Will He Steal the Movie?
Published January 02, 2008, issue of January 04, 2008.
Last week, the Shmooze reported that funnyman Sacha Baron Cohen has decided to retire his Ali G and Borat alter egos. This week, we’ve learned that the comic is preparing to add a new prankster to his repertoire. Baron Cohen has reportedly signed on to play the part of mischief-maker Abbie Hoffman in Steven Spielberg’s “The Trial of the Chicago Seven.”
Sacha Baron Cohen is to play Abbie Hoffman
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Dave: What on Earth has any purported medical condition got to do with Mr. Hoffman's politics? Whether or not he was privately receiving treatment for an illness has no bearing on the activities of his public life. If you disagree with his politics, or the American "Left" in general, why don't you criticize them on their own merits, rather than making ridiculous and irrelevant statements about illnesses? I take no position on Hoffman himself, except to observe that he is better remembered today for his controversial antics and public persona than for any positive social change brought about by his work. Still, I'm sure it will be an interesting movie, and I'm sure Sacha will be brilliant, as always.
Abbie Hoffman suffered from bipolar disorder all his life (then called manic depressive disorder). This is whay he on the one hand did pranks and on the other hand committed suicide. Instead of helping him the left applauded him. Shame on them.
Yeah, Sasha is a complex actor and he seems to want to step into more thoughtful roles for this new phase of his career. I wish him well.
They were all meshuggs then and still now. And, yes, I recall Hoffman and the judge Julius Hoffman, all nutsos. I doubt many people will see they movie much less care about it. Spielberg can do much better topic. How about the story of Carl Lutz, the Swiss who, in contrast to Schlindler saving hundreds, saved 10s of thousands of Jews, much of them children. Come one Steven, go for that story which is far more fascinating the Schlinder one than Hoffman.
At a time when the US is slogging through wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, is scheduled to send troops to Pakistan this month (yes!), and is sabre rattling against Iran, a movie about the Chicago 7 is timely. As some one who was there, I don't think Spielberg's agenda is provide a positive historical model for students and other young people who are opposed to escalating US militarism in the Middle East and who know that the Democrats are fully on board, but to focus on the goofy side of the anti-VN war movement, such as Abby Hoffman. Anti-war activism will be discredited by an extreme and unrepresentative case, just as Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan made a case for US militarism.
Raphael, Hoffman's mental state is very important not only in explaining his behavior, but to an actor portraying him. If Hoffman was bipolar, that gives Sasha Baron Cohen an underlying cause of Hoffman's actions and identity. The manic phase of bipolar disorder is marked by hyperactivity, loss of judgment, and obsession with ideas that may not be rational. That seems to describe Hoffman's behavior very well. Dave, the left who applauded him didn't know any better. Mania was not well diagnosed in those days, and came off as high energy and commitment.
One of the first books I ever bought on my own as a child was Hoffman's "Revolution for the Hell of it." I was 12ish. I could hardly have asked my parents to buy it. I also bought a book by the then radical Jerry Rubin. While Rubin's openly advocated in the book killing your parents (immediately disgust in the boy I was), Hoff was absurd, was funny, and was driven by a clear humanistic morality . . . of course, I realized a lot of this later, at the time it was simply good reading (and opposed to the Vietnam War). Some of Hoffman's stunts were simply so off the wall the authorities didn't know what to do. Imagine having 700 people holding hands surrounding the Pentagon trying to make it levitate above the ground! Hoffman had a point, surely if the Pentagon had risen off the ground a few feet, the war in Vietnam would have been disrupted. Cohen might do an excellent job as Hoffman, let's hope Speilberg does an excellent job with the film - the surrounding of the Pentagon better be in!
Dave your comments are confusing dont let the diagnosis of bipolar strip Hoffman of his charisma, spontanaeity, inventiveness, and courage. Bipolar may have intensified these characteristics but it was merely another part of who he was. You said the left praised him instead of helping him but he deserved that praise and what do you think anyone could have done to help him. I too have bipolar and there isa no help the onlky peace comes from learning to accept yourself.