Hillbilly Elegy director Ron Howard hits out at ‘disappointing’ JD Vance
www.independent.co.uk
‘We didn’t talk a lot of politics when we were making the movie,’ filmmaker said

Hillbilly Elegy director Ron Howard has taken a swipe at JD Vance, suggesting that Donald Trump’s Republican running mate has “changed” since he first met him.

Earlier this year, Vance was selected to be Trump’s possible vice president in the 2024 US presidential election race – but before his political career, he was known for being the author of memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which was later adapted into a Netflix film of the same name.

Since being announced as Trump’s running mate, Vance has been criticised for comments that saw him refer to women, such as Trump’s presidential rival Kamala Harris, as “childless cat ladies”. This prompted swift backlash and accusations of sexism, with Vance claiming the remarks were made in “sarcasm”.

  • haunte@leminal.spaceEnglish
    7·
    4 months ago

    It’s possible that he never discussed any of that with Howard when they were planning the movie. Vance wasn’t heavily involved in the process, he didn’t write the screenplay or produce it. They probably just had a few discussions about how the book should be translated into film, as a courtesy. And Vance at that time was very anti-Trump, so if they did discuss politics in passing that might have colored Howard’s views on him. None of that means Howard is “full of shit”.

    I haven’t read the book or seen the film, so I can’t speak to anything specific on the adaptation, but according the the review linked in the article Howard did little to change the overall message, so he deserves criticism on that point.

    • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      2·
      4 months ago

      My point is simply he has documented political ambitions going back as far as 2016, and acting like Ron Howard couldn’t have been aware of that by 2019 is absurd.

      2016: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/12/21/daily-202-why-the-author-of-hillbilly-elegy-is-moving-home-to-ohio/5859da6ee9b69b36fcfeaf48/

      “No, not now,” he said when asked if he’ll ever run for office. “I think that I need to live in the state for a while and get to know these problems a little better before actually doing something like that. Never say never, but it’s certainly not something I am thinking about over the short-term.”

      2018: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/henrygomez/jd-vance-is-now-seriously-considering-running-for-senate-in

      “The phone hasn’t stopped ringing since Friday,” said Jai Chabria, an adviser to Vance who joined him in Washington this week for meetings with those encouraging his candidacy.

      “The amount of support for J.D. Vance is incredible,” Chabria told BuzzFeed News. “People are starting to realize he has the best message to beat [Democratic incumbent] Sherrod Brown. J.D. is giving serious consideration toward this, because there are very serious people asking him to run.”

      Oh wait, who was Jai Chabria again?

      Our Ohio Renewal’s tax filings showed that in its first year, it spent more (over $63,000) on “management services” provided by its executive director Jai Chabria, who also served as Vance’s top political adviser, than it did on programs to fight opioid abuse.