
Sic transit gloria Mundi.
1
Brilliant! In a better world, we can appreciate white movie star heroes and also appreciate Speaker Pelosi's clapping at our oaf President (along with walking out of the White House in shades, as cool as can be). We can appreciate Megan Rapinoe leading by example in both sports and popular politics. Mohammed Ali will always be Heavyweight Champion of the World! Selena's music will live forever, and we will wonder how bright her star might have been, if only. Pete Buttigieg is apt to be more than Mayor of South Bend, speaking common sense; why care about his sexuality? In our food choices, will it be Sushi, Tacos, Bibimbap, or Pizza food tonight - all as American as Hamburgers and French Frys!
We are a great nation built on all kinds of people, from every part of our country: creative artists, deep thinkers, smart "rocket scientists", hard workers, and other folks from far and near! We are better off from the voices of many speaking up and helping protect our Democracy and the future of our country.
No person, no matter how high his office, is going to stop that train! It's already left the station!
2
The Democrats are pursuing a politics of division and micro-identity. They have abandoned their long -held belief that colour, gender or ethnicity shouldn’t matter in hiring decisions. Now, they are telling us that ethnicity, colour or gender are actually the deciding factors. They have delegitimised white straight males and all that they have contributed throughout history. White straight males must now happily don hair shirts and mumble mea culpas. It’s bad election strategy and hypocritical.
7
The inevitability of minority-majority demographics in America has woke the sleepy white privilege majority to the eventual prejudices of a minority existence. No one wants to be a minority at the mercy majority dissing. Recently, I dined at a renowned Vancouver Chinese restaurant, noticed that we were the only Caucasian customers, and although we were served, we left with the distinct feeling that we weren't welcomed. The prejudice wasn't overt but palatable. A block away was the new Vancouver Trump Tower, which gave a surreal vibe to our feeling of being a minority in a Canadian city. American cities have also gone through rapid demographic changes like Vancouver. I can remember my high school in Northern Virginia being 99.99% white, having one African American, and today, 40 years later, 250 different languages are spoken at that school. Rapid demographic change can understandably frighten unprepared majorities becoming minorities - the essenes of Trump's Make American Great Again mantra. I just hope genocide doesn't rear its ugly head in America again, as it did when White Europeans got the upper hand on Naive American Indians.
I'm sure this conversation is necessary and has a place, but I don't get the relevance to "Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood". It's just a Tarantino fable, billed as a Comedy-Drama, and I don't think Maureen Dowd got it at all.
One illustration of that is when MD completely misinterprets Cliff Booth's admonishment of Rick Dalton when he says "Don't cry in front of the Mexicans". Booth knew that the Mexican men would be disgusted by that and Dalton would lose face. It wasn't meant as a racial slur at all.
Frankly I find Madeleine Aggeler's comment about John Delaney/Michael Bennet and Hooters to be much worse and similar to what Misogynist Trump would say about one of the many women he's had a beef with.
There were a couple of heroines in that movie. One was the child actor - purportedly a young Jodie Foster - who comforted and put Rick Dalton in his place, helping him to win a role alongside her in an important movie. The other was Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate, passing lovingly through scenes throughout the movie, reminding men of a certain age - like me - of her intellect, beauty and kindness and what could have been if the world had not taken that wrong turn on August 8, 1969.
2
This is at least the second time I have seen the line “don’t cry in front of the Mexicans” called a slur. How is that so?
Maybe you can guess by my name, but I am not one of those who reflexively thinks every time the word “racism” is used that it is a mischaracterization. But if you are going to charge someone or something with bigotry, unless the context is patently obvious, you should explain how that person or thing is bigoted.
A white man telling another white man not to cry in front of Mexicans, especially at a time when men the world over were not supposed to show emotion regardless of race, is at worst a sign of grudging respect for Mexicans. Whether he sees Mexicans as others or even as enemies, Cliff is warning his friend Dalton not to show weakness in front of men he sees as strong and not prone to show weakness.
This may be wrong at many levels according to our modern sensibilities. It generalizes about Mexicans, assuming them all to be strong machos. It glorifies macho behavior. It equates crying and displays of emotions with weakness. But one thing it is not is a slur. A slur is by definition something negative. When you call a member of a group a slur, you associate that member and it’s group with a negative trait.
The film clearly establishes traditional male strength as a positive. You can critique it for that if you wish. But you can’t also claim a scene in the same film slurs Mexicans for implying they have a lot of this same trait.
2
I might use another analogy inherent in the the Tarantino movie. Charles Manson and his cult brought an end to an unbridled 60s counterculture with the Tate murders. Now, Trump has unleashed a hatred among his cultish followers that also has deadly consequences but on a larger, even more consequential scale. Witness the hate-related shootings from white nationalists he inspires with his rants about the “other.” And then there’s the possible death to democracy Trump’s presence in the Oval Office has threatened since day one. One can only hope Trump is brought to justice one day, just as Manson was.
2
Maureen,
You nailed it. The most perfect description of the real Donald Trump.
"He is a faux tough guy who lets other people do the fighting for him, a needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry"
2
The requiem seems to be for people murdered in El Paso, TX, this afternoon by a reported nationalist. One problem with the press is the facile cynicism that’s used to entertain not inform. Steven Miller has been given a pass, though his policies are pretty close to the awful “final solution”, of the not too distant past, which Miller should know well.
2
“He is a faux tough guy who lets other people do the fighting for him, a needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry.”
Good stuff! This is, arguably, the best ever description of Don Trump.
1
Deft analogy in my opinion. White men in the trading She speaks of were not predators , trump is . Today as we read of the violence perpetrated again by white men against the minorities trump encourages them to hate, its really hard not see the problem that trump represents.
1
Slurs against Mexicans? I was intrigued - how had Tarantino done so? Well, with the innocuous line "Don't laugh in front of the Mexicans". It is columns like this that make people roll their eyes at the far left. When we stop being able to laugh we paradoxically lose the ability to be serious people.
A lot of people don’t see why the question is racist. It may not seem so until you think about microaggressions. I consider myself pretty empathetic but had never heard of that concept until I took a required course in grad school on multiculturalism. If you belong to the majority culture, microaggressions are very hard for you to detect. They are small actions that remind the person in the minority that they are an ‘other.’ They cause pain by reminding the ‘other’ that they somehow don’t fit in and are treated differently because of their appearance. ‘Don’t cry in front of all these people’ would not be racist, for example. Think of how a black man feels walking into 7-11. Can you picture the cautious glances around him? Imagine how he feels. Those glances are microaggressions and they are painful for that man.
I don't see why this country needs to forge on ahead at the expense of white men.
I'm nostalgic for what was, too. You know, when men had a defined purpose and weren't being told to "step aside" or "give up your place to a person of color."
Is there plenty of room at the table or not? Because if your answer is to REPLACE white men -- and the values of courage, honor, and sacrifice with ME, MY FEELINGS, MY SKIN COLOR...(which is what seems to be happening) then I, too, want to return to the past because this racist, anti-white male culture is NOT A SAFE SPACE.
Can't picture Ilhan Omar carrying me out of a burning building, sorry.
5
In my view, many decent white people are still among us: Some of them are our friends; others are members of our family!
Tarantino knew about Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment of women and did nothing about it . I’ll never go to any of his films again
For a certain percentage of the population, Trump is the white man's fantasy hero. Hence giving him your Purple Heart, or yelling "lock her up", or attacking aged protestors, etc. for example. Trump supposedly is standing up for "them". He knows their fears of women being in power, minorities taking their jobs, and the Trump view that Mr. Obama was diminishing the status of the U. S. These beliefs will not disappear soon. Trump and his media promote, encourage, and enable the lies. Good luck changing their view of their bone spurs, cheating husband, lying "hero".
1
This is the best description in print of Trump I have read. Maureen, you nailed it.
"He is a faux tough guy who lets other people do the fighting for him, a needy brat who never accepts responsibility for his actions, an oaf with no trace of courage, class or chivalry."
1
´But first we need the credits to roll on Trump.' Great finish!
1
Trump, borne out of the media, and now all the media can see. (See, “When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything’s a nail.”)
I think it’s just a movie.
Been white my whole life and really don't care if other white people feel cheated out of some imagined "promise" that they would always prosper because they "worked hard". A lot of immigrants also have worked hard and have rarely been sufficiently rewarded or recognized for their labor. Now the children of many of these immigrants are scientists, physicians and lawyers. Tens of thousands of young white people have died from drug overdose and the Trump administration has done next to nothing compared to the effort focused on "illegals". Does Trump fiddle while Main Street burns? Instead of railing against illegals why don't these MAGA supporters channel their efforts into their kids achieving in scholastic or skilled professional expertise?
Nowhere in the Constitution of the United States does it say "White kids can skate along until they softly stumble into a meaningful job cuz' they are White". The "Right to pursuit of happiness" is not the same as the guarantee to happiness.
2
The left wing obsession with race and gender is becoming completely sickening. I will happily vote for Trump in 2020 even though I think he is vile and sickening. Its time to flush identity politics from the American scene. Talk about something else. Maybe something substantial.
6
@Dave - To be fair, Trump is obsessed with identity politics as well - it's just that with him it takes the form of pro-white, anti-immigrant politics instead of (on the left) pro-immigrant, anti-white politics.
I would never vote for Trump, the man is an abomination not just as President but as a person, but I do agree that the obsession with identity politics have to go.
1
This is amusing, as if we were complaining in a coffee shop about city council being all older white men. But the more militant "progressives" are not amusing: they are literal minded, dogmatic, fanatical and intolerant. They take evident pleasure in attacking people for the color of their skin and their gender. They are secular zealots and inquisitors. As well as, or more so than critiquing racism and sexism, they "racialize" and "genderize [!] anyone who shares a "race" and a "gender" with actual racists and sexists, and then anyone who even hints at the slightest dissent from their dogmatism and bullying they immediately accuse of hate crimes or incipient hate crimes. Truly a delightful bunch of people who will lead us all into the promised land!
5
Ms. Dowd, did we see the same movie? I found it a relief to not think about Trump- world for two and a half hours. The director named it "Once Upon Time ... in Hollywood" for a reason. I just sat back and enjoyed a fairy tale movie in which history was turned upside down, innocent people were alive at the end and the actors and scenery did not disappoint. It was entertainment less violent and twisted than your average "Criminal Minds." Then l get home and find out there's been another massacre of brown people in a shopping mall in El Paso. Trump-world returned soon enough.
704
@Michele Back in the 1960s, people coming of age largely chose license over liberation (which requires far more responsibility, homework, and delayed gratification). We are now bearing the burden of this sad choice.
13
@Carl Ian Schwartz
Sorry to disagree. I was born in 1950 and thus came of age in the 1960s. Yes, we had fun. But, we also initiated the Free Speech Movement; revived the anti-war movement; saw the emergence of Black Power; worked across racial lines to engage with civil rights; re-invigorated and brought feminism up-to-date; actively engaged in politics (Chicago; Vietnam, etc); earned PhDs in the humanities, the sciences, and social sciences. In my opinion, liberation was at the forefront of those coming of age in the 1960s.
99
@Carl Ian Schwartz I guess you weren't around in the sixties.The civil rights movement,the anti-war movement,the equal rights for women movement and recognizing the deplorable treatment of Native Americans were hardly examples of choosing
"license over liberation".Tarantino's movie is a movie....fiction!The vacuousness of Sharon Tate(Hollywood) and the depravity of the Manson group(hippies) are meant to portray the extremes of that time,certainly not the core values.
59
I am a white man of 68 years who bought Alan Ladd of Shane and Gary Cooper of High Noon even though certain parts did not personally fit. I welcome Maureen Dowd’s piece for what it assumes — the death of that White Man.
There may come a distant time when some measure of gratitude can be expressed for the gifts of that Man, along with the now prominent multiple, sometimes grevious, downsides but that time is not now. My hope is for a more gentle deconstruction rather than destruction along the extended timeframe already underway. Such a process would mitigate the resistance so evidently present.
It is time to stop the denial that the reality of this demise is happening and begin or continue evolving our individual relationships to this truth.
To my fellow white males I offer acknowledgment of the disorientation and understated anxiety of this state of affairs; what are we now and how can we be? But we no longer Have To Know and be the bedrock, to hold strong the pressing necessity of pragmatic reality, and keep the wolf from the door. If we can make peace internally there are measures of freedom and opportunity available for us.
Our grandsons will know.
Cool Hand Luke is clearly portrayed in the movie as an inveterate loser, who can't stay out of jail. Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry is portrayed as voyeur--a sexually dysfunctional brute. Bullit's Steve McQueen is distant, emotionally brutalized by his job and unable to negotiate his way through the politics demanded by his superiors.
All three actors are devastatingly handsome, and ridiculously charming. DiCaprio and Pitts's characters aren't much different in that their good looks and outward charm allow them a certain level of success, but aren't enough to make them happy.
Don't blame Tarantino for the venn-diagramming of American male privilege with all of its contradictions, and ultimate soul-suicide. As usual, Dowd can't see much beyond the fashion brands, style and sheer physical sexiness of her subjects or the anodyne sexism and racism that were common in 1969. Like the rest of us Americans, she's a prisoner of our own unique and hegemonic cultural delusions. Tarantino, at least has the art in him to invite us to observe them.
300
@John C
Thanks. Apart from Rick Blaine, Dowd's American archetypes are a disappointing bunch.
20
It's just another Tarantino movie. Maybe if we stopped confusing entertainment with reality we wouldn't elect entertainers and carnival barkers to be President of the United States.
5
Oh Maureen. How could you include Dirty Harry in the same list as Paul Newman’s Cool Hand Luke? D Harry was the ultimate prologue manifesting the Reagan Revolution and now the Trumpalitation. Clint has been trying to disown him ever since. Also, it looks to me like there’s just as many women gesticulating at those Trump get togethers.
200
@Andy--Wasn't Clint the shaky old coot who stood on a stage a few years ago, and talked to a chair? :-D
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@ChesBay
"Clint has been trying to disown him (Dirty Harry) ever since".
What?
I agree with ChesBay...Clint is one of those privileged white guys that thought Obama was a Nigerian.
The light is on but no one is at home.
45
Does our author really think American society was created by men alone?
3
Surely you jest.
The demise of white male dominance/privilege has been greatly exaggerated.
There is a whole world out there for the rest of us where life might as well be in the 50s, let's not get too ahead of ourselves.
Just look at the "Team" or "Leadership" web page of any random American company and you'll get the picture.
587
@Edmond: If all else was equal, still 99% of "everyone else" would still be at the bottom of the heap. Why? Because 99% of everybody is at the bottom of the heap. It's a pyramid, with a narrow top and a wide bottom.
The leadership page might eventually be diverse, but most people won't be on it. Maybe we should question the rarefied position of leaders as well as their gender and skin color. If you accept the paradigm of top-down leadership and class privilege, how much does the gender and color of the privileged class matter to everyone else?
21
@mlbex
The lack of diversity on those pages reflects the power dynamics in the rest of society.
Those pages may reflect the reality at the rarefied top but they also reflect reality at all levels below until you get to the very bottom.
If you look at the middle management ranks you'll find similar homogeneity and that pattern goes all the way down to who gets hired to begin with.
Of course I only gave one example, there is not enough room in the comment section to address all the ways in which white male power remains intact :)
31
@Edmond: Not where I spent my career. The middle management was quite diverse. The bulk of first-level managers were women, and some were non-white.
6
“There must be some kind of way outta here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion...
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But, uh, but you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us stop talkin' falsely now
The hour's getting late...
Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl”
Bob Dylan
Flummoxed, paralyzed, praying for a painless way forward, the slaughter of the week, El Paso, jars. Diamond clear now— enough naval gazing. Time to get on with the hard work of forging a sane way forward.
1
@C Green
The new normal, multiple slaughters a week? I am beyond terrified pondering what the conversations of the questionably elected and appointed occupants of the White House might be.
Seems like the starting premise of this piece is wrong, no? The top 2 and 5th candidates are white guys. The reason a Bennett can’t break out is that he is not more “special” than those 3 or Warren and Harris. It’s that simple.
1
This is going to sound terrible, but If I am doing a business deal and want a minimum of drama and the best chance the deal will work, I need nothing but white guys in on it. Why this is I do not know for sure. Anytime you have less than all white guys at the table, the chance of a blown deal climbs exponentially. Sorry, it's been hundreds of deals over 30 years involving millions of dollars and this sad reality has never changed.
1
But let me guess - you’re not racist or sexist or anything! You’re just a solid, plain speaking guy who knows a thing or two about deals and drama. So glad you’re here to steady the tiller, Mike.
The El Paso massacre appears like, or maybe absolutely is, what has become an almost typical reaction to white men's loss of privilege. It seems in all its horror like evidence of just how deeply entrenched that privilege has always been.
3
@DMS The American gov't, via its military, w the ever-blessing of the NYT, uses violence always as the remedy. You really think there's no connection?
Umm, Ms. Dowd, I hope "white men" will never go out of fashion. I mean, golly, what we do without them? I don't have a problem with Brad Pitt or Leonardo Di Caprio or Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Steve McQueen or Clint Eastwood, for that matter. Stars all in iconic films that are as much about America as they are about..."white men?"
The problem isn't "white men." It's the one in the White House that's the cause of so much angst. His presidency is the result of white America fearful of a vanished past in which the illusion of their racial superiority and grandeur were no longer the show-stopping, fear-inducing, reverence-demanding dynamics they formerly were. In other words, the world had passed them by. And they resented it. They still do.
If there's to be a "requiem for white men," I hope that the president leads the long and undistinguished list that is closely followed by Mick Mulvaney; Michael Pence; Mitch McConnell; Charles Grassley and any number of photo-op hangers-on who crowd around the Majority Leader when he gives his latest press briefing that the Senate is not in session.
Some "white men" for whom the bell tolled are not missed today unless it's by the Republican Party, e.g., Ronald "monkeys from Africa"/"welfare queens" Reagan. The party is full of them, boringly unimpressive.
Sorry, Ms. Dowd, "white men" will never die out. Good people don't want that; it's unworthy of all of us.
Oh; and the correct spelling of the McQueen film is "Bullitt." Just saying.
7
"More new heroines and heroes need to emerge, both onscreen and in life."
As a middle-aged white man who takes care of his family, pays his taxes, obeys the law, respects women, and makes an honest effort to simply be a good person, I take this as an insult. Just yesterday my daughter told me I was her hero.
Men and women like me are legion. We just don't make the news. It would be impossible for guys like Tarantino to define our lives.
9
Calling for ‘more heroes’ doesn’t mean that a white man cannot be heroic. The point is that for millennia we have been presented exclusively with white male heroes, and that’s, well, stupid. Heroes - and villains, for that matter - come in many guises. To be insulted is to assume this is about you. It’s not. It’s about all the other people who are not white men having an equal chance alongside those who are.
As a white man on the very bottom of society, perhaps the underclass, I have a different perspective. Diversity is all fine and good, but don’t be surprised when whites despite being a minority demographic, all of this lamenting the evil white male does not go away. It might even get worse. Diversity appears to me to have taken on a cult like utopian aspect in no way different from whiteness.
9
Let “the credits roll” indeed. Couldn’t have said it better.
and that is exactly why those women and especially a black women and those black men will not win. Most of them are also in signle digits. It is the media who is promoting them.
There is a strong back lash among the white men which is one of the reasons Hillary lost. Remember she didn't actually lose. She lost to the electoral college.
Those white men will still control the electoral college and another white man will win.
So if the Democrats want to win and do something about minority people and women, they need to pick a white man hopefully for the last time.
1
The people who will be running this country 'economically' in the future will not be white men.
It will be white and Asian-American men.
I've seen this trend personally.
Or am I missing something here?
1
Requiem for white men: requiem for the Republican Party.
A requiem is premature. They are presently in their death throes.
A requiem is also inappropriate. Only the endangered white privileged male would honor the death of their privilege and their political party. Instead of a requiem, what is coming is a reckoning. And they fear it.
Trump and his MAGAts are fighting to preserve white male privilege, prevent the death of the party that has institutionalized that privilege and stave off a reckoning. The MAGAts understand what's at stake. That's why they will never abandon Trump.
We see them as white supremacists, they see themselves as a threatened species. They seeTrump as their legitimator and savior.
But their end is coming. Their savior is a phony opportunist. America's fabric grows ever more diverse and colorful, meanwhile the Republican Party is bleached and threadbare. Soon they and their party will be irrelevant.
They deserve ignominy, not honor. No mourning, no mass. Just good riddance.
3
To escape the endless news cycle of "can-you-believe-what-he-tweeted-today" I bought a movie ticket. For two hours Tarantino's movie, filled with one-liners and gratuitous violence, gave me a respite from all things Trump.
I love you Maureen, but I think you overthought this piece.
3
If there's a higher bar for white guys the likes of Michael Bennet, it's because Elizabeth Warren is so much smarter and better informed than he is, and Tulsi Gabbard (for example) is far more likely to tell the truth.
That, in fact, Mr. Bennet is neither particularly smart nor particularly appealing, to use Ms. Dowd's descriptions, compared to the women in the race. What he has going for him is that he's white, establishment and unthreatening. Which is no longer enough.
The real complaint of this columnist is that the Democratic party base has left her behind.
1
Trump's surreal, pathological, self aggrandizing pronouncements, about his various " stellar " qualities, are indicative of T.S. Eliot's "hollow man". ..."Shape without form", " Gesture without motion". His inner core is a dark pit without substance. Trump views the world through a solipsistc lens, devoid of empathy, where he is the only reality.
5
People assimilate if given the opportunity. And it is symbiotic. In the U.S., we not only celebrate Thanksgiving but also Cinco de Mayo. We enjoy food from everywhere from India to Jamaica. Sorry if white men feel threatened, but to judge each other based on how long our ancestors spent in the sun is ridiculous.
In 1969 I went to work or the largest personal finance company in the US. Before bank credit cards, personal finance companies is where people went for cash loans. The company had a written policy which prohibited hiring women for the managerial program. It had just dropped the policy for not hiring blacks. Women did all the clerical work and the job title was Office Girl. A woman could work for the company thirty years and she'd still be a "girl".
People writing here about the "radial left" are still upset that we no longer refer to women as "girls" and black people as "boys".
3
We could never have predicted that our president’s behavior would be more bizarre, threatening and creepy than a Tarantino film. But we’re living in the president’s fever dream, which is set somewhere between Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.
The chin-jutting and the swagger call to mind brutal thugs of the past. He glows when an audience picks up a hateful racist chant. Add the coiffed hair, and you might call him Mousse-olini.
The world he lives in has been fading away for a long time. We’re not in the days of Willie Horton any longer. For years we’ve fought for retirement security, women’s rights, racial equality, affordable health care and LGBTQ rights. Yelling racial slurs and disrespecting women might whip up a crowd of his supporters crammed in an arena, but it doesn’t resonate with the rest of the county.
A solid mainstream Democrat who remembers where we’ve been and has a vision for the future will reach the majority of Americans who are tired of this awful man and his mean-spirited campaign against fairness and common decency.
Rather than wait for the closing credits, I’d rather reach for the remote and hit EJECT.
6
@gemli, This is the second time this month that I've found you in the 600's with only single digit recommends (the first time they didn't post my reply, so we'll see what happens this time). In a back and forth, about your apparent absence, with a couple of posters earlier this week, one suggested that you choose a recognizable icon so that people can track you down. Having never been "verified", I know the frustration of waiting 18-24 hours for your well thought out commentary to appear and I hope it doesn't lead you to lose heart in the comment section. Signed, a fan.
2
America is incapable of rising above racism and sexism. The best it can do is two wrongs make a right.
2
I haven't seen the movie yet, but have wanted to since the first trailer. I'm a white boomer, nearing my 7th decade, consider myself not just liberal, but a flaming liberal, including my views on race and gender. So, after this column and several others mentioned therein, I ask myself why the movie and its "heroes," particularly Brad Pitt, have such an oversized pull on me? I mean, would Jamie Foxx and Will Smith have the same pull, let alone two women? Close, but probably not? I'll get back to you when I've figured it out. All I can say is there is not a Democrat AMERICAN who I wouldn't vote for.
Ok Maureen, you wrote this fluff. Now it is time to interview Nancy Pelosi again and ask her why she gifted Trump a clean debt ceiling with no conditions (like the GOP would demand) and astonishingly overwhelming Democratic support. More democrats voted yes for it than republicans. I have always defended her, but no more.
3
So maybe what does not feel like progress is-that we have reached a point where all the rules are gone and it is now imperative to assess each individual by their words and deeds without regard to their race, gender, age, sexual persuasion, spousal connection, or any irrelevant factor other than their qualifications and experience. That includes not holding a white man's race against him, because that is just plain stupid and just as racist as discounting a non-white man. If we could read and consider each candidate's resume and platform, without any identifying data or photo, we could then choose the person we feel is best for the job without all the distractions and biases. Had we done that in 2016 the choice would have been crystal clear.
6
OK, let's talk nostalgia. In 1960, Americans had had 12 years of strong wage and salary growth, making everything from cars to college tuition more affordable. Both health benefits and retirement plans became commonplace in union-negotiated contracts. Many jobs were increasingly permanent. Entire communities were built around GM in places like Janesville, Wisconsin and Flint, Michigan. Steady work, steady pay, putting down roots. And HOME ? How about owning your own between 1946 and 2006 -- prices never fell more than (8%) even in recessions. The best investment most Americans ever made.
Forget the cosmetics and the macho, Maureen. Please, consider the REALITY.
4
There are more important things to say about Donald Trump, but to them we can add this glaring fact:
He is supremely "uncool."
Obama is "cool," Miles Davis-level "cool"
Brad Pitt is "cool," and so are Bogart, Newman, McQueen and Eastwood.
James Dean, Muhammad Ali, Glenn Frey, Jim Brown, Joe Namath, John Coltrane . . . feel free to add to the list of the "cool."
Trump gets nowhere near that list.
We have had "uncool" presidents (ever see the pictures of Nixon on the beach with shiny black shoes?), but we've never been further from "cool" than we are now.
Unfortunately, being supremely "uncool" is the least of Trump's faults . . . .
2
White men will be fine. They’re just going to have to prove they’re the best candidate for any position versus having the historical privilege of being assumed to be the best candidate.
1
Women are inclined to excuse themselves where they are most needed as white men went unchallenged for centuries for they conjured up a belief that this was men's business. In a delightful passage by Allan Poe, he made commented on the dominance of enlightenment theorists and America was and remains strongly influenced by that doctrine.
“ than these individuals a more intolerant — a more intolerable set of bigots and tyrants never existed on the face of the earth. Their creed, their text and their sermon were, alike, the one word ‘fact’ — but, for the most part, even of this one word, they knew not even the meaning. On those who ventured to disturb their facts with the view of putting them in order and to use, the disciples of Hog had no mercy whatever. All attempts at generalization were met at once by the words ‘theoretical,’ ‘theory,’ ‘theorist’ — all thought, to be brief, was very properly resented as a personal affront to themselves. Cultivating the natural sciences to the exclusion of Metaphysics, the Mathematics, and Logic, many of these Bacon- engendered philosophers — one-idead, one-sided and lame of a leg — were more wretchedly helpless — more miserably ignorant, in view of all the comprehensible objects of knowledge, than the veriest unlettered hind who proves that he knows something at least, in admitting that he knows absolutely nothing” Allan Poe
Maureen, some Americans once did recognize men behaving badly but now want to be equal to the same fools.
Dowd would never make it as a movie reviewer. Tarantino did not fashion this nostalgic world out of love.
"Pitt’s character is a former war hero in the great midcentury tradition of American cinema. He reflects many of the values that America once proudly stood for: toughness without belligerence, charm without smarminess, loyalty without question. He is masculine yet chivalrous." Oh except for that fact that he killed his wife. Tough to summon any nostalgia for that American value.
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All persons are welcome in the Republican Party, including white males, and nobody will be stigmatized or lionized because of their skin color, sex, or any other superficial human trait. Republicans realize that one’s long list of “intersectionalities” (race, sex, religion, etc...), when integrated, simply equals a complete individual identity. That centers Republicans on classical liberalism and its focus on individual moral agency, choices, and consequences. Respect for each individual is what you can get from Republicans. Democrats celebrate tribal identity and agitate intertribal hostility. Is that really what you want?
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The Trump presidency is more gruesome than any Tarantino film.
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A creative piece in my opinion. The Trump presidency seems to be the last gasp of nasty male dominance that includes racism, sexism, and xenophobia. I think white males who want to act like decent humans will have a place in the new America. That is the difference. Decent humans will always have a place. Unfortunately, based on the Trump-inspired killing spree in El Paso yesterday by a racist, the nasty white male is not going peacefully.
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@Anthony
"The Trump presidency seems to be the last gasp of nasty male dominance that includes racism, sexism, and xenophobia." As Abe Simpson said when asked if he was sitting on a pumpkin pie in the back seat of the family car, "I sure hope so."
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In an regrettable act of political correctness, America chose to dump its mentally ill onto our nation’s streets rather than house them where many sadly belong. Deficating homeless existed even before Trump gave them their instructions to do so.
As horrific as the shootings are, I fear a totalitarian regime suppressing a defenseless populace more than lone crazies with a gun. A more serious conversation about mental illness makes every bit as much sense as reflexive calls for gun grabbing.
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@Dutybound and it's worth remember that the closing of mental hospital started in a grand scale in my California--under Governor Ronald Reagan. Once rich people see it as their duty to pay taxes, we'll have a more just society instead of one that squeezes every last penny from the earth.
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Maureen, you've covered the qualities (or lack thereof) of our esteemed leader very well.
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I love Ms Dowd’s columns and her scathing satire, but making a rare trip to the movie theater last night I left politics behind. It was the music, the vintage cars, the nostalgia of cheesy TV clips, and sheer delight of Brad Pitt on the roof, in the car, (walking across the floor as a matter of fact) that I enjoyed as I drank my overpriced soft drink and munched smuggled candy. Even someone immersed daily in political matters can take a night off.
Oh, and - spoiler alert! - there’s even a weird thrill seeing Tate escape the horrible fate that became part of the backdrop of our generation.
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Oh please. What a column.
Dowd's evaluation of the movie by Tarantino is way beyond the pale. She also takes cheap shots while attempting to make connections.
By using the two main characters and story line of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in order to "analyze" Trump and white male fear of, and hatred for, the non white immigrant is absurd.
All she had to do was wait a few hours more before writing this column and she would have found a real analogy to Trump, fear and hatred for the non white immigrant, and the impact Trump's MAGA has had on many white men and white women in America.
That tragic event and story unfolded once again today in El Paso. Once Upon a Time in MAGA America has nothing to do with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
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News flash - Maureen, you are white. Self hatred and faux guilt from gilded cultural and media elites will not solve the problems ripping our country apart. Many of the problems are exacerbated by an out of control media constantly stoking the bonfire of stereotypes, identity politics, bigotry and hatred in order to remain profitable and "relevant". Your hatred of Trump is clouding your normally good judgment. A fatuous TV President's only job is to distract the hoi polloi from the REAL RULING CLASS of the country.
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Ms. Dowd, I adore you and this essay.
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When I asked a friend who once worked for Barack Obama why a smart and appealing Obama protégé, Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, was having a hard time breaking through, she replied: “The bar is much, much higher for white guys these days. You just have to be especially special.”
I do not know if the irony here is intended, but Michael Bennet's mentor would have liked it.
I am a white man. While not on the Mayflower, my family (both sides) have been in America for over 200 years. I have been both employee, and employer. When it was the latter, I hired a) people of color, b) women and c) gays, lesbians and everything up and down the sexual scale, save for transvestites----at least I don't think.
Point being, as long as you are nice to me, I am nice right back. In fact, I am nice first, foremost and always. I presume goodness and decency in people, until or unless shown otherwise. Even more, I would dare say that most of my generation---most of American males, period---behaved as I did.
Which is to say, there is not a 'glass ceiling' for anybody---anybody----in America, and hasn't been for decades. So, to hear women, people of color, or those of non-traditional lifestyles complain that they haven't been accepted or that they (I love this fib that strangely passes as 'truth') have to work 10 times harder than the White Man in order to succeed is, again, pure fantasy.
Which brings us to the current fashion of White-Man-Hating. And it is hate. A hate so repugnant, racist and mean-spirited that if Whites were to exhibit that same hate in reverse, we would---and are, as the Left has clearly illustrated for several years now, growing exponentially and in intensity---be crucified at the economic and social stake. Personae non grata..forever.
We are being wiped from history, and even the future. Just how did you think we'd take this?
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Agree! Cue the credit roll, please!!
My only quibble in this oped: " . . . casting women back into a crimped era of fewer reproductive rights." More like: NO reproductive rights.
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Reading about american values in this article and the mass shooting in another. Looks like it doesnt stick anymore.
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There’s a large, loud, stinging fly in the ointment, Ms. Dowd: more than half of the women who cast ballots for the presidency in 2016 voted for ... Donald Trump. I’d hardly call that ‘sisters doing it for themselves.’ More like doing it to themselves.
There may be a new wave crashing in; but a majority of white America, male and female, is running from it in fear, mistaking a vulgar loudmouthed con artist for high ground; consumed by their seething anger, resentment, and unjustified rage — spoiled children who believe somebody else is going to take what’s theirs, somebody else will get a free ride at their expense.
Meanwhile, Trump and his Republican Party are robbing them blind. Many don’t even notice; others don’t care; it’s a price they’re willing to pay to vent their spleen.
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Based on the history of shooting massacres in this country and the 3 in the last week. Speaking as a white guy; what is wrong with white guys in this country that WE are the shooters; WE are this massive problem.
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Other than Trump the only other white guy in the world that stands out (for all the wrong reasons like Don T.) is Vladimir Putin.
He should join the Democratic field. I would love to see him and Bernie go at.
RE: "White male privilege is out of fashion these days. Yet we are awash in nostalgia for it."
I think it's out of fashion. Rightly so. Except perhaps with white women. Weren't they the ones who put Trump over the top and into the ahem, White House.
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Maybe...But Tarantino’s real nostalgia is for cinema, movies. This film is an homage to film, filmmakers and a chronicle, done with style and humor, honoring a tradition that was in transition, as were most things in 1969. The film is also about friendship. What was vanishing were movie heroes, westerns and the American mythology embodied in the genre. And Tarantino plays a coy cinematic joke by casting certifiable movie stars in a movie about fading cinematic heroes. The movie acknowledges the rise of the anti-hero, a bu product of the 60s.
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Your comment about Michael Bennet is especially apt.
While there were several stars on stage (Julian Castro and Tulsi Gabbard notably), if you read a transcript of the debate you would think, "Well, this guy Bennet walked away with it; he was clearly the most gifted and inspiring of all."
His remarks about how American schools are as, if not more segregated now as before Brown v Board and there is a straight line from that fact to much of what ails us, were the highlight of a stellar performance.
And yet he is ignored.
Not because he is white, or because he is male, but because of his lack of stage presence.
I wonder if AOC were frumpy, dumpy or otherwise less of a package whether she would be the star she is today.
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All my life I watched the extremists on both the left and the right. While never really agreeing with either side, I always thought having groups of people like this is a good thing because it eventually seemed to bring incremental changes to society that neither side could claim victory for and society as a whole could tolerate without major disruption.Today though, it seems one side can be heard shouting from the rooftops while only the weakest of response came from the other. Along came Donald Trump who, like him or not, I believe has brought extremism in America back in balance. If it takes another 4 years putting up with Trump for both sides to beat themselves into exhaustion I'd be willing to support it. Maybe we'll get the continuing incremental changes society can handle.
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A quick note on Michael Bennett. He's a brilliant guy and likable, but he sounds like the Muppet Bert, of Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street. When one sounds like a Muppet, some do not you seriously.
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Maureen's points are well taken, but I have a nagging feeling Bennet may actually be one of our best choices this cycle.
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Looks like Maureen agrees with David Brooks : we have to work on replacing Trump’s values with real ones. However, the brainwashing apparatus of Trump’s bonkers billionaire backers makes that a difficult order. Until this propaganda machine is stopped, almost half of voters will remain glued to alternative facts, Fox News, and Trump tweets.
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This column reads as a celebration of "the end of men" as if this was the unspoken goal of the feminist movement all along. I remember from long ago the t-shirts that read, "A Woman Needs a Man Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle". Translated: there is no need for men at all.
Are we now to believe that "white male privilege" was completely unearned, that dying in wars and otherwise rising to the defense of hearth and home did not impart some special value to males? Or, now that physical warfare in the neighborhood is not on the horizon, toss them aside, not needed?
The faulty analogy in the column is to posit that the herd of males running for president would somehow be treated differently in another era. False. The word is out in the post-Trump world that you don't have to be a traditional type of candidate, a rising star, to reach for the star of the presidential nomination. There is no male candidate, not one, aside from the superannuated Biden, who in any way fits the profile of the traditional white male running for president.
The title of this column, Requiem for White Men, reads like a wish, a plea, a deep desire, rather than a statement of existing reality. Try again later, Maureen.
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@Doug Terry The translation to no need for men is a bit petulant. Stating that men earned "white male privilege" was during an era when there were no civil rights, women weren't allowed to work outside the home and were shunned if they did so, or when women were accused of sleeping their way to the top? So do those men with white male privilege deserve to earn more than women for the same type of work (women still earn 80 cents on the dollar). As a widow, should I be faced with earning less than my counter parts as I was raising two kids? Does white privilege include keeping women down so that they can feel like the special? Women are now contributing in a huge way in the armed services. They could have done alongside men in any war and not just by knitting secret information into scarves. This isn't nostalgia. It's harking back to a time when the ONLY way to get ahead was if you were a white male. I prefer progress.
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@Chris
I did not state what you said I stated. I posed this as a question. There's a big difference. From your false premise, you propose to shoot down a whole list of other things I did not say or imply.
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@Chris
The central problem of your post is the same problem as feminism in the US generally: it appears to be based on an ahistorical analysis. It begins like this: I want to define the current world in this way, therefore I define human history, all of it, in the same terms rather than looking at history as a revealing story of human development and how it played out. As such, history becomes a tool to prove what I/we believe it proves and is used to forward a current agenda. It is not just that this is wrong, it is impoverished. It does violence to our collective past in the hope that it can be used to prove what we need to prove.
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