True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto bluntly details what viewers still get wrong about Matthew McConaughey’s character, Rust Cohle, all these years later. It was the dynamic between McConaughey’s character and Woody Harrelson’s Marty Hart that helped True Detective season 1 become an enduring hit for HBO, nabbing McConaughey an Emmy and helping to solidify the next chapter of his career. However, for as memorable as the actor’s portrayal was, Pizzolatto points out that it’s been misunderstood by some.
Speaking at a panel for this year’s Austin Film Festival, via /Film, Pizzolatto talked about how McConaughey’s True Detective character doesn’t actually believe the nihilistic viewpoints that he espouses. Pizzolatto offers examples to combat the typical reading of Rust Cohle, explaining how Cohle actually finds the world around him to be “overwrought with meaning” and that the viewpoints he shares are not that much deeper than the average college freshman. Read Pizzolatto’s quote below:
I think if you watch the show, it’s obvious Cohle does not believe in the stuff he says. Anytime somebody called Cohle a nihilist, I was always like, “What do you think a nihilist is?” Because far from nothing meaning anything to Cohle, if anything, the world seemed overwrought with meaning to Cohle and for a nihilist, he sure does care about doing the right thing and serving justice. When he complains to the sky, who does he think he’s complaining to? So there were always these contradictions in him. And I always thought it was a real bummer that certain faction of people who thought, “This guy is laying down truth.” I was always like, “Well, if you’ve ever been in a freshman dorm room, you might hear the same sorts of stuff.”
Pizzolatto’s True Detective Clarification Fits A Trend
The worldview of Cohle became a major talking point in True Detective season 1, leading to parodies and a subset of fandom all its own. Even at the time, though, it was clear that the show was pushing back against reading Cohle as purely nihilistic. This comes through in the finale, and even in the season’s closing moments. Recovering from his injuries, and showing vulnerability to Marty, it’s Cohle who expresses optimism and points out that “the light is winning.”
The reclamation from Pizzolatto is not the first of its kind. To take another example, the cast and crew of The Boys have continually clarified that Homelander is not in any way the hero of the story. It shouldn’t have to be pointed out, given that Homelander’s first major act is torpedoing a civilian plane full of innocent passengers, but some have ignored the obvious signs in favor of unironically championing the villain and adopting his generally loathsome worldview.
David Fincher, as another example, recently dismissed far-right readings to his movie Fight Club. It is a fundamental rule of art that depicting horrible acts and problematic viewpoints don’t equal an endorsement of those very same things. It is also true that audiences should be able to take in a piece of art and enjoy pop culture while coming to their own conclusions. Still, the authors also have a right to clarify their intent, as True Detective‘s Nic Pizzolatto does.
