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Actor Brad Pitt May Play Pontius Pilate in New Movie — the Man Who Authorized Jesus’ Crucifixion

Jan. 9, 2013 8:46am Billy Hallowell

Hollywood is embracing faith-based films of late — and considering the successes that low budget, church-produced features like “Courageous” have had, it’s no wonder Tinseltown is finally invoking more spiritual themes. A reboot of the evangelical “Left Behind” series is on the way and now there’s talk of actor Bratt Pitt potentially playing a sinister character in another film centered around a Biblical figure — Pontius Pilate.

A Yahoo! entertainment report claims that the actor is considering depicting the man who will forever be known as having convicted Jesus Christ to death, thus authorizing the Christian savior’s crucifixion. While Pitt has not yet accepted the role, Deadline reports that a deal could move swiftly if, indeed, he commits.

Report: Brad Pitt May Play Pontius Pilate the Man Who Authorized Jesus Crucifixion

Actor Brad Pitt attends The Cinema Society with Men’s Health and DeLeon hosted screening of The Weinstein Company’s ‘Killing Them Softly’ on November 26, 2012 in New York City. Credit: Getty Images

When Yahoo! Movies reached out to Warner Bros., the company behind the “Pontius Pilate” project, staffers dismissed the Pitt story as a rumor and declined to comment. However, they did not entirely dismiss the possibility that he is in talks to take the role. If, indeed, the actor accepts, this would apparently be the first time that Pitt has played a sinister lead role in a major feature film.

Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. claims to have viewed a draft of the script, offering up a relatively invigorating plot-line. Here’s how he describes what he’s seen so far:

…it’s very strong stuff and has the makings of a compelling period big budget film. This script follows the evolution of Lucius Pontius Pilate from the sensitive son of a Roman Knight into a ferocious soldier whose warrior exploits make him a general and puts him on a political track under the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Promised a military governorship in Egypt, Pilate is instead assigned by Tiberius to become the prefect of Judea, at a time when Jerusalem was a cauldron of religious tensions between various factions of the Jewish faith. Pilate veers from the political fast track into the express lane to hell and historical infamy. Rather than a straight ahead Biblical film, Blasi’s script reads almost like a Biblical era Twilight Zone episode in which a proud, capable Roman soldier gets in way over his head. His arrogance and inability to grasp the devoutness of the citizenry and its hatred for the Roman occupiers and their pagan gods leads him to make catastrophic decisions. All of this puts him in a desperate situation and in need of public approval when he is asked to decide the fate of a 33-year old rabbi accused by religious elders of claiming he is King of the Jews. Along the way, such Roman emperors including Caligula and Tiberius and New Testament figures like John the Baptist, Salome and Mary Magdalene are seen in a tale that culminates with Pilate’s fateful decision to allow Jesus Christ to be crucified.

Brad Pitt poses for a portrait to promote his film, “Killing Them Softly,” on Monday, Nov. 26, 2012 in New York. Credit: Victoria Will/Invision/AP

The Pontius Pilate script was written by Vera Blasi and the film will be produced by Mark Johnson. Blasi previously wrote the script for the film “Woman on Top” (2000).

Whether or not Pitt takes the gig, the film will certainly spark the interest of religious people and history buffs, alike.

(H/T: Yahoo! Movies)

–

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Comments (74)

Cryinthewilderness
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 1:44pm
He should be able to play the part very well since he has been denying Jesus for years. His mother should be very proud for raising such a soulless individual but then again look at his wife. This is what America is turning out. Soulless, immoral, unaccountable people.

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- JediKnight
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 3:31pm
  Too bad it wasn’t really Pilate that was at fault. Pilate did what he did to avoid an uprising. Read the scriptures. The Jews of the time, led by the Pharisees, pushed Pilate to sentence an innocent man to death and release a guilty man in the process. Jesus threatened the power of the Pharisees with everything he did.
  
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- Keatonc33
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 6:26pm
  so this is journalism according to the blaze
  
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- tzion
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 8:18am
  @jedi
  You’ve confused Pharisees with Sadduces. Both Herod and the high priest were Sadducees who were sympathetic to Rome, which would explain why they turned to Pilate. The Pharisees were certainly not in power at the time.
  
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todd147
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 1:42pm
Pilate did not sentence Jesus to death. We all did.

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- SquidVetOhio
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 2:04pm
  Correct. If you read the gospels, Pilate tried to convince the Sanhedrin that Jesus was innocent. Finally, out of frustration and fear of an up-rising he washed his hands of it. Pilate still ordered the death of an innocent man but, it was really against his will. Some Bible scholars believe Pilate’s wife was a Christian.
  
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- The_Cabrito_Goat
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 2:22pm
  Even the Roman soldiers who seized Jesus did so reluctantly. This guy was no criminal, what was he doing wrong? But hey, in the Roman military, you did what you were told.
  
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- WhiteFang
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 4:39pm
  Who was responsible for Jesus’ death? Was it Pilate, the Romans, or the Jews?
  
  This is what Jesus said about it:
  
  17This is why the Father loves me, because I surrender my soul, in order that I may receive it again.18No man has taken it away from me, but I surrender it of my own initiative. I have authority to surrender it, and I have authority to receive it again. The commandment on this I received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18)
  
  Jesus did volunteer for his assignment, to be a propitiatory sacrifice for all mankind. He accomplished the will of his Father, his God Jehovah.
  
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- Edomite
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 6:28am
  The Pharisee’s were Edomites/Jews that dwelt in Judah and were descended from Easu not Jacob. The Edomite/Pharisee’s that followed the Talmud crucified Jesus. Not the Tribe of Judah. The physical territory of Judah filled with Edomite/Jews when the real Tribe of Judah was exiled off into Babylon. When the real Tribe of Judah came back after 70 years it was occupied by Edomite Jews that were descendants from Esau. The real Tribe of Judah was not permitted to mix with these Edomite Jews and the marriages occurred were declared unlawful and void. After the crucifixion pretty much all the Tribe of Judah converted to Christianity. The Edomite Jews started calling themselves the real Jews to deceive. Today’s Jews are not descended from the Tribe of Judah and 99% have no Israelite blood in them. The ones that do are most Edomite’s that mixed with a real Tribe of Judah Israelite which are Sephardic Jews(today 5% of those calling themselves Jews but are Edomites). Sephardic Jews converted the pagan and Phallic worshipping Ashkenazi Khazar Jews(95% calling themselves jews) to Talmudic Judaism. Both Ashkenazi/Khazar and Sephardic Jews regard the Talmud as the highest source of Judaism and it trumps the Torah/OT. Jesus was upset because the real Tribe of Judah was following the false teachings of the Talmud through the Edomite Jewish Pharisee’s. Thats why Jesus called them the Synagogue of Satan and vipers. No mainstream Christian religion follows the Talmud.
  
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rochrealtor
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 1:14pm
Brad Pitt…Hollywood…, and Pontius Pilot are DEAD TO ME!

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- The_Cabrito_Goat
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 2:23pm
  Brad Pitt did a good portrayl of Achilles in Troy. A similar Mediterranean person fits his actor filmography fairly well.
  
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AmericanStrega
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 12:18pm
I clicked on this article just to post my opinion of “I DON’T GIVE A CRAP”. Take that trolls!

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BurntHills
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:47am
the Hollywood commies will cast obama as Christ, because they have already glorified obama as God and that communist bastard with his embezzled billions is a narcissistic sociopath already and craves to be ‘a star’ in every sense; or they will cast some muslim or black actor who is known to be anti-Christian; and 1%-er elitist secular Pitt would be their choice as Pilate because the world’s seen he gave up his mother’s Christianity and decency years ago when he outgrew every hat size there is. he didn’t even come to his decent Christian mother’s defense when his communist buddies on the Left attacked her for being a Christian defending her faith last year. Pitt as a Roman who sentences Christ to death, oh yeah, perfect casting. (look how Pitt-Jolie have turned their daughter into a little boy, just to show how solid they are with the degenerate Left.)

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- roscoe569
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 12:48am
  Your post is filled with venom
  
  Report this comment
Locked
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:46am
I’m honestly not sure where all this anti-Pitt animosity is coming from. Did he strangle a puppy or something? I mean, I can understand disliking Mel Gibson for being an anti-Semite.

But Pitt seems pretty all right overall. He’s adopted several children. I remember reading that he’s donating millions and millions to charities (looking online, it seems he and Angelina Jolie donated $8 million in 2006 alone). The causes he’s supported include rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina, stopping genocide worldwide, and eradicating extreme rural poverty. Some of his movies are bad and some are good (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Moneyball were pretty good).

So really, what has he done to make him a target of such hate? Is it taking this particular role? Is it because he and Angelina Jolie aren’t married? Is it simply because anything associated with Hollywood is somehow seen as deserving damnation?

Because it looks like most of the comments here are sour grapes that the commenters are not attractive, successful, and rich. Am I missing something?

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- DoseofReality
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:49am
  Becasue people here are full of hate…simple answer…they hate lots of things – it shows on every single story about anything
  
  Report this comment
- alinmatt
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:59am
  Brad Pitt is a good actor. So is Mel Gibson. So is Angelina Jolie. People can think what they want of them, but they are good at their jobs.
  
  Report this comment
- Creativethinker
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 1:47pm
  @LOCKED People here don’t hate Pitt, he is a very influential liberal and pushes the gay marriage agenda, AND did not defend his own mother when she was attacked and even had death threats for supporting Mitt Romney as a christian. Alot of respect for him has been lost.
  
  Report this comment
TeresaJ
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:43am
This isn’t the first time hollywood has tried this, but the films they make tend to fail because they are made by people who know nothing about what they are portraying. If hollywood is serious about this, they better be having some pastors on hand, and I don’t mean Rick Warren.

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SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:42am
.
What we need is a modern day Pontius Pilate to condem Obama and his followers…….

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- neverending
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:10pm
  Yes, yes and yes.
  
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Voter713
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:22am
The roll suits him. He is not like his mother who is a christian – he is worldly. God will be talking to Him the whole time while they use the Word to make the movie and I pray Pitt can hear Him.

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- SonOfThunder
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 7:06pm
  Yes Pitt, hollywood, Obama and much of world need to hear the Word and repent and trust in Jesus alone.
  
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barber2
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:21am
Coming from the Hollywood elite of today, they will probably Blame the Jews and imply that Christ was actually a Palestinian !

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- aproudinfidel
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:47am
  Sarah Silverman to play Mary, Michael Moore will be cast as Joseph. It will give us a whole new perspective on the Son of God.
  
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CWPrequired
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:11am
When is he going to play the gay guy spreading AIDS?

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Cavallo
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:46am
They seem really keen on writing defaming films about Jesus. It is interesting (outside of the movie Little Buddha with Neo as Buddha) that they have so few defaming films about other religions. They did try and make a poorly acted film about the Pedophile Prophet, but the US government found a way to throw the filmmaker in prison. Maybe its because they know that defaming Christians is less likely to get one of their directors stabbed in the chest? (The producers of 2012 admitted they had no problems showing the death of the Pope and the destruction of the Vatican in their disaster movie, but didn’t want to show any Muslims getting killed or mecca destroyed because they were worried about violence towards their cast members)

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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:07am
  Given the recent actions of the Atheists, and Obamas personal war on Christianity I am not surprised in the least. Their goal is simple, eliminate Christianity completely or subvert it to the will of Obama for his agenda.
  
  Report this comment
Tri-ox
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:41am
Oh really? I heard that he is also set for the lead in the Monica Lewinsky story, as “Monica”, opposite Hillary Clinton as “Bill” with John Cusack as “Hillary” and Roseanne Barr as “Al-gore”.

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jman-6
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:38am
Remember what Moochelle said “Barak knows we gotta change our history, he’s not gonna allow you to go back to doing things you used to do” yada,yada,yada!

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ares338
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:36am
He will use an AK but it will be OK with the left…..cuz it’s HOLLYWOOD folks.

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SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:27am
.
I wonder if his Mother is going to approve of this?………….

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jcldwl
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:20am
Just had to say. Who cares?

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- randy
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:35am
  My thoughts exactly……..F Hollywood
  
  Report this comment
- 65Mustang
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:36am
  Like you, I personally don’t give a damn about Matt Damon and definitely will not see anything movie he is in or his wife, shack-up or whatever their relationship is at the moment
  
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- DoseofReality
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:50am
  If you didnt care you wouldnt read the story or take the time to post about it….
  
  Report this comment
- GuruMeditation
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 2:03pm
  @DoseofReality: Yeah. Right.
  
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WildschweinJager
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:17am
Prediction is it will be an “Anti” Christ film and will be inline with the leftist-democratic-socialist-hollywood agenda. Who runs Hollywood and the media?

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- CatB
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:44am
  Exactly … do not support these vile and anti-God people .. just more leftist propaganda .. instead READ THE BOOK … it is still available (for now) it is called The Bible.
  
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- WildschweinJager
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 3:02pm
  @CATB
  
  “The Bible, still avavilable “for now”, You are so right CATB!
  
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- Edomite
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 5:49pm
  They just want to keep making films the pervert the truth about Christianity bc they know most don’t know the Bible. They worship Lucifer. Thats why they have such hated for Jesus Christ. Count how many times in every film a jewish actor or actress uses Jesus Christ’s name in vein!!! You can’t debate the facts of the Holocaust but Our Lord and Savior and the Christian religion are fair game for Jews.
  
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term limits for congress
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:02am
Who will play obama?

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- JoanofAmerica
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:10am
  Himself? He is that narcissistic.
  
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- J3player
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 2:39pm
  Satan will play the role of Obama.
  
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4BlueStars
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:02am
Oh please! Achilles was bad enough.

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- christhefanatic
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 2:59pm
  Agreed….Hollywood crapping in super slow-mo.
  
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Top_Contributor
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 8:58am
Overheard at the last tea party chapter meeting: “Oh well that settles it, no more Brad Pitt movies for me, and I’m taking down all my poster of him too!”

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- JoanofAmerica
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:13am
  I’m done with Hollywood. I was an aspiring actress and filmmaker and I got tired of the hypocrisy and being told my scripts weren’t politically correct etc. we need a NEW Hollywood! I would love to start my own independent film company. Someone needs to… He’ll, I’d even hire Gibson back if he’d go to aa.
  
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- Top_Contributor
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:48am
  Hate to break it to you, but that’s not why your scripts were rejected.
  
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- barber2
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:23am
  JOAN: Aren’t you blessed ? You have been granted an audience with the world’s greatest authority on everything, Top Contributor !
  
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copatriots
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 8:58am
Not that I’ve seen a Brad Pitt movie in several years but, from memory……

The only thing worse than Pitt’s morals (which influence his politics) is his acting.

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- DoseofReality
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:52am
  How are his morals so terrible? Was it his adopting impovrished children and giving them good homes…was it his donating millions upon millions of dollars to charity every year? Those morals?
  
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- copatriots
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 2:17pm
  Are you kidding me? Give it a rest.
  
  Do you mean his high moral standards of having an affair (emotional, physical or otherwise) while he was married? Or advancing his oh-so-moral agenda of homosexuality? Or do you mean his support of politicians who champion murdering babies in the womb so late that it occurs before they take their first breath of air?
  
  I guess potentially giving millions away (which somehow I seriously doubt is a personal sacrifice) from a profession where you are paid to pretend to be someone else scores high on your morality chart.
  
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- copatriots
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 2:30pm
  P.S. Dose
  
  Please confirm what percentage of annual income the “millions” you believe Pitt gives away represents of his overall salary. Thank you.
  
  Personally, I have far greater respect for the person I know who lives below the poverty line and gives 20% of their income to charity.
  
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hauschild
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 8:57am
Yawn ….

More revisionist history in the making.

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- repairsea
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:16am
  Amen.
  
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ArmedAndReallyPissed
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 8:55am
The Fuhrer will be outraged over this !! He wanted that role.

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SquidVetOhio
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 8:50am
I would have guessed Judas would have been a better fit.

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- naughtycal
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 8:57am
  Someone tell Bill hallowell that Pontius left it to the jewish mob to either crusify Christ or a known rapist and murderer. The crowd chose and Pontius gave the mob what it wanted to keep the peace.
  
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- bccrane
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:40am
  @NAUGHTYCAL; That’s the same take I have Pontius Pilate was not the evil sinister guy he literally and figuratively washed his hands of the matter and left it to the mob for he could see no wrong in Jesus’ actions but as for Barabbas he was also claiming to be the mesiah and was to deliver the Jews from the Romans and had led a rebellion against the Romans and was to be put to death for that so Pilate left it to the Jews to chose between a murderer and a rabbi accused of blasphemy. What the Jews wanted to hear from a mesiah was that they would be delivered from the Romans one was saying that, but the rabbi was talking about bringing the Jewish God to the non Jews and that is what infuriated the Jews.
  
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- kickagrandma
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:47am
  Bingo!
  
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- SquidVetOhio
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 2:07pm
  Pilate was actually trying to convince them to release Jesus. I think Mel Gibson portrayed Pilate correctly in The Passion of the Christ.
  
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- tradcatholicgirl
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 2:59pm
  Agreed.
  
  Pilate was disinterested in the Jews and in Jesus. He was focused on making the only decision that would prevent Rome from punishing him, either physically or politically.
  
  That is the evil in him. That he was sent to look after the welfare of a region and its people, but did not care about, nor did he understand, their concerns or their culture.
  
  He was an ordinary guy in that way.
  
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