Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Monday 16 March 2020
Author Roth weighed in on

'Plot Against America' TV series

By LYNN ELBER understood that and, of course, we did."
AP Television Writer Roth was insistent that the series capture
LOS ANGELES (AP) — David Simon, the Lindbergh's achievement — his unprece-
creative force behind stellar TV including dented solo flight from New York to Paris in
"The Wire," "Show Me a Hero" and "Treme," 1927 at age 25 — and the national admi-
found himself in unfamiliar territory with his ration and fame it earned him and which,
latest series, HBO's "The Plot Against Amer- in fiction, allows him to ascend to the U.S
ica." presidency.
He'd developed books into shows before, Simon said that Roth wanted Lindbergh,
This image released by HBO shows John Turturro in a scene from nonfiction works that demanded adher- who in life was anti-Semitic and opposed
"The Plot Against America." The 6-part mini-series, based on the ence to facts. But Simon didn't necessarily war against Nazi Germany, to be por-
novel by the late Philip Roth, premieres Monday, March 16.
Associated Press feel liberated in adapting Philip Roth's 2004 trayed as the accomplished man he was.
novel, a re-imagined history of World War It's the fictional Lindberg's earned good
II-era America made fascist in the grasp of will for his achievements that allows him to
a real-life, wildly popular hero, the aviation ascend to power in the novel, and Simon
pioneer Charles Lindbergh. said Roth was adamant that the screen
"There were things I thought that worked depiction reflect that. It was important to
as a novel that were not going to work Roth that Lindbergh be made distinct from
in a six-hour miniseries," Simon said. He President Donald Trump, according to Si-
broached his concerns in a 2017 meeting mon.
with Roth, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist "Mr. Roth, in his comments to me, found it
who died in 2018 at age 85. astonishing that Mr. Trump, being a real es-
"I had an idea, but I didn't have the guts to tate magnate, failed casino operator and
venture it. I mean, he's in the canon, he's not possessed of any particular moment
one of our great literary voices, and I'm a of heroism or public service to the coun-
TV hack," said a self-deprecating Simon. try, had managed to achieve the same
"And I'm asking to play with the end of a standing. ... He wanted to make sure that
novel he wrote. So I didn't have the cour- we gave Lindbergh his due, that his novel
age to say, 'What about this, what about would be credible."
that,' I just wanted to know if I had permis- "We did," Simon said. "We went to the ef-
sion to try." fort to establish in the narrative that this
The series debuts at 9 p.m. EDT Monday, man became president because he was
with Winona Ryder, Zoe Kazan, John Tur- invested in real heroism."
turro, Morgan Spector and Anthony Boyle Roth made similar comments in interviews,
in the cast. including one he gave a few months be-
Simon interpreted "Roth's story and brought fore his death.
it to HBO with an urgency and relevance When Simon is asked when he and Roth
that reflects not only the era Roth evoked discussed "The Plot Against America," the
but also our world today," said Len Amato, query prompts an unrelated anecdote. It
president of HBO films and miniseries. was fall 2017, when Simon and longtime
Roth had detailed his caveats for the TV writing partner Ed Burns were starting to
drama during their conversation, Simon develop scripts for the series, and the day
said. The novelist, who relied on his family after the Nobel Prize for literature was an-
life in depicting Jewish Americans caught nounced. Roth was again bypassed, this
in a pro-Nazi Germany, anti-Semitic politi- time in favor of "The Remains of the Day"
cal wave led by Lindbergh, asked that the author Kazuo Ishiguro. In 2016, the surprise
series' characters be differentiated from recipient was a certain legendary musi-
those in the book. cian.
"He wanted to us to change the name "I couldn't resist," Simon said. "I made a
from Roth to Levin, because while he had joke about, 'What's this guy doing with
used his family and himself for the narra- your prize?' and he replied, very quickly,
tive, once actors are cast and other writ- 'At least they didn't give it to Peter, Paul
ers are coming in with dialogue, it's no lon- and Mary.' I think he was still mad about
ger exactly pristine to what he imagined," Bob Dylan the year before."
Simon said. "He wanted a little bit of dis- He also recalled Roth re-reading the nov-
tance for his family." el's ending, the section that Simon was
Roth also requested that TV miniseries grappling with, and remaining silent for
make clear that the Jewish characters at several minutes.
its center and the wider Jewish community "'Finally, he just closed the book and
were assimilated Americans and "becom- looked at me and said, 'Well, it's your prob-
ing more American with every passing lem now."q
minute," Simon said. "So that the fraudu-
lent issue that's always offered in anti-im-
migrant campaigns, that these people are
not Americans like you or I. That they won't
become Americans if they're not learning
the language fast enough. That their tradi-
tions are such that we can question their
loyalty. He wanted to make clear that we