Talk:David Mamet

Skip to table of contents

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the David Mamet article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to this noticeboard.

If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see this help page.

Biography: Actors and Filmmakers

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
	This article is supported by WikiProject Actors and Filmmakers (assessed as Low-importance).

Chicago Low‑importance

	Chicago portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Chicago, which aims to improve all articles or pages related to Chicago or the Chicago metropolitan area.ChicagoWikipedia:WikiProject ChicagoTemplate:WikiProject ChicagoChicago articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Illinois Low‑importance

	Illinois portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Illinois, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Illinois on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.IllinoisWikipedia:WikiProject IllinoisTemplate:WikiProject IllinoisWikiProject Illinois articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Screenwriters Top‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Screenwriters, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of screenwriting, screenwriters, and related topics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ScreenwritersWikipedia:WikiProject ScreenwritersTemplate:WikiProject Screenwritersscreenwriter articles
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

Theatre High‑importance

	Theatre portal This article is part of WikiProject Theatre, a WikiProject dedicated to coverage of theatre on Wikipedia. To participate: Feel free to edit the article attached to this page, join up at the project page, or contribute to the project discussion.TheatreWikipedia:WikiProject TheatreTemplate:WikiProject TheatreTheatre articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Conservatism Low‑importance

	Conservatism portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Conservatism, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of conservatism on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ConservatismWikipedia:WikiProject ConservatismTemplate:WikiProject ConservatismConservatism articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Bias[edit]

"Mamet's dialogue, marked by a cynical, street-smart edge, (or, perhaps it might be noted by anyone who was paying attention, a completely stilted and contrived "edge")"

Oh, sounds totally fair. Removing this. The holy barnacle

Short plays and monologues[edit]

"Unbeknownst to many"? They're fairly well-known, even if they weren't there's no reason to include this, and anyway, unbeknownst is is a stupid word. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.11.219.134 (talk) 15:47, 20 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Pronunciation[edit]

Is MAMM-et or MA-MAY?

I used to say /ma'mei/ but changed to /'mamet/. Can't remember where I picked this up from. Crosbie

MAMM-et. Val Kilmer had fun with this in his commentary on the Spartan DVD. -- Apathyjunkie

It is MAMMet - I know his sister, Lynn Mamet, also a screenwrite, quite well.. and this is her pronounciation.

POV tag[edit]

I added it to the criticism section because it's not criticism right now. There's a teensy bit of criticism, but it's refuted without being properly examined. The rest of the section seems to be a valentine to Mamet's theories on acting. Not that it isn't interesting, I'm not saying it doesn't belong, but it's obviously not criticism. If nothing else, I'd like to see a closer examination of the charges of misogyny. Not that I think they're correct, but if they are citable - if not defensible - criticisms, they deserve a lot more examination.--Anchoress 06:02, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

but if they are citable... The claim has no business in an encyclopedia without citation.

I agree. What's your point?--Anchoress 20:36, 16 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That it should be removed. Since you agree, I've done so. G'day.

~~No I don't agree that it should be removed. I agree that the claim has no business in an encyclopedia without citation.~~--Anchoress 03:42, 18 July 2006 (UTC) ADDED Oops!! Sorry I thought you had removed the pov tag. Super sorry, should look more carefully.--Anchoress 03:45, 18 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

References on David Mamet[edit]

In July 2004, Cambridge University Press published The Cambridge Companion to David Mamet, edited by Christopher Bigsby. The book includes essays analyzing Mamet's biography, his impact during various decades, and pieces on most of his work.

Style of his Work Section[edit]

Biography is too vague of a section... there's a few sections in there. Critical Acclaim, Reception, Dialogue Style, Writing Style... any number of new sections should be introduced.-BiancaOfHell 08:04, 1 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Biography[edit]

Biography needs to be fleshed out...Marlboro College lists him as a famous former professor; can we get some kind of confirmation on this page? User:Snyrt

Wikipedia:WikiProject Screenwriters is trying to gather people to the cause. If you can help out, please do. This is a significant article and I'd rate it's importance as High.-BillDeanCarter 05:30, 2 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Philosophical Conversion[edit]

Reverted edit that was made on basis of notability. "Notability guidelines give guidance on whether a topic is notable enough to be included in Wikipedia as a separate article, but do not specifically regulate the content of articles."Wvfd14 (talk) 18:18, 12 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There's nothing particularly notable about an op-ed he wrote. This should be removed.Njsamizdat (talk) 18:28, 12 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

On the contrary, the op-ed — and the conversion (!) — is of significant (I nearly wrote "of vital") importance. I have added one reference (David Mamet Leaves the Brain Dead Left by Dinesh D'Souza) and I have moved the sentence from the "Transition to film" subsubhead (where I think we can all agree it doesn't belong) to the "Other endeavors" subhead. Asteriks (talk) 21:29, 11 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed. Very significant. I read that article. Quite good, actually.Manhattan Samurai (talk) 21:31, 11 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It was a horrible article, pompous and trite. Mamet has never been significant politically. Most theater fans were probably never aware he was left-wing. He wasn't involved in activism; his plays aren't about politics. "Masculinity" is the only issue he really checks in on. In the article he admits never seriously considering politics until now. Why he thinks the world would care if he "switched" is beyond me. 76.115.59.36 (talk) 18:28, 10 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

When a person has the rare courage to oppose a monolithic environment, such as Hollywood leftism, it is a very significant mark of character. Of course, it will be minimized by those who are part of the monolith.Lestrade (talk) 14:03, 28 May 2011 (UTC)Lestrade[reply]

The merits of the article aside, the fact that Mamet has gone from one political extreme to the other warrants a note in his Wikipedia entry. Jstohler (talk) 04:14, 21 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

David Mamet certainly talks regularly about his political positions, and is highly politically active, so it certainly deserves a mention. However I'm not sure about the current entry - it's partly his politics, and partly his appearances on talk shows and as a blogger (!) which is a bit bizarre. For some reason there were a number of frankly quite inane entries - such as a sentence about him being impressed by the ability to communicate on computers, or having appeared on the Rush Limbaugh show...both of those points I've removed. Anybody's politics are contentious and it's the section most likely to have POV disputes and issues, so feel free to provide any feedback. Marty jar (talk) 22:39, 15 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

2nd City[edit]

I see no sign of what he told Charlie Rose the other night (Friday the 9th?): that he spent "a year or two" as a busboy at Second City, which taught him admiration for high-quality acting, encouraging him to develop scriptwriting as a way of participating in theater.
--Jerzy•t 04:04, 11 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Riven swine and other questionable matters[edit]

The article contains the following paragraph: "Harold Pinter, recently from his repose, indicated that any perceived relation between himself and the new-found Mamet are extremely remote - related more to emotiveness than to any philosophical or spiritual thought. Gasping for breath after a strenuous metaphysical workout, Mr. Pinter only stated 'This 2011 Mamet has split open the pig - he is ready to gourge [sic]'. Citation via the channel-master 'Troubleman'(Marvin Gaye)." Why is Pinter's condition of repose of any importance? Of what importance is Pinter's breathing? What emotive relationship exists between Pinter and Mamet? What is a metaphysical workout? What does "channel-master 'Troubleman'(Marvin Gaye)" mean in the idiosyncratic citation? Lestrade (talk) 01:19, 10 July 2011 (UTC)Lestrade[reply]

On that note, I removed something similar on 9 Aug 2011. Is it possible that these guys are having it out on their wikipedia pages? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.185.238.75 (talk) 10:56, 9 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The quote appeared again. It reads: "Mr. Pinter, of recent, has opined: 'It is an extraordinary thing when bitterness continues to grow... and even facing the fall from the vine, no sweetness can eek out.' Citated via Troubleman, the seer-sucker of Purgatory, and perhaps Mr. Mamet's sole chess victory there." What does this mean? Why is it relevant to the section "Mamet Speak"? I think this page needs some level of protection.173.49.80.69 (talk) 23:30, 10 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Most likely, someone who is bitter about Mamet's political conversion has decided to damage the article.Lestrade (talk) 11:59, 11 August 2011 (UTC)Lestrade[reply]

David Mamet's Conversion[edit]

A recent (July 13,2011) article by John Stossel entitled, "David Mamet's Conversion" confirms the change in Mamet's political views from a liberal to a conservative. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Apparentlyecl (talk • contribs) 13:13, 13 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Sexual Perversity in Chicago[edit]

Article doesn't mention that this was made into the movie About Last Night starring Demi Moore and Rob Lowe. Should it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.249.112.135 (talk) 16:49, 7 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on David Mamet. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20041023060400/http://www.theatermania.com:80/content/news.cfm/story/4489 to http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/4489

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{Sourcecheck}}).

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 18 January 2022).

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 05:46, 8 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Mamet and gender issues[edit]

Arthur Holmberg in his 2014 book David Mamet and Male Friendship, has reconsidered the gender issue in many of Mamet's plays throughout his career by asserting a prominent and recurrent reversed sexual orientation of portrayed male gender preferences.^[1]

This section/sentence is so obtuse I can glean no clear meaning from it. If someone has access to the referenced publication, I'd love to see a bit more about this. R39525 (talk) 21:47, 21 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, that sentence is completely undecipherable. Kaldari (talk) 18:31, 29 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Arthur Holmberg, David Mamet and Male Friendship, Hardcover: 276 pages, Palgrave Macmillan (April 2, 2014), ISBN 978-1137305183.

External links modified[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on David Mamet. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 18 January 2022).

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 06:20, 6 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

"Homophobia" subheading[edit]

Labeling David Mamet's views on Pedophilia in the education system as "Homophobia" is incorrect. It implies that Pedophilia ≈ Homosexuality, in reality, the two are completely different subjects entirely. 2601:482:8000:3F00:987A:B12A:C481:4954 (talk) 20:47, 11 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

[1] Arthur Holmberg, David Mamet and Male Friendship, Hardcover: 276 pages, Palgrave Macmillan (April 2, 2014), ISBN 978-1137305183.

[1]