3. He Made Another Man Millions of Dollars
When he wrote his autobiographical Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Lawrence was terrified that people would think he wrote it for material gain alone so he refused any money from any of the sales! Considering that this was the equivalent of being doused in radioactive goop, developing Marvel-esque super-powers, saving the world a few times and then deciding to write an ebook about it all, his decision to not live on the imminent riches it was about to bring in for the rest of his life was a shock to say the least! He did however make one man incredibly rich. Lowell Thomas was an American journalist who came to Europe during the First World War in order to find inspiring stories with which to flood American newspapers back home. He quickly realised, however, that the trenches of Europe werent the place to do so. This led to him heading east to meet with a budding young Brit whod been spending a £200,000 every month to incite tribal rebellion among the Arabs. Lawrence agreed to allow Thomas to follow him around and interview him providing that he also interviewed the local tribal leaders. Says something about Lawrences desire for fame, surely? The films and news stories were gold dust to Thomas. Lawrence became a household name nearly overnight, but he considered this a gross violation of his image and his mission in Arabia. He never forgave Thomas for this abuse and called him a Vulgar Man until his dying day. Thomas, however, never ceased to defend the man whod jettisoned his career to unimaginable heights and even contributed to a book about Lawrence with other friends after he died. This sense of almost saint-like selflessness will most certainly seem unbelievable to modern audiences so perhaps a portrayal of a more
pragmatic Lawrence is necessary for Pattinson. Rather than giving him the celluloid glow of perfection and, at all lengths avoiding the modern scourge of bringing out all the nastiness of a character once loved, Pattinson could just show that Lawrence saw that he had a job to do and was angry by a misplaced spotlight and ostensible betrayal of trust. Better that than a wry grin and a tasteless flashback to Lawrence prancing around an orgy being chased by a young boy with a handful of branches.