The Past Seems a Lot Like the Present in HBO’s THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA, Say David Simon and Winona Ryder

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Winona Ryder has a very jarring way of describing some of the historical and philosophical elements at play in HBO’s THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA. “A lot of people that I know didn’t know about Charles Lindbergh being an anti-Semite,” Ryder said. “They associate him with the kidnapping and the airplane. But I do think that when I hear people talk about ‘how far we’ve come,’ it can be like nail polish on claws.” Based on the acclaimed Philip Roth novel of the same name, THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA is a six-part series that debuts Monday at 9 p.m. ET, only on Crave. The story imagines an alternate American history, told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in New Jersey, as they watch the political rise of aviator-hero and xenophobic populist Lindbergh. In this world, Lindbergh wins the presidential election in 1940, and turns the United States toward fascism. The limited series, co-created by David Simon and Ed Burns, features an all-star ensemble cast that includes Ryder, Zoe Kazan, Morgan Spector, and John Turturro. “The piece is about the other, the fear of the other,” said Simon, advocating the timelessness, timeliness, and universal resonance of THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA. “It stands for everybody.” But relevance to modern times notwithstanding, Simon stopped short of predicting that the series could make any positive impact in a wider sense in the modern world. And he comes by that rather depressing conclusion honestly. “Well, I hope (it has a positive impact), but it’s weird, since I was a reporter for many years, I kind of lost my faith that if you tell a story properly, any good comes from it,” he said. “I know that sounds horrible, but … ” Ryder chimed in, “Wait, what? I disagree. I read stories … ” “But you’re a good person,” Simon said to Ryder. “I’m speaking to the outside world. The way I look at it is, you tell a story for its own sake. I wrote a lot of stories where I was like, ‘Now they’ll do the right thing,’ and they ended up doing the wrong thing, structurally. So I feel like at this moment in time, with the rhetoric that’s being directed against immigrants, and the nationalism, we all got together and did a project that speaks to it, and it says we weren’t silent, we did our jobs. But the moment you start going, ‘Now, what’s the effect?’ that’s where you crush your spirit.” But that being said, THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA highlights a community that is at risk, and actively must fight against having its collective spirit crushed. “I’m less interested in Lindbergh … I mean, the verdict on Lindbergh is no reason to do a six-part mini-series. It’s already out there,” Simon said. “I’m more interested in the dynamic of what creates a Lindbergh and how that can play upon our political institutions. Our form of government is fragile. It doesn’t seem that way, but it really is fragile. It is susceptible to demagoguery. And so democracy is a quotidian fight. Every day you kill a couple of snakes and you hope that, you know, you’ll be able to kill a couple more tomorrow. But if you stop, and if you sort of wait for that moment where you don’t have to fight any more, it’s never going to come. And if you stop fighting, you’re going to lose it.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv