sisk
New Member
Don't fake the funk
Posts: 46
|
Post by sisk on Apr 5, 2005 21:46:44 GMT -5
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful movie.
Every time I see it, it makes me want to become an investigative reporter. It's so inspiring.
Anyone else have something brilliant to add?
Love,
A
|
|
|
|
Post by Darius on Apr 6, 2005 1:48:41 GMT -5
Nothing brilliant. Just that I saw this movie for the first time about a week ago. And it is so inspiring. Such an extraordinary story of hope and right and persistance and how anyone can make a difference... if they have a lot of contacts and a secret informant... just kidding... and so well told - that shot right at the end wit the two of them working in the background as Nixon's inauguration plays on TV in the foreground. Amazing.
Darius
|
|
|
|
Post by Noah on Apr 6, 2005 21:48:32 GMT -5
We just saw it for the first time, too (Netflix), and immediately ran out and bought it. It's amazing. In addition to its excellence as a film, these thoughts (politics aside aside):
Watergate was a terrible crime and it was emblematic of a criminal presidency. Two enterprising journalists exposed the corruption, and the president was forced to resign in shame. The crimes of the current Bush administration (you knew I was working my way around to this) are at least as heinous, and there is at least as much solid evidence of seriously illegal activity.
Could two reporters bring Bush down, based largely on information provided by an anonymous insider? Would their paper run the story? Would the Washington Post run it? Could a story published in, say, the Village Voice have as much impact?
It occurs to me that if they were starting out now, Woodward and Bernstein might be bloggers.
It's also worth considering that Nixon's resignation wasn't only the result of their work, although it might not have happened without it. Unlike Bush, Nixon was fairly unpopular within his own party -- although Republicans are turning on Bush more and more, and in terms of public approval ratings Bush is scoring lower than Nixon almost every time. But Congress and the Senate are much deeper in Bush's pocket than they were in Nixon's, and I guess even if impeachable information emerged, the political machinery would protect Bush. (Hell, impeachable information has emerged.)
Whadaya think?
|
|
Katie
New Member
Posts: 17
|
Post by Katie on Apr 6, 2005 23:07:17 GMT -5
Perhaps, since some of you have only recently seen this film, I am the only one around who was there for both Nixon's downfall and the release of the film. To me, the current administration has piled up many more impeachable offenses than Nixon ever did ... Bush makes Dicky look almost angelic. Nixon tried, after all, only to rape the other party. But, take heart ... both Woodward and Bernstein are still around.  Katie PS Noah, may I compliment you on your ever thought provoking columns ... not only do I read your site every day, I am currently using it as a teaching tool for my teen-aged son. |
|
|
|
Post by Noah on Apr 7, 2005 8:35:02 GMT -5
Wow! Katie, I can't tell you how flattered and uplifted I feel to get a compliment like this. Thank you so much. The thought that you consider my site a worthy supplement to your son's education will always stay with me. Hearing that makes me want to write the best blog possible, and I just hope I can continue to produce something that deserves such high praise. I can't think of any praise higher.
As for All the President's Men, one of the many things that impress me about it is the fact that it was released in 1976, so soon after Nixon's resignation. I know the reviews were almost uniformly glowing, but how was it received among people? What was the "water cooler" discussion like? Were people divided about the film along partisan lines, as with a Michael Moore film now?
I was just remembering that the first time I heard the word Watergate was when I was a little kid, listening to an Arlo Guthrie record from my parents' shelf -- you know the song "Presidential Rag?" I asked my mother what it was about. It reminds me, now, of you and your son.
|
|
Katie
New Member
Posts: 17
|
Post by Katie on Apr 7, 2005 20:32:17 GMT -5
You well deserve such praise, Noah, and it is certainly heartening to this aged hippie to see that a whole new generation is ready to pick up the banner and charge forth with that same robust energy. All The President's Men was a splash at the time, yes ... the opposition was still trying to distance themselves from the whole fiasco, so there was not nearly so much ourtright condemnation as one might think. It was both a learned and somber piece, unlike Moore's direct attack, and there really wasn't much anyone could find to discredit ... grumbling from the right could be heard, but it wasn't the stuff of headlines. That was, of course, the national view. As for the general populace, the reaction depended much upon which piece of real estate one happened to be standing. At the time, I was moving from northern Louisiana to south Texas (a sad plight for a California girl), so I of course witnessed a bit of redneck posturing and declarations to never see another film Redford or Hoffman ever did. Your parents had good taste in music ... Katie |
|
|
|
Post by wowposter on Nov 16, 2008 1:59:12 GMT -5
|
|
