This whole fuss did not only damage Fischer's image, but that of the USA as well. The way the Americans treated one of their most popular citizens did not make a positive impression worldwide.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The Soviet Union was an exception, but even there chess players were not rich. Only Fischer changed that.
Robert Rauschenberg was not a giant of American art; he was the giant. No American created so many aesthetic openings for so many artists.
The world fell apart. Sirhan Sirhan shot Bobby Kennedy. Why were people shooting all the Kennedys? Had the country gone mad?
My first reaction on being awarded the Nobel Prize was, actually, I thought of Fischer Black, my colleague. He unfortunately had passed away. And there was no doubt in my mind that if he were still alive, he would have been a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize.
It's still a political statement to stand on stage as a person of color and be excellent. We still need those images to combat the narrative we're often fed - as someone innately inferior or inexorably linked with lack.
People are affected by what they see, hear. This is what matters to me the most because then our job as actors is justified.
Unfortunately, after Sept. 11, there was an outburst in America of intense suffering and patriotism, and the Bush administration was very shrewd and effective in painting anyone who disagreed with the policies as unpatriotic or even traitorous.
Bobby Fischer has an enormous knowledge of chess and his familiarity with the chess literature of the USSR is immense.
I think Joe Jackson is a great American figure. In my opinion, he became a scapegoat.
David Lynch was very good, very patient with us, and the reaction in the United States seems pretty good.