Et Tu, Manager?

Film: The Ides of March
Format: DVD from Rockford Public Library on laptop.

Everyone knows that politics is a dirty business. There’s a saying that anyone who wants to be president shouldn’t be trusted with the job. In my experience that same statement goes for Congress, state legislatures, and possibly most county and other local positions as well. Everyone pretty much knows this, but we tend to forget it at times. Films like The Ides of March serve as something like a vaccination for that forgetting. We need to be reminded frequently that our political process, still potentially the best one in the world, is still pretty shitty in a lot of respects and probably will be for the foreseeable future.

The Ides of March tells a highly fictionalized version of the Democratic primary leading up to a presidential election, presumably, based on the year of release analogous to the 2008 election. That said, it could have really been any year when there was an actual primary, and for that matter, it could have just as easily been Republican candidates. The story is told through the point of view of Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling), the assistant campaign manager for Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney). Stephen is a true believer, someone who refuses to compromise or play dirty because he feels that he doesn’t need to, thanks to the integrity of his candidate.

All the News that Fits

Film: Good Night and Good Luck
Format: DVD from personal collection on laptop.

Once upon a time, journalism actually meant something in this country. These days you have to search pretty hard to find journalism that isn’t slanted in one direction or another. But back in the day, during the days of radio and the early days of television, the news actually meant something and journalistic integrity wasn’t the punchline of jokes. Few people had or have the sort of journalistic reputation enjoyed by Edward R. Murrow. Murrow is something of a hero of mine. He is in many ways the original badass newsman. Good Night and Good Luck is not the story of Murrow’s finest hour, which could be argued was his coverage of the blitz in London. Murrow’s attack on Senator Joseph McCarthy and the HUAC hearings could be argued as the finest hour for journalism period.

The story of the film is simply that. Starting with the release of an airman from the Air Force for refusing to denounce his own father, Murrow (David Straithairn) and his team embarked on a direct attack and response to McCarthy’s accusations and tirades against phantom communism. Among Murrow’s team is his producer Fred Friendly (director and co-screenwriter George Clooney) and reporter Joe Wershba (Robert Downey Jr.), who, in a story that parallels the main action, is forced to hide his marriage to co-worker Shirley (Patricia Clarkson) from the rest of the office due to a non-fraternization policy at CBS.