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A review by cchartier
The Contender: The Story of Marlon Brando by William J. Mann
4.0
A really interesting biography. It's well written and the author is forward with Brando's faults-it's no haiography.
I picked this up after reading an article that mentioned Brando's involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. I knew he has been involved with the American Indian Movement, but not the extent. HIs famous rejection of the Oscar for "The Godfather" had always been described to me as something to ridicule. He was far ahead of his time in rejecting Hollywood for its racism, and the reaction was quick and a public expression of white supremacy (and a bit hypocritical, as another major star had rejected the Oscar just the year before. However he didn't tie it to racism).
The book also makes the case that, with only a handful of powerful films (and not that many bad ones-he didn't actually work all that much because he hated the business of acting), Brando is still arguably the greatest American actor captured on film. It's a solid argument.
Brando just couldn't handle the inequalities in the world and they crushed him. It was worse for him than for the rest of us because, rather than sheltering him from the world, his enormous celebrity made him run from Hollywood and hate a society that prized celebrity news over the impacts of racism, poverty, homophobia, etc., etc.
Sadly, it was only at the end of his life that Brando was able to apply this empathy to his treatment of women. He was sexually fluid from a young age, but that sexual liberation did not translate to his relationships. I'm glad he got there, but his life may have been a lot happy if he could have treated women as equals.
I picked this up after reading an article that mentioned Brando's involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. I knew he has been involved with the American Indian Movement, but not the extent. HIs famous rejection of the Oscar for "The Godfather" had always been described to me as something to ridicule. He was far ahead of his time in rejecting Hollywood for its racism, and the reaction was quick and a public expression of white supremacy (and a bit hypocritical, as another major star had rejected the Oscar just the year before. However he didn't tie it to racism).
The book also makes the case that, with only a handful of powerful films (and not that many bad ones-he didn't actually work all that much because he hated the business of acting), Brando is still arguably the greatest American actor captured on film. It's a solid argument.
Brando just couldn't handle the inequalities in the world and they crushed him. It was worse for him than for the rest of us because, rather than sheltering him from the world, his enormous celebrity made him run from Hollywood and hate a society that prized celebrity news over the impacts of racism, poverty, homophobia, etc., etc.
Sadly, it was only at the end of his life that Brando was able to apply this empathy to his treatment of women. He was sexually fluid from a young age, but that sexual liberation did not translate to his relationships. I'm glad he got there, but his life may have been a lot happy if he could have treated women as equals.