How close are the movie and the book to Obamas real childhood in Indonesia?
I interviewed around 30 people to make the novel, and so there are plenty of dots. I used my expertise as a writer to connect all the dots. It’s around 60% facts and 40% fiction. Having done the 30 interviews and knowing what you know about President Obama today, how did you go about creating a new personality for Obama, the kid? According to his friends, the way he walked, the way he talked and his body language during the ’70s is so similar to today. Some of them didn’t know the name Barack Obama. They called him Barry Soetoro at the time. But when they saw him on the television, they just knew it was him. The same charisma and aura around him now was around him as a kid. (See the story of Barack Obama’s mother.) Does the movie make a political statement? I once told everyone, “This is not a political movie. This is a movie about a young kid who later on becomes the President.” Some people made the strong statement, “Oh, come on, everything with Barack Obama is political.” So I don’t
