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Philip Roth and no complaint: not quite unmasked, but surprisingly charming Philip Roth and no complaint: not quite unmasked, but surprisingly charming
(7 months later)
There are several surprising things to learn about Philip Roth in the new PBS documentary about him: that you can go on a Philip Roth bus tour of Newark and take photos of his high school; that because of a back complaint, he writes standing up; and how his parents really reacted to Portnoy's Complaint.There are several surprising things to learn about Philip Roth in the new PBS documentary about him: that you can go on a Philip Roth bus tour of Newark and take photos of his high school; that because of a back complaint, he writes standing up; and how his parents really reacted to Portnoy's Complaint.
The biggest reveal, however, given Roth's entrenched public image as furiously vain and terrifically grumpy – someone who exists in a state of permanent disbelief that he still hasn't won the Nobel Prize – is just how charming and likable he is.The biggest reveal, however, given Roth's entrenched public image as furiously vain and terrifically grumpy – someone who exists in a state of permanent disbelief that he still hasn't won the Nobel Prize – is just how charming and likable he is.
After years of posing for photos like a brooding 60s version of Heathcliff, here he is, a little disheveled, with wonky teeth and a rueful expression, telling stories to illustrate "how childish I am". (His favourite line in Ulysses, for example, occurs after the scene in which Leopold Bloom masturbates in the general direction of a woman on the beach. "At it again," is the line, which Roth delivers with a wry grin and the suggestion that it serve as the epitaph on his tombstone.)After years of posing for photos like a brooding 60s version of Heathcliff, here he is, a little disheveled, with wonky teeth and a rueful expression, telling stories to illustrate "how childish I am". (His favourite line in Ulysses, for example, occurs after the scene in which Leopold Bloom masturbates in the general direction of a woman on the beach. "At it again," is the line, which Roth delivers with a wry grin and the suggestion that it serve as the epitaph on his tombstone.)
When he relives the mania following the publication of Portnoy, it is in the same tone: at the time, panels of Jewish mothers were assembled to discuss what a terrible thing he had done to them, which he conveys with just the right level of sheepish amusement.When he relives the mania following the publication of Portnoy, it is in the same tone: at the time, panels of Jewish mothers were assembled to discuss what a terrible thing he had done to them, which he conveys with just the right level of sheepish amusement.
It's odd, given how gleeful he is on the page, that any of this should come as a surprise. But celebrity has done for Roth as it does for most, and reduced him to a thumbnail. (That said, his friendship with Mia Farrow, to which the film devotes way too much time, is vaguely annoying. One imagines each flatters an unfulfilled side of the other's vanity.)It's odd, given how gleeful he is on the page, that any of this should come as a surprise. But celebrity has done for Roth as it does for most, and reduced him to a thumbnail. (That said, his friendship with Mia Farrow, to which the film devotes way too much time, is vaguely annoying. One imagines each flatters an unfulfilled side of the other's vanity.)
None of this amounts to enough to justify the film's subtitle: Unmasked. The film reveals almost nothing of Roth's personal life, beyond a truncated account of what he calls his "lurid" first marriage (to Margaret Williams), the collapse of which threw him into a depression that delayed the start of his writing career. Beyond that, zip – no Claire Bloom, no backstory on I Married a Communist, not even that much exposition of his writing.None of this amounts to enough to justify the film's subtitle: Unmasked. The film reveals almost nothing of Roth's personal life, beyond a truncated account of what he calls his "lurid" first marriage (to Margaret Williams), the collapse of which threw him into a depression that delayed the start of his writing career. Beyond that, zip – no Claire Bloom, no backstory on I Married a Communist, not even that much exposition of his writing.
The film appeals against this, as does Roth himself, by pointing out, yet again, that the Roth stand-ins in his novels are not him, quite. Jonathan Franzen describes Roth's approach as "outrageously more-about-me" than any other writer can get away with – something he used to think of, resentfully, as Roth's narcissism, until he realised he was just jealous of him. Now, says Franzen, he sees it as a function of the most important thing in writing: shamelessness.The film appeals against this, as does Roth himself, by pointing out, yet again, that the Roth stand-ins in his novels are not him, quite. Jonathan Franzen describes Roth's approach as "outrageously more-about-me" than any other writer can get away with – something he used to think of, resentfully, as Roth's narcissism, until he realised he was just jealous of him. Now, says Franzen, he sees it as a function of the most important thing in writing: shamelessness.
Roth agrees. In life, he says, he is just as shame-ridden as the next person. When he writes, however, he is free. When he sits down, or rather stands up to write, he asks himself: what if he goes further, this time, into saying the things that no one dares say? With an amused eye on the expectations of his audience, he reads the passage from Sabbath's Theater in which Mickey Sabbath, with Shakespearean force, delivers his speech in defense of adultery.Roth agrees. In life, he says, he is just as shame-ridden as the next person. When he writes, however, he is free. When he sits down, or rather stands up to write, he asks himself: what if he goes further, this time, into saying the things that no one dares say? With an amused eye on the expectations of his audience, he reads the passage from Sabbath's Theater in which Mickey Sabbath, with Shakespearean force, delivers his speech in defense of adultery.
Roth's parents, it turned out, were terrifically good-natured about Portnoy. Roth had them over for dinner just before it was published and explained what was about to happen: that he would be in the papers and on TV; that everyone would assume the parents in the book were his own parents, and that journalists would call them. He advised them to hang up. After dinner, Roth put them in a cab and off they went.Roth's parents, it turned out, were terrifically good-natured about Portnoy. Roth had them over for dinner just before it was published and explained what was about to happen: that he would be in the papers and on TV; that everyone would assume the parents in the book were his own parents, and that journalists would call them. He advised them to hang up. After dinner, Roth put them in a cab and off they went.
It wasn't until years later that Roth asked his father what the conversation went like in the cab. Herman Roth told him that Roth's mother burst immediately into tears and said, "he has delusions of grandeur."It wasn't until years later that Roth asked his father what the conversation went like in the cab. Herman Roth told him that Roth's mother burst immediately into tears and said, "he has delusions of grandeur."
Philip Roth: Unmasked is a wonderful film: the last of the big beasts roars, with laughter.Philip Roth: Unmasked is a wonderful film: the last of the big beasts roars, with laughter.
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