[lurkalot]

The movie is apparently playing in some U.S. theaters right about now and -although I'll have to wait for it's release for some time to come- I'm curious if anyone has gone -or will go- to see it?

It has all the ingredients we love on our Political lounge menu. Use or abuse of the media. Partisan politics. Idealism taken to extreme. Discussion of the content would also make a great flame war and potentially offers an opportunity to update ignore lists but these are only secondary to the reasons why I started this thread.

Reviews at Rottentomatoes and other movie sites are almost all positive and the content is highly relevant to serious political debate in any era, ours no exception.

At IMDB the question was asked if there was the need for yet another movie about McCarthy but -since there appears to be some support for not only his ideas but also his methods- I think that -without even seeing the movie- there is indeed a need to tell his story in many ways and expose many more people through this interesting use of the movie medium to this chapter of world history.

Was the approach too partisan? Does the movie accurately portray the events it focuses on? Those are some of the political or historical questions that compelled me to post this here in the war lounge but I'm also interested to hear if the mix of stock footage of McCarthy and footage shot of actors was as successful as the reviews make it sound? Is it an entertaining movie with a story to tell, merely a dramatized faux documentary or perhaps just an attempt to unjustly smear the reputation of an honorable character?

http://wip.warnerbros.com/goodnightgoodluck/

[mojo2]

I'm hoping not to be disappointed by the film. Despite the raves, I'll feel uneasy til I see it myself.

One thing to ask yourself, though. What might have been if Murrow had taken down McCarthy five years earlier?

Joseph McCarthy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people named Joseph McCarthy , see Joseph McCarthy (disambiguation).


Joseph Raymond McCarthy

Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician originally aligned with the United States Democratic Party and later with the United States Republican Party. McCarthy served as a U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 to 1957. During his ten years in the Senate, McCarthy and his staff became notorious for aggressive investigations of people in the U.S. government and others who were suspected of being Communists or Communist sympathizers.

As a result of these controversial actions the term McCarthyism was coined to specifically describe the intense anti-Communist movement that existed in America from 1950 to about 1956, a time which became popularly known as the Red Scare. During this period, people who were suspected of varying degrees of Communist loyalties became the subject of aggressive inquiries, which became known as "witch hunts" to his opponents. People from the media, the motion picture industry, government, and the military were accused by McCarthy of being suspected Soviet spies or Communist sympathizers.

Although McCarthy's activities did not directly result in any convictions or criminal prosecutions for espionage, the now declassified Venona Cables from the former Soviet Union indicate that a number of the individuals he pursued were actually guilty. The term "McCarthyism" has since become synonymous with any government activity which seeks to suppress unfavorable political or social views, often by limiting or suspending civil rights under the pretext of maintaining national security.

Remember this, using an analogy...

No matter HOW MANY times Sylvester came close to eating Tweety Pie, Granny always let him back in. Why? Because he kept the mice away.

When Murrow 86'd McCarthy it was after McCarthy had rid the gov't of most of the rats.