Norman Mailer Thinks Muhummad Ali Was Unfairly Treated | The Dick Cavett Show
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- čas přidán 11. 06. 2020
- Norman Mailer pays his respects to Muhammad Ali, and believes that the fighter was let down by the Nation when he refused to fight in the Vietnam War.
Date aired - 5/25/1970 - Muhammad Ali, Norman Mailer
#MuhammadAli #NormanMailer
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Dick Cavett has been nominated for eleven Emmy awards (the most recent in 2012 for the HBO special, Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again), and won three. Spanning five decades, Dick Cavett’s television career has defined excellence in the interview format. He started at ABC in 1968, and also enjoyed success on PBS, USA, and CNBC.
His most recent television successes were the September 2014 PBS special, Dick Cavett’s Watergate, followed April 2015 by Dick Cavett’s Vietnam. He has appeared in movies, tv specials, tv commercials, and several Broadway plays. He starred in an off-Broadway production ofHellman v. McCarthy in 2014 and reprised the role at Theatre 40 in LA February 2015.
Cavett has published four books beginning with Cavett (1974) and Eye on Cavett (1983), co-authored with Christopher Porterfield. His two recent books -- Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets (2010) and Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic moments, and Assorted Hijinks(October 2014) are both collections of his online opinion column, written for The New York Times since 2007. Additionally, he has written for The New Yorker, TV Guide, Vanity Fair, and elsewhere.
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"When you're not depending on nobody or relying on nobody for nothing, then they can't hurt you!" - Muhammad Ali
*disappoint, not hurt. Get them ears working.
How true that statement is
@L H His Views are his and we draw conclusions from his views. He had better and greater values? On what standard do you make such a conclusion?
Do you know what a draft dodger is or what they do? They leave the country to avoid the draft. Ali stood his ground and simply refused. He didn’t dodge anything. He said NO right in their faces
@David Mc WTF are you talking about? The Nam War was confirmed to be a disaster , useless war. More than 50 thousands American soldiers lost their lifes, not to mention more than 1 million vietnamese mostly civillians perished in that stupid war.
Ali's presence is so powerful his just sitting there was a statement in itself
hope u r well Robert ,,this guy could barely read or write, yet his philosophy, is so simple that it's genius. .No Vietnamese, person ever called me A N******so why should I be ordered to kill them.. G W Bush, Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld , & Brigadier Bone Spurs himself were all asked to pick up a gun, & stand to post, but none of these cowardly hawks, ever did.
..There is a a guy Called Thomas Babington McCauley [ 1800 1859 ] wrote :
' the true test of a mans character , is what he would do, if he knew, he would never be found out'. The greatest & most famous sportsman ever Muhammad Ali, was the antithesis , of that poem, as he knew he would be found out, yet carried on his fight, regardless of the consequences, that would ensue ,for the benefit of his race.
.Happy new Year from Scotland...
What was the statement
His statement and how it comes across is of him being a pure racist
Muhammad was sitting there thinking it seem to me that he hope that bozo Norman Mailer do not say a word to him but Muhammad was still nice enough to probably have lied and say he would speak to him.
@@pmck3438 It's not a matter of interpretation. He was a racist in the most classic sense lol.
There are no conversations like these going on in today's talk shows anymore. Everything is so superficial nowadays
So true, nowadays everything is so shallow....
Which is a reflection of society in general
Steven Crowder does conversations like this on his "Change my mind" segments.
The talk show is dead, the internet is full of great conversations
What I hate more abt today, they talk over each other.the parnell 4 can be shouting at the same time.
Now I see why Muhammad Ali is everybody hero to look up to he really fought the good fight let's say his best his fights wasn't in the ring but when it counted most
Ali was standing up to a vicious US government and at that time most Americans supported the VN War. Ali's refusal to be drafted was not only an act of moral courage, he caused Americans to re-examine their own attitudes towards the war, and following the Tet Offensive most of America turned against the war while Nixon prolonged it for 5 years. Ali, like other war resisters, was proven right, and he paid a painful price for his moral decision.
‘whopping heads between signifying’
-Pedro Bell (on Ali)
Muhammad Ali was really a special human being. Both on and off the ring. May he rest in peace!
Really? He was a real PoS the way he treated Joe Frazier outside the ring.
@@siblej1Agreed! But his posness didn't stop there.
He lived a good life in the US and remained ungrateful to the end.
He was a loud-mouthed narcissist and a big baby.
I'm really enjoying these old Dick Cavett shows. It seems back then people valued intellect.
I am not American, I do not master English - American...but I do enjoy these old shows very much. The intellectual level that these people have, is a complete breath of fresh air....
Mohammed Ali the champ not only the greatest heavy weight boxer of all time but the greatest role model for people of color fearless , Graceful and thought invoking mind i can listen to him talk for days never went to college but still smarter than guys with phd's Rest in paradise you will be dearly missed . You were the real one
amen. but he was a draft Dodger
@@eddiev4785 he was a conscientious objector , there’s a difference .
@@therealhousewifeofballtown if everyone had the same thought process we would be under dictatorship not in a democratic state ! helloooo
College ain't a guarantee...a man gets educu...he gains the truth thru.observation and studying... Muslim are. Avide...scholars... world-wide.....
Ali is a Muslim....as I...
His degrees.... whiteyman cannot revolk..nor..can he deny..
ALI...said so.....
The best thing about this interview is how Ali stood up for handshake that's a real gentlemen. ♥️
His Mother raised him right. "Your manners will take you further than your money will." My great Grandmother told me this when I was eight years old and it's true. Thanks Great Grandmother, born in 1894. RIP, I tell my children and grandchildren the same thing.
He was practicing for later in life.
props to Dick Cavett for organizing so many amazing meetings of great intellectuals of the 20th century, so many serously important conversations for people to study, then and now
He was a bad awkward host
Norman Mailer never fails to say everything that's already been said while making the conversation about himself.
I know, right? He really butchered that Kierkegaard quote. And Ali was much more polite than I would had I have been in his shoes and a boozehound across from me was pontificating about the "greatness of Western Civilization." Don't get me wrong, I like existential philosophy as much as the next guy, but Ali's whole purpose was to shine the light on the evils of the worst Western institutions.
Mailer is insufferable. An egoist.
Quite interesting remark. It might be one of the reasons why he is so displeasing.
This is brilliant!! I'm going to use this line if ever I'm conversing with them that would appreciate it.
He made it about himself? You mean the entire time he’s taking about how great Ali is over and over???
This host doesn't exist nowadays in TV, he is so calm and collected
Well ig he's not necessarily a TV host, but we do have wonderful people such as joe rogan with his podcasts, amazing host
Ali here strikes me as being impervious to praise or criticism.
And THAT is what makes him FREE.
@@deejay306 Yes. A most enviable disposition which very few achieve. And for what it's worth I believe that history has proved he was right morally not to join the party in Vietnam.
Not depending on anyone. He didn't need anyone to kiss his ass and didn't care if they hated him, because he knew he was the greatest.
For Ali to accept praise for doing what’s right was to show dependence on the judgement of whether he was right or wrong. He was showing that the only judgement he cared about was that of God. So he didn’t need anyone to tell him he was right. I’m sure deep down he appreciated and was shocked that someone else affirmed it but he didn’t do it for that.
Cause he is his own motivator and his greatest critic
Mailer got to know Ali quite well in Zaire. They even went running together. Mailer's book The Fight is actually an excellent first hand account of the Rumble in the Jungle
Great book👌
Correct. One of the half-dozen best sports books ever written.
@Gumshoe Beaumont best read - hope you enjoyed it.
“Actually” a first hand account of the fight, or is it a first hand account? Was there originally a question as to what it was? I’m confused
Are you an editor? Are you somebody who spends his/her time proofreading comments on CZcams?
Wow, wow. Any historian of Americana has to rejoice at this: Ali and Mailer, both in their prime. Seen from any angle, this is prime primary source material. It doesn’t get better than this. Thank you, Dick Cavett.
Ali was having none of Mailer's smarmy drivel and remained coolly detached.
Where was Mailer when Ali was stripped of his belt? Was he protesting on Ali's behalf? If you have your God on your said, you don't need nothing else.
I was thinking the exact same thing.
@@angelrosario626 protest is the way you live your life...it is NOT about going to a march every 5 years.....because something has the publics attention....if i am against the vietnam war....i am already supporting Ali....get it?
Get in the real world. Mailer thought he was talking down to a beaten man. Ali showed he was flying higher. Mailer only extended a hand in a patronising gesture because he thought he’d find a way in. Ali saw it for what it wast - patronising crap
Yeah, well, "maybe" to this thread, but the fact is, the arena for judging Mailer is not the talk show but the written page. He devoted months of his life to writing superlative, powerful, compassionate, insightful prose about Ali; the end result, the book "The Fight" about Ali v. Foreman, is some of the best writing ever published about boxing, race in America, and the nature of athletic greatness.
"Fruitless questions are the death of a nation". Wise words from Mailer and something that is very apparent in this day and age.
Yes that’s absolutely true sadly. I’ve felt that since more or less around the world trade centre and the fallout.
And today they now ask ‘what is a man and what is a woman?’ America is dying with these ridiculous questions
That statement from Mailer was certainly hard hitting 🎯
One summer day in lovely Kalamazoo Michigan 1998 BEST day every!! Ali was eating at his favorite pizzeria and meeting fans. Was driving on the same road had to stop and omg thank God I did. He wasn't able to talk anymore but his silence spoke louder! RIP to the softest but toughest soul 💙
I'm listening to Norman and thinking, 'who does he sound like?' and it hit me, George Costanza from Seinfeld
Thank you! I was thinking of maybe it's some Family Guy side character but you're right, it's George!
I thought it reminded me of Steinbrenner lol
WTF!!!
Nah that's Just how people used to talk back in them days
Nooooooooooooooo
Such thoughtful comments from people who visit this channel. Cavett continues to bring out the best in us.
Ali is the only person I’ll remember from this life.
Ali was pure class. And so was Cavett
Yeah, whatever.
Muhammad is so classy.
And very smart. He avoided the war!
By using his so called religious beliefs!
Imagine if everyone was like ali we would not have a country heloooooooo
@@eddiev4785 countries and wars are pointless essentially. Sources of division. We should all live in peace
@@filipmazic5486 I agree but tell that to the thousands of young soldiers that didn't have choice and died for their country
@@eddiev4785 Yeah tell that to black soldiers who go to war only to come home and be made second class citizens, take the war and shove it, that was Ali's message and I am OK with that
@@SupremeBros2012 if you feel that way move to another country were you feel more at home and confterbul
i think he was trying to tell Ali of what he really had done but Ali's presence swallowed him alieve!!
Mailer is charismatic. He talks about what the world lost but only about missing him fight. He should also have talked about the principles involved in Ali’s cause and about the Vietnam war. The loss of boxing was not the most important thing to Ali. It was fighting what was unfair and doing what was right. He wouldn’t have liked this part of Mailer’s talk. He said the people know he is the champ, he’s not concerned about that
Exactly. Ali had his mind fixated on more important social issues. Boxing was the least of his concerns at that time. Which explains his cold demeanor towards Mailer.
I think he was also hammered in this interview.
I am so glad that these boring type of talk shows no longer exists. They were just full of a bunch of deep and insightful guests having profoundly meaningful conversations. Because now, we have Jimmy Fallon, and that is so so so much better than this old real stuff!
.... The above statement is 100% complete and total sarcasm!
You shouldn’t have added the last bit just to see how many people thought you were serious hha
You had me in the first half, NGL...
"fruitless questions are the death of a nation".
I like that.
Ali was treated as a political puppet by the powers- that- be of the time. Stripping him of his achievements was obscene and calculated. However, it was this very act that allowed him to take a stance against not only political chicanery but the country as a whole. He was a driving force in civil rights and the re- education of black youth in America.
I Love the way the Champ carried himself.
Mailer was only talking about the sport of boxing but does NOT go into the more important reason why Muhammad Ali did not want to aid the US Gov't with his refusal to accept military induction and serve the US by wrongfully fighting against the VIETNAMESE. The people of Vietnam were only fighting for their freedom against colonialism/imperialism by foreigners-(France & USA).
"You can not please god and the devil too so I'm pleasing god " true legend
The difference between a man of words and a man of substance.
"If the television went on long enough" that was the biggest dig of this entire thing
Mailer here uses so many words to say so little.
Thats why hemingway was a better writer
I used to be the same in my high school english class. It was a lesson hard learnt. I’d throw as many words as I could in and all that really shows is grasp of language, it doesn’t convey anything well though
honestly
I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Mailer is a very intelligent man. What if he says a lot more than you think and the little is just a reflection of your own mind and its failure to grasp his meaning?
bit like russell brand
Wow ! Great interview
This was a great conversation !!!
". .. fruitless questions are a death of a nation."
Brilliant.
"you can not please God and devil too - so I am pleasing God."
Such a powerful message 💗
Mohammed Ali was indeed God's show off creation no doubt on that.
2:55 "It's pointless to defend an entire race or even attack one." That's the perfect reply to what Mailer said.
its a great quote.
Cavett really tried to make his show as deep as possible. Respected everyone. He and Carson were kind to everyone on their shows.
Great comment EGarret. It was great that DC didn't rise to Mailer's obnoxious race-baiting. Mailer was a hate-filled, pretentious and narcissistic blowhard.
Conversational TV is so missing today. Jack Paar and his disciple Cavett were the best. Tom Snyder was another great conversationalist and I wish there were more episodes available of his Tomorrow Show on CZcams.
such a amazing man legends never die x
Mailer is natural politician: he uses so many words yet still says so very little.
Yeah and he spends most of the time trying to unpaint himself from a corner. It's amusing because he's so trying to not be offensive, but he's such a bad conversationalist here that it comes across as uncomfortable.
Zzzzzzzzz 😪
We saw how he shook the hand of Muhammad Ali. Great respect right there for the Greatest.
wow now thats what i call a talk show
Fair play champ, miss you and god bless you. 🌎✌️❤️🙏
Dick Cavett almost sh%t a brick when Norman Mailer said, _"I agree with everything Muhammad Ali said."_
Fascinating discussion the week I was born.
Beyond fascinating.
Great freeman, Ali. Full respect
Norman Mailer had a fascinating accent.
Yep! It's called ignorance.
@@RoderBrent He was an intelligent man but I think his narcissism got in the way of his wisdom.
He sounds quite Irish
Steven Fitzgerald yeah, a little. He sounds very American or like he’s from New York and then suddenly he’ll sound Irish or British.
Yes, it sounds like Wild Irish Rose.
This is how men talked back in the day. today you can't speak without hurting someone's feelings. R.I.P Mohammed Ali.
You are so right nowadays so many people have such thin skin . Everything offends them .
This is damn beautiful. So much intellectualism, and better than that, great wisdom.
Who watching 2020
not me
I am too young to know mailer but I agree with him what he said.
Difficult Times the Vietnam Era. We Know more Now but we have to Thank Norman and Ali for some of that.
Gracious me this facing of a philosopher madman with the most eloquent pugilist recorded is towering yet anxiouciously volumated testament to the uniqueness and well merited position of Cavett's show.
Could you write this out again in English?
I've never seen the host but what a master! 👏
They became good friends.
Very relevant today. "If you don't bow..."
"with a mask on, at a distance"
@@matthewronson5218 ye
This was before the Rumble in the Jungle and Mailer’s novel The Fight.
"Fruitless questions are the death of a nation"... Amen
What a ownst man. RESPECT!
Dayum! Norman Mailer comes out swinging!
The GREATEST Muhammad Ali
Ali handled this mess like a genius.
Damn, as much as I respect Ali, he clearly effected by his title removal. He just not letting it get to him more.
What's interesting about this interview is that Ali's greatness was solidified after he came back with the 3 Frazier fights, foreman and the comeback from Norton breaking his jaw
Mailers fight with Rip Torn was almost as brutal as the Thriller in Manila. Ali never faced a guy armed with a claw hammer 🔨 😂
There's something deeply unpleasant about how Mailer fawned over Ali. "I'm here to pay my respects, I'm here to pay my respects, I'm here to pay my respects..." The nervous constancy of it said a lot more about Mailer's insecurities than Ali's greatness.
What presence!
Mailer is hammered.
*_3:03_**_ Nobody mentioned beauty until mailer did._*
I think people back then were smarter than people now.
It may seem that we're less smart now because we are saturated with voices in the media, so there's less chance for a person to rise above the fray.
It is more that the smart people are not invited onto talk shows any longer. People want the vacuous, shallow idiots that pass as celebrities these days rather than the intellectual ones who really have something to say.
You say that when one person in the crowd was clapping lol
Even when you are making a serious point, you need to understand comedy timing; Norman Mailer doesn't.
as soon as this started it was pretty easy to discern that ali had this from the gate
Dick cavett reminds me a lot of myself if I tried to do a talk show, I wouldn't do too well
Ali prove he was the greatest, when he beat Foreman at the age of 32 a fight he might not have had to fight if his belt was not taken away in his prime! To me he has nothing to prove he is the greatest boxer ever he is the G.O.A.T.
nobody mentions that Ali also wrote poetry that was quite good.
lol, sting like a bee
@Jim Newcombe of consequence? Lol he was one of the most influential people of the 20th century czcams.com/video/3jKw2oiox1U/video.html
czcams.com/video/Piq23TwZXVE/video.html
I must read some of Mailer's works. I've yet to find him in the least bit likeable but he is fascinating somehow.
Dick Cavett
19/11/36
85 años
The Mailman always delivers.
Wow !
Amen Mr. Clay.
We are to lean on Him for all dispite what the world and those that follow it tell us otherwise.
Hallelujah☝️
It's mr. Ali sinds '64 if you didn't knew yet
I love how Ali immediately knows Mailer is a chump
Now I know why Ali the greatest. He's smart, righteous, good, independent and autonomous.
When yiu watch this you start to see how FAKE everything is today
💯
corporations indirectly kill free speech by owning everything and telling people what they can or cant talk about. we're still in the middle-east because no one will speak against the wars because if they do theyll lose their sponsorships. among other issues that are being sileneced.
@@larrywexner4163 very true brother! To learn who rules over you ,look to those you cannot criticise....
This must’ve been before the Gore Vidal battle since the crowd cheered for him
@Light Myst the Mailer/Vidal interview on Cavett
Yes it was.
I suspect Norman Mailer seriously misrepresented Kierkegaard, if he's suggesting that moral self examination is fruitless, then that's insane and very sad. Self examination is what makes us human. animals don't question their choices, we do every day.
No i don't think he said that. My interpretation of what he said was that even if you do reflect on your morals which is good, you can not definitely say yourself if what you have done is right or wrong. Bit hard to explain this one, sorry my native language is not English.
That's not true in all animals.
Wow x
When you don't rely on the banks they can't hurt you. That's why I never asked for a loan or took a single dollar more than I actually had from The bank. So in general the same goes for everything. But at the end of the day people still need people, you can't do everything all on your own.
I can't be the only one who wants to reach into the screen and run a comb through Mr. Mailer's hair, only for it to do nothing!
Whew!!!
« إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا » 🥰
سبحان الله ... الحمد لله ... لا إله إلا الله .... الله أكبر .... لا حول ولاقوة إلا بالله ..
Muhammad Ali is deeply philosophical here. Want to know whats missing now that they had then? Many of them were nuanced in philosophy.
I know I’m not the sharpest tool need the shed but-
Am I the only person left confused about what Mailer was trying to say?
right he used so many words but said so little at the same time lol
He was talking about what a loss to the sport of boxing Muhammad Ali's boxing ban was, not Ali's moral stand against the Vietnam War.
Muhammad Ali is the best man.
why you say that can you explain?
Fruitless questions are a death of a nation -- Norman Mailer
Now I have to rewatch When We Were Kings
why?
My parent's generation might have said of Mailer, "'Im brainy 'til 'im tonn(turn) fool." Ali probably smelt the booze on his breath and decided to have little to do with him in this interview.