Did Ron Howard make JD Vance?
Amusing ourselves to death with "Hillbilly Elegy."
Donald Trump went to presidency almost directly from the set of “The Apprentice.” Now his vice presidential selection, JD Vance, has arrived after writing a memoir that became the Ron Howard film “Hillbilly Elegy.”
So is Ron Howard responsible for the fact that JD Vance is now in a position to complete and perfect Donald Trump’s authoritarian project? Eh. I think it’s more complicated than that.
Cards on the table: I don’t really like biopics that much — there’s always the Dewey Cox problem, particularly when it comes to musical biopics — and I particularly hate biopics of living people. A movie biopic usually has a triumphant ending. In real life, a person keeps on living and evolving. And sometimes that evolution can go weird places that make the movie seem a little weird or even misguided. (See also: “The Lady,” a 2011 pic about the heroism of Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi … who then went on to be accused of facilitating the genocide of the Rohingya Muslims. Oops.) Real life is inevitably more complicated and usually darker than what fits in a two-hour movie. And yes: That lends to the lionization of somebody like Vance.
On the other hand: We humans tell stories to understand the world.
And sometimes we tell stories about real, existing people.
We definitely have an “Amusing Ourselves to Death” problem in American culture. But as long as we make films and tell stories about people, it’s infinitely problematic to ask the people who make and tell those stories to not tell those stories about certain people for fear they might become a fascist leader.
Because, really, what are the odds?
Maybe we should go back and pull that movie about Serena Williams’ dad from circulation? Wouldn’t want to take any chances.
Listen: When “Hillbilly Elegy” came out in 2020, Vance was still talking about Trump in pretty negative terms. When “The Apprentice” made Donald Trump a star — again — everybody thought his talk about running for president was an attention-getting lark. Hell, there’s a lot of evidence that’s what Trump himself thought in 2016. Stuff happens, man.
It’s not Ron Howard’s fault.
I have seen the movie and I thought it was a really good portrayal of generational alcoholism. I've read the book too and I don't think it really focused on the same themes necessarily.
You're surely correct, of course. But have you actually seen the movie? I haven't. Haven't read Vance's book either. My wife has; she liked it, but didn't love it.