Matt Damon has said he is glad Donald Trump and his team liked the writing on Air, after efforts by Ben Affleck and himself to have a fundraising video using a monologue from the movie taken down seemingly failed.
The monologue, delivered by Damon, describes “an American story” about a man who is first cheered on and then torn down as he pursues greatness – much as Trump was after he went from being celebrity tycoon hailed by Hollywood to a conservative leader despised by the elite class.
During a recent CNN appearance, Damon was pressed on the video, which Trump shared on his Truth Social platform, with host Chris Wallace saying: “I know you denounced it, you and Ben Affleck.”
“Yeah, we said, you know, you don’t have our permission to use that,” Damon replied.
“But the last I heard it was still up on front of Trump social [sic],” Wallace responded.
“I don’t know what to make of it. I mean, you know, he’s probably… I’m glad they like our writing,” said Damon.
The monologue can be read in full below:
“Money can buy you almost anything. It can’t buy you immortality, that you have to earn.
“I’m gonna look you in the eyes, and I’m gonna tell you the future. It’s an American story, and that’s why Americans are gonna love it. People are going to build you up, God are they going to, because when you’re great and new, we love you. Men will build you into something that doesn’t even exist, you’re going to change the f***ing world.
“But you know what? Once they build you as high as they possibly can, they’re gonna tear you back down. It’s the most predictable pattern. We build you into something that doesn’t exist, and that means you have to try to be that thing all day, every day. That’s how it works. And we do it again, and again, and again.
“I’m gonna tell you the truth. You’re gonna be attacked, betrayed, exposed, humiliated, and you’ll survive that. A lot of people can climb that mountain. It’s the way down that breaks them, because that’s the moment when you’re truly alone – and what will you do then? Can you summon the will to fight on through all the pain and rise again? That will be the defining question of your life, and I think you already know the answer.
“That’s why we’re all here. A shoe is just a shoe, until somebody steps into it – then it has meaning. The rest of us just want a chance to touch that greatness. We need you in these shoes. Not so you have meaning in your life, but so that we have meaning in ours. Everyone will be forgotten, as soon as our time here is up. Except for you. You’re gonna be remembered forever, because some things are eternal, and your story is going to make us fight and never give up.”
