Martin Sheen stars as the owner of a Washington, D.C. radio station who stands behind his controversial on-air radio personality, Petey Greene, in the dramatic movie Talk to Me.
Playing the Guy Who Runs the Station: Sheen shared his take on his character’s decision to hire Petey Green, a star on the airwaves in the 1960s. “Well, it was a black station. It played Motown music. It was obviously geared towards the vast majority of the population of Washington, D.C. which is black, and the inner city. So he knew that he had better appeal to the community if he wanted to stay on the air. So bringing in Petey Green was a business decision and a risky one.
You have to remember that the ratings. They were trying desperately in any number of ways to improve the ratings and it just went further and further down. People were not listening. So when Petey Green arrived at the station, it was a big risk because he was so open and just so vulnerable and publicly unchanged from any private behavior, including his language. It was a risk. At the same time, it was a business venture. It was not an accident that he chose him. He was feathering his own nest, and that's cool. They became very close. In the end, he had an opportunity to sell the station to a white consortium for more money but he realized he owed a debt of gratitude to the black community and he wanted that station to remain in black hands, so he sold it to a black consortium who still owns it.”
Truth vs Fiction: Although some characters in the movie were composites of real people, Sheen was playing a real man. “Sonderling is a real guy, he's dead now, God rest him, but he was a good and decent man. He had a lot of heart and he had pretty good taste in radio. He was in on what has to be considered the invention of talk radio. He was ‘Petey Green, talk to me.’ He was the guy. But he was talking to a specific community, one that didn't condemn him for his addictions or his felonies or for being blunt in his language or assessment in the culture, of the society. He said it like it was, man, and this is at a very critical time in our country.
Remember, I knew this time. I lived in the East Coast from 1959 to 1969. I don't remember Peter Green specifically, but I remember the time and place and the turmoil the country was involved in in tandem with the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement. They were inextricably connected. It was about where our priorities were going to land in the heavens. It was about human rights, human dignity or force of will. It was a great conflict and a wonderful time to be alive. Very tragic time as well because we lost two of our heroes in Reverend King and less than 60 days later, Bobby Kennedy, and the country never recovered. We lost an opportunity with Robert Kennedy and we ended up with Richard Nixon and it's gone downhill ever since.
With all due respects to Mr. Carter, and Mr. Clinton, it's gone steadily downhill. It's about corporate America that gets the lion's share and their say. Most of the people on radio now are the voices and the mindset of corporate America. You couldn't get Petey Green on the radio today, I'm sorry. I think that time passed. They wouldn't tolerate him. They couldn't tolerate that measure of truth with that much passion.”
Looking Into the Future: Asked if he believes there might be a resurgence of the Petey Green type of social activism in the next 10 years, Sheen replied, “Yes, I think the American people are just on this one issue of Iraq, have woken up to this administration, that this administration lied and cheated and they all belong in a federal penitentiary for their actions. He used the military to further a political agenda. That's the bottom line. Finally, the military is waking up to this. It's very hard to find anyone in the top brass that wants to risk their reputation by throwing in with this crowd. It's a hopeless situation because it was born in arrogance. Arrogance is ignorance matured. I didn't make the rules. I observed the results and that's what we're dealing with here.
Sheen said he actually “hopes” being so outspoken has been detrimental to his career. “I hope so. No, really. But you see, I don't know myself on the winning side. I'm never comfortable unless I'm uncomfortable. I don't know that; I don't want that. I'm not interested in being loved or liked. I'm interested in being free. I'm interested in knowing myself as I really am. I'm interested in uniting the will of the spirit to the work of the flesh. The only one that I have to account for is myself. I'm not trying to influence anybody. I don't really care a damn if anybody follows me or believes me. That's not important. I do it for myself so that I will know myself and earn my own freedom.
We're not asked to be successful. We're only asked to be faithful. We're not asked to do great things, we're only asked to do all things with great love. That's Mother Teresa's quote. It's one of my favorites. One of my quotes is "the only things that we can take with us when we leave this life are the things which we cherished and gave away with love including our precious time." That's all that interests me because I'm not going to be able to lay off on my government my actions when it comes to the end of my life. "Oh, I would have done more service to justice or peace or the poor. I would have spoken out if my government would have only supported me." No. They won't be there to intercede between me and my soul. My only salvation is what's at stake and all of us have to answer to that. And everything that I've been involved in has not improved. It's gotten worse. All the issues have gotten worse.”
But Running for Office Isn’t an Option: “No, no, no because that's not what I do. I wouldn't have a clue and I could not serve a specific constituency. I'd have to serve my own spirit. I was asked to be involved on one level politically. I'm not interested in politics. I'm interested in social justice. I had to make it clear to them that they were confusing credibility with celebrity. There's a big difference. I'm not qualified for public service.”
