I thought I knew Trumbo. You know, saw his movie and many movies which he wrote. I also knew he was one of the Hollywood 10. So superficially, yes, here is a guy I like, one of the good guys.
But I did not know he was SUCH a good guy. Here is a man who fought for his principles, who went through terrible duress... and was never broken. Here is a man who sees how his little daughter is ostracized and mentally tortured for being the daughter of a Commie, and writes a beautiful and indignant letter to the principal of her school in response. Here is a man who playfully writes to his teenage son telling him it's OK to masturbate. Here is a man who writes to his friends, telling them of his troubles, thanking them for their support, and who says he was of course in contempt of the Committee: he felt nothing but contempt for them.
And although I was moved all along, I had to break into tears when he mentioned the fall of Barcelona in the Spanish Civil War and how he would have liked to have been here, and maybe if "we" had been here, Barcelona would not have fallen and a better world would have been possible... or else fall with the city and be buried in its ruins, as nothing else mattered.
Here is an unsung hero. We need many, many more men like him.
But I did not know he was SUCH a good guy. Here is a man who fought for his principles, who went through terrible duress... and was never broken. Here is a man who sees how his little daughter is ostracized and mentally tortured for being the daughter of a Commie, and writes a beautiful and indignant letter to the principal of her school in response. Here is a man who playfully writes to his teenage son telling him it's OK to masturbate. Here is a man who writes to his friends, telling them of his troubles, thanking them for their support, and who says he was of course in contempt of the Committee: he felt nothing but contempt for them.
And although I was moved all along, I had to break into tears when he mentioned the fall of Barcelona in the Spanish Civil War and how he would have liked to have been here, and maybe if "we" had been here, Barcelona would not have fallen and a better world would have been possible... or else fall with the city and be buried in its ruins, as nothing else mattered.
Here is an unsung hero. We need many, many more men like him.