{"id":2241395,"date":"2024-05-09T21:51:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T01:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/whats-a-tom-wolfe-story-with-white-liberal-guilt-not-tom-wolfe\/"},"modified":"2024-05-09T21:55:34","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T01:55:34","slug":"whats-a-tom-wolfe-story-with-white-liberal-guilt-not-tom-wolfe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/whats-a-tom-wolfe-story-with-white-liberal-guilt-not-tom-wolfe\/","title":{"rendered":"A narrative on white liberal guilt, distinct from Tom Wolfe"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhats-a-tom-wolfe-story-with-white-liberal-guilt-not-tom-wolfe%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2241395&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-trumps-last-ditch-effort-to-remove-fani-willis-isnt-likely-to-succeed\/\" title=\"Unlikely Trump's Last-Minute Attempt to Oust Fani Willis Will Succeed\">passage discusses<\/a> the ongoing recognition of the\u2062 late journalist\u2063 Tom Wolfe&#8217;s work, including the release \u2063of a documentary and a recent Netflix series adaptation of his \u200dnovel &#8220;A Man in Full.&#8221; Despite notable talents involved, \u2062the series \u2062falls short in capturing the essence of the source \u2063material. Various plot developments\u200b and \u200ccharacter adaptations are highlighted, presenting a critical perspective on the portrayal.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tom-wolfe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Tom Wolfe<\/a>, the pioneering journalist and popular <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/books\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>novelist<\/a> who died six years ago this month, still getting the attention he deserves? In recent months, the signs have been mixed. Last fall saw the release of a decent documentary about him, but it received only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/2442441\/tom-wolfes-vision\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>mild praise<\/a> and wasn\u2019t long for the box office. This past March, the <em>Atlantic<\/em> released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/books\/archive\/2024\/03\/best-books-american-fiction\/677479\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>a list<\/a> of more than 130 great American novels published over the past century, and none of the Man in White\u2019s bestsellers made the cut. That same day, the <em>New York Times<\/em> listed 22 of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/14\/books\/funny-novels-humor.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>funniest novels<\/a> published since 1961 \u2014 Wolfe-less again. <\/p>\n<p>At least <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/netflix\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Netflix<\/a> remembers Tom Wolfe, right? This month, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/india-court-orders-netflix-to-remove-episode-of-new-true-crime-series\/\" title=\"India Court Orders Netflix To Remove Episode Of New True Crime Series\">streaming service released<\/a> a six-episode series based on Wolfe\u2019s 1998 novel <em>A Man in Full. <\/em>It\u2019s the first on-screen adaptation of Wolfe since Brian De Palma\u2019s disastrous <em>Bonfire of the Vanities<\/em> film in 1990. And it will make you wish they\u2019d waited a bit longer.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Jeff Daniels in A Man in Full (Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The cast, if not exactly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/super-bowl-lv-all-the-best-commercials\/\" title=\"Super Bowl LV: All The Best Commercials\">star-studded<\/a>, has its share of luminaries, including Jeff Daniels, Diane Lane, and Lucy Liu. Its behind-the-camera talent is also impressive. It was written by David E. Kelley (best known for his string of legal comedies in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including <em>Ally McBeal<\/em> and <em>Boston Legal<\/em>), and three of the six episodes were directed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/emmys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Emmy-award-winning<\/a> actress Regina King, who also received a Golden Globe nomination for her directorial work in <em>One Night in Miami\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Yet despite all this talent, the miniseries is a mediocre comedy-drama that fails to convey the energy, wonder, or humor of the source material. <\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ncaa-announces-full-capacity-crowds-for-baseball-and-softball-tournaments\/\" title=\"NCAA Announces Full Capacity Crowds For Baseball And Softball Tournaments\">series begins<\/a> at the 60th birthday party for real estate mogul Charlie Croker, played by Daniels, sporting a bad dye job, a southern accent, and a bum knee from his character\u2019s college football days. The opulent party would make you think Croker is on top of the world. Shania Twain, the rhinestone cowgirl herself, sings to him!!! She was a big deal when the novel was published!!! But we soon learn that he\u2019s deeply in debt to the merciless suits at PlannersBanc. During a tense meeting at the bank, as Croker sweats through his shirt to reveal \u201csaddlebags\u201d under his arms, he realizes that the bankers \u2014 especially the one with whom he worked closest, Raymond Peepgass (Tom Pelphrey) \u2014 are set on destroying him. Plus, he\u2019s got a bad knee.<\/p>\n<p>The Croker\/Peepgass relationship is a twisted one, with the banker both admiring and resenting the older man, wanting to take what was his for himself. That includes Croker\u2019s ex-wife, played by Lane. Indeed, the battle between Croker and the bankers boils down to masculinity and virility, made clear by their frequent references to their physical prowess. <\/p>\n<p>Contrasting Croker\u2019s lavish life, as precarious as it is, the series turns to a worker in one of Croker\u2019s many enterprises, an expectant father named Conrad Hensley. Conrad, a white Californian in the novel, is a black Atlantan here and married to Charlie\u2019s secretary. His assault by a white officer during an argument over a parking violation adds a dramatic racial dynamic to the series. <\/p>\n<p>Needing an attorney in a pinch, Conrad is represented at his arraignment by Conrad\u2019s in-house counsel. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/charles-barkley-announces-hell-be-leaving-inside-the-nba-in-two-years-blames-jackaes-trying-to-get-you-canceled\/\" title=\"Charles Barkley Announces He\u2019ll Be Leaving \u2018Inside The NBA\u2019 In Two Years, Blames \u2018Jacka**es Trying To Get You Canceled\u2019\">running joke<\/a> in the novel is that this character is named Roger White II, but because he admires Booker T. Washington (among other offenses against true black identity), he\u2019s called Roger Too White. Unlike the author of <em>Radical Chic<\/em>, this series has no interest in poking fun at progressive racial assumptions, so that joke is discarded and the lawyer is simply Roger White (Aml Ameen). Dissatisfied with his lucrative but soulless work for Croker, White finds purpose in representing Conrad. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, White\u2019s old classmate Wes Jordan (William Jackson Harper) is running for reelection as mayor and needs help deep-sixing his opponent, who happens to be a former teammate of Charlie\u2019s. The mayor offers Charlie a deal: He\u2019ll make the bank back off if Charlie will publicly accuse his opponent of raping a woman in college. To do that, though, Charlie would have to violate the privacy of his ex-wife\u2019s best friend (played by <em>Ally McBeal<\/em> alum Liu), who isn\u2019t so sure she was assaulted or that she wants her story told. <\/p>\n<p>This plotline features another noteworthy deviation from the novel. In Wolfe\u2019s story, a star black current running back is accused of raping the daughter of one of Charlie\u2019s rich, white friends. The series again avoids the discomfiting racial implications of Wolfe\u2019s choices. Still, despite that tweak, this is probably the best subplot in the series because it maintains the moral complexities of the source. <\/p>\n<p>But the series seems most interested in Conrad\u2019s plotline, with which it takes regrettable liberties. In the novel, Conrad stumbles across a book of stoic philosophy that changes his life and, through his evangelization, the life of Charlie Croker. But Kelley simply has Conrad\u2019s wife explain, \u201cThe thing about my husband is that he\u2019s into Stoicism. His brain defaults to the positive.\u201d Norman Vincent Peale, the noted Stoic? We briefly hear Conrad reciting lines from Seneca in his head before ~<em>poof<\/em>~ the ancient philosophy leaves as quickly as it had entered. A central premise in the novel becomes a half-baked idea on the screen.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Kelley devotes his attention to White\u2019s surprising abilities as a defense attorney, and his battle for Conrad\u2019s freedom culminates in the longest scene of the series, a nearly 10-minute courtroom drama featuring a misquotation of Oliver Wendell Holmes and legal theories as absurd as any you\u2019d encounter on <em>The Practice<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Given Kelley\u2019s risk-taking on the often visually innovative <em>Ally McBeal<\/em>, it\u2019s surprising that he and the directors did not try to mimic Wolfe\u2019s unorthodox and onomatopoeic prose. Say what you will about De Palma\u2019s adaptation of <em>Bonfire<\/em>, it does feature a number of interesting shots and angles that convey Wolfe\u2019s sense of wonder. There\u2019s little of that liveliness in this series, the most significant exception being a shocking moment of Viagra-enhanced \u2014 <em>SCHWIIIIING <\/em>\u2014 full-frontal nudity in the final episode. You\u2019ve been warned.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The adaptation does stay true to the novel by having an unsatisfying ending, but even here, it is entirely unmoored from anything that happened in the book. Indeed, as dissatisfying as the novel\u2019s final act was, it was a matter of how Charlie\u2019s fate was depicted, not that fate itself. Wolfe\u2019s Charlie becomes a better man thanks to Conrad\u2019s Stoic influence. Kelley\u2019s Charlie has no interaction with Conrad and undergoes no significant change, attempting to establish his physical and financial superiority to the dark and bitter end.<\/p>\n<p>De Palma <a href=\"https:\/\/charlierose.com\/videos\/19294\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>once explained<\/a> that in the <em>Bonfire <\/em>movie, he made \u201cthe classic mistake, which is to change the text that I loved so much. And I changed it to the point that nobody liked it.\u201d With <em>A Man in Full<\/em>, Netflix has done the same.<\/p>\n<p><em>Christopher J. Scalia is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and co-editor of <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0525573321\/&#038;tag=theweesta-20\">Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived<\/a><em>  (Crown, 2017).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is the legacy of Tom Wolfe receiving its due attention? Lately, the signals have been contradictory. While a documentary was released last fall, it garnered only moderate acclaim and had a short run at the box office. This March marked six years since the passing of the pioneering journalist and acclaimed novelist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":2241396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/LA.maninfull-1024x591.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2241395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/LA.maninfull-1024x591.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2241395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2241395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2241395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2241396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2241395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2241395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2241395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}