When exactly they decided to make "The Post" I do not know, but Wikipedia suggests the script was bought before Donald Trump won the Presidency.
In light of Trump's attacks on the press it seems to be a film about the importance of that fourth estate which Trump attacks as an enemy of the people and an enemy of the truth, "just such horrible, dishonest people."
This movie will not persuade many Trump-holes that the press is a noble thing, the guardian of the people, but it is worth seeing.
Yes, it's a movie about the press and the pursuit of the truth, but it's just as much a movie about what America was like 40-50 years ago, when women were not supposed to have important careers or even important opinions.
Along the way the cozy relations between Ben Bradlee and Kennedy are mentioned. They have Bradlee admitting because he was so charmed by Kennedy, he did not do his job as a newspaperman and he was seduced into Kennedy fandom.
Kay Graham's decision to risk it all and publish the Pentagon Papers becomes the classic worm turns story, as she is treated as some dull witted child who has no business running the paper her father gave to her husband to run, but you can see her gradually growing a spine, and when she finally confronts her good friend, Robert MacNamara she does it on a personal level: Her own son had gone to Vietnam and MacNamara knew even then the war was simply unwinnable and the only reason to continue was to avoid humiliation for American politicians.
The most interesting character in this movie is actually given only brief screen time, namely Daniel Ellsberg, the guy who worked on the 7,000 page report which MacNamara commissioned and which detailed how American involvement began, was sustained and ultimately at what point it became evident there was no way the Vietnamese would lose that war.
If you read about Ellsberg on Wikipedia, there is a scene where Ellsberg, who has done 2 tours in Vietnam, listens to a man who is going to prison for refusing to go to Vietnam, and it finally dawns on him this guy is a true patriot for refusing to go, and all the fools who got sucked in and sent over were simply tools of a malevolent government.
If Ellsberg had read Thoreau in high school, as I had, he would have known "the true patriot serves his country with his mind, not with his body, marching off to war like some wooden soldier." But Ellsberg did not have Ms. Johnson for high school English; he only had two degrees from Harvard and one from Cambridge.
Reading about that revelation in Ellsberg's life reminded me of the time they called a meeting for seniors in my college and they had a Marine sergeant, in dress uniform, explain that each of us were obligated to serve in the United States armed forces until we were 36 years old and were eligible for the draft that whole time, plus a year for each year of college deferment which meant we could be drafted to age 40.
There was a guy on stage, who had graduated a year earlier, who had fled to Canada, and was now a Canadian citizen. Canada was not actually all that welcoming. He had got in because he had a degree in engineering.
There was another guy who was about to be sentenced to prison for refusing to go.
And then there was this other guy who spoke soberly, but very respectfully to us, who said what we were all thinking: None of these options looked good. Going to prison sounded like no fun at all. Canada would mean, well, not being an American any more. That would seem to be pretty easy--after all, the Canadians are just like us, aren't they? But somehow, when you really have to decide, you realize just how deeply ingrained being an American is part of you.
But then, this guy nodded to the Sergeant and said, "But then, there's that other option."
The guy who was talking was named Tom Hayden and he impressed me deeply. I wrote my parents about him.
What made the Pentagon Papers important, which is alluded to in the film, is the difference in the way most Americans perceived their government. Kay Graham explains to her daughter she went on Air Force One with LBJ to go visit at his ranch because, "When the President tell you to do something, it's hard to say no."
Of course, now we are all much more jaded about our political leaders, but not then.
And the effect of the Pentagon Papers was aptly summarized by one of Nixon's lieutenants, H.R. Haldeman: To the ordinary guy, all this is a bunch of gobbledygook. But out of the gobbledygook comes a very clear thing.... You can't trust the government; you can't believe what they say; and you can't rely on their judgment; and the -- the implicit infallibility of presidents, which has been an accepted thing in America, is badly hurt by this, because It shows that people do things the president wants to do even though it's wrong, and the president can be wrong.[16]
--Wikipedia
In light of Trump's attacks on the press it seems to be a film about the importance of that fourth estate which Trump attacks as an enemy of the people and an enemy of the truth, "just such horrible, dishonest people."
This movie will not persuade many Trump-holes that the press is a noble thing, the guardian of the people, but it is worth seeing.
Yes, it's a movie about the press and the pursuit of the truth, but it's just as much a movie about what America was like 40-50 years ago, when women were not supposed to have important careers or even important opinions.
Along the way the cozy relations between Ben Bradlee and Kennedy are mentioned. They have Bradlee admitting because he was so charmed by Kennedy, he did not do his job as a newspaperman and he was seduced into Kennedy fandom.
Kay Graham's decision to risk it all and publish the Pentagon Papers becomes the classic worm turns story, as she is treated as some dull witted child who has no business running the paper her father gave to her husband to run, but you can see her gradually growing a spine, and when she finally confronts her good friend, Robert MacNamara she does it on a personal level: Her own son had gone to Vietnam and MacNamara knew even then the war was simply unwinnable and the only reason to continue was to avoid humiliation for American politicians.
The most interesting character in this movie is actually given only brief screen time, namely Daniel Ellsberg, the guy who worked on the 7,000 page report which MacNamara commissioned and which detailed how American involvement began, was sustained and ultimately at what point it became evident there was no way the Vietnamese would lose that war.
If you read about Ellsberg on Wikipedia, there is a scene where Ellsberg, who has done 2 tours in Vietnam, listens to a man who is going to prison for refusing to go to Vietnam, and it finally dawns on him this guy is a true patriot for refusing to go, and all the fools who got sucked in and sent over were simply tools of a malevolent government.
If Ellsberg had read Thoreau in high school, as I had, he would have known "the true patriot serves his country with his mind, not with his body, marching off to war like some wooden soldier." But Ellsberg did not have Ms. Johnson for high school English; he only had two degrees from Harvard and one from Cambridge.
Reading about that revelation in Ellsberg's life reminded me of the time they called a meeting for seniors in my college and they had a Marine sergeant, in dress uniform, explain that each of us were obligated to serve in the United States armed forces until we were 36 years old and were eligible for the draft that whole time, plus a year for each year of college deferment which meant we could be drafted to age 40.
There was a guy on stage, who had graduated a year earlier, who had fled to Canada, and was now a Canadian citizen. Canada was not actually all that welcoming. He had got in because he had a degree in engineering.
There was another guy who was about to be sentenced to prison for refusing to go.
And then there was this other guy who spoke soberly, but very respectfully to us, who said what we were all thinking: None of these options looked good. Going to prison sounded like no fun at all. Canada would mean, well, not being an American any more. That would seem to be pretty easy--after all, the Canadians are just like us, aren't they? But somehow, when you really have to decide, you realize just how deeply ingrained being an American is part of you.
But then, this guy nodded to the Sergeant and said, "But then, there's that other option."
The guy who was talking was named Tom Hayden and he impressed me deeply. I wrote my parents about him.
What made the Pentagon Papers important, which is alluded to in the film, is the difference in the way most Americans perceived their government. Kay Graham explains to her daughter she went on Air Force One with LBJ to go visit at his ranch because, "When the President tell you to do something, it's hard to say no."
Of course, now we are all much more jaded about our political leaders, but not then.
And the effect of the Pentagon Papers was aptly summarized by one of Nixon's lieutenants, H.R. Haldeman: To the ordinary guy, all this is a bunch of gobbledygook. But out of the gobbledygook comes a very clear thing.... You can't trust the government; you can't believe what they say; and you can't rely on their judgment; and the -- the implicit infallibility of presidents, which has been an accepted thing in America, is badly hurt by this, because It shows that people do things the president wants to do even though it's wrong, and the president can be wrong.[16]
--Wikipedia
Mad Dog,
ReplyDeleteI saw "The Post" as well and really liked it. Not a perfect film, but a very good one that is worthy of it's Best Picture nomination. I agree some of the most interesting aspects of the film are how accurately it portrays life in 1971. The shots of the newsroom and setting up the news type to print out the paper was fascinating-so antiquated..Pay phones..I also enjoyed spotting the supporting cast from various shows like The Americans, West Wing and Better Call Saul-didn't recognize Bradley Whitford from WW immediately.
Katherine Graham had so much on the line when she decided to publish- losing the family business and risking her close and long time friendship with Robert McNamara. I read somewhere that after his wife died, they dated for awhile-he apparently forgave her for doing the right thing. Anyway, what she did took guts-especially for a woman brought up to take a back seat to men- a woman who amiably went along with her father handing over the running of the paper to her husband rather than herself. There's a scene where all her trusted male advisers are gathered around her, several of them cautioning her not to publish the PP. When I saw that I thought most women of her generation would not have gone against the "wisdom" of the menfolk. However, like in many of his movies, there is the "Spielberg moment"-one that is a bit too overwrought for my taste. In "The Post" it's when Graham emerges from the Supreme Court and walks through a sea of women all with faces stamped with pride and admiration. Too heavy handed. Just go with one woman looking on in admiration-we would have gotten the point..I know, I'm too picky...
I also agree Ellsberg was not seen nearly enough given how pivotal to the story he is..He's fodder for a whole other movie-now that's one I'd like to see.. As for Haldeman's line about the PP and what it did to people's trust in government and the presidency he was wrong. Certainly there were many times in our history opponents questioned the infallibility of a President. This, however, may have been one of the few times much of the citizenry thought of the government and the president as criminals. Those were trying times-as you know far better than I. The prospect of having to flee one's country or head to Vietnam had to have been both chilling and overwhelming-especially later in the war when the death toll kept mounting and support for the war faded....Thank God our own children are not faced with the same dilemma..
Maud
M,
ReplyDeleteCould not agree more about the Spielberg moment! You can always count on Spielberg to schmaltz up anything he touches.
I think I met Ms. Graham once at a party thrown by the owner of the Washingtonian Magazine, for whom I wrote occasional incendiary pieces until they threw me out.
I told her I thought the Post was pretty awful in science reporting where the NYT had Lawrence Altman and Gina Kolata and Natalie Angier. She did not offer me a job on the spot to write science for the Post but just looked down at her feet and said nothing.
So I guess the depiction of her as someone who was not inclined to be in your face with a roar might be accurate.
She was also very tiny.
Mad Dog
Ms Maud,
ReplyDeleteThere's a scene in the movie "To Kill A Mockingbird" after Atticus Finch has finished his summation in defense of the Black defendant and a dignified Black woman, the housekeeper for Scout and her brother stands up tells the kids, "Stand up Chillun: Your father's passing" and when he walks by all the Black folk in the balcony of the courtroom are standing. THAT is an effective scene, which I'm sure Spielberg knew. But Spielberg cannot resist that Hollywood moment and I remarked about it at the time and was roundly hushed.
I did not recognize Josh from WW but I did figure out Better Call Saul.