Charlie Kaufman on Writers Sharing the Truth in a Deceptive World

And battling the powers that be to pursue those truths.

Charlie Kaufman is a decorated TV/film screenwriter known for works like Adaptation., Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. This past Sunday, March 5th, the Writers Guild of America Awards presented Kaufman with the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement celebrating his career. The following is an outstanding excerpt from what has been described as a fiery speech:

“We writers are trained by the business. We are trained to believe what we do is secondary to what they do. We are trained to do the bidding of people who are motivated not by curiosity, but by protecting their jobs. And we lose sight of what our work is. It is not to contribute to their fortunes—or our own. It is not to please them—or critics—or even the audiences who have also been trained. Our work is to reflect the world—say what is true in the face of so much lying.”

These words couldn’t be more relevant and certainly highlight an issue that extends well beyond Hollywood. We have been trained by nonstop propaganda, the politicization of every facet of our lives and the normalization of a gruesome status quo to the point where large swaths of the population default to exactly where our overlords want us because it is perceived as the correct position—even if only the comfortable one in that moment.

There is a war being waged. Those who seek truth are under attack. Censorship is never okay, no matter what their excuses may be. In the midst of information warfare, it’s easy to convince people that silencing voices is justified, but it simply isn’t justifiable. We live in a world of top-down domination—one where “public servants” don’t actually listen to the public, yet expect the public to listen to their directives. “It’s for the greater good,” they say as they prepare to go bump elbows with oligarchs.

When leaders declare emergencies—further empowering themselves—the first thing we all should be doing is asking questions. A healthy dialogue rich with disagreements is a good thing, actually. That’s how we learn. That’s how we grow. Hindering this process only results in one being surrounded by a bubble of premediated bullshit. Wrongthink is not a crime, for we are all wrong at some point before we are right.

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