It’s a typical rule of storytelling and life that folks reveal themselves underneath strain.
Selfishness, greed, hatred or violent temperaments seem within the hardest instances when life most calls upon our advantage.
I keep in mind reflecting on this after leaving the theater of 2018’s “Chappaquiddick,” a Hollywood biopic on the occasions that just about destroyed Sen. Ted Kennedy’s profession.
In July 1969, the brother of President John F. Kennedy Jr. had an alleged drunk driving accident in Martha’s Winery. Kennedy’s automobile sank right into a pond. He escaped, leaving marketing campaign secretary Mary Joe Kopechne trapped within the automobile. As a substitute of calling for assist, Kennedy discovered a close-by resort and went to mattress whereas Kopechne breathed her final gasps.
He didn’t converse to the police till the next day after her physique was found.
The occasion value Kennedy his presidential ambitions, regardless that he didn’t serve jail time for his actions. Historical past rewrote Kennedy’s repute as “the Lion of the Senate,” holding him in admiration at some stage in his profession as a regal bulwark in Democratic politics.
He grew to become highly effective and well-respected by his friends and helped promote progressive politicians like Barack Obama.
“Chappaquiddick” was an interesting expose on this sense. It appeared unreal for liberal Hollywood to provide a movie that so completely eviscerated a frontrunner from its motion, even 9 years after his dying.
Unusually, the film didn’t emerge from dissident Hollywood conservatives however as a fluke of historical past. The movie’s “dyed within the wool” liberal screenwriters didn’t notice they had been stepping onto a progressive third rail.
This didn’t cease the film from crashing that yr’s award season and hiring large Hollywood expertise like Jason Clarke, Bruce Dern, Jim Gaffigan and Clancy Brown. Ratio titan Rush Limbaugh’s endorsement of the movie, together with different conservative reward, deflated its ambitions.
Being written and financed earlier than the 2016 election, the movie nearly definitely would’ve been conceived in another way had it arrived throughout the Trump administration. However it was too late. Screenwriters Taylor Allen and Andrew Logan, considering they had been producing an Oscar-season contender, advised Vox they grew to become nervous when conservatives began praising the movie.
The movie’s important distance from historical past allowed it to talk in truth, avoiding among the stranger conspiracy theories surrounding the tragedy. The movie functioned purely as a personality examine. And that examine was damning.
Kennedy’s immortal phrases following the tragedy? “I’m not going to be president.”
“Chappaquiddick” performs out as a drama of data and integrity. Brown co-stars as a fixer attempting to assist the household get forward of the controversy in order that the concurrent Apollo 11 moon landings may bury the story.
As a substitute, Kennedy’s incompetence and attention-seeking resulted within the tragedy spiraling uncontrolled and practically ending his Senate profession. In the long run, he was requested to decide on between integrity and alternative, and he selected the incorrect choice.
In its finest moments, the movie is kind of haunting because the coldness and cognitive dissonance of its characters play out till its bitter finish. The brutal last picture? The Chappaquiddick bridge stands within the chilly darkness as the actual Ted Kennedy’s voice is welcomed by cheering supporters.
Regardless of falling out of the general public consciousness, “Chappaquiddick” nonetheless holds up remarkably nicely. It feels notably related this yr, given what number of American politicians have proven who they’re within the warmth of the second.
Donald Trump confirmed his mettle underneath sniper fireplace, refusing to permit himself to be carted away by the Secret Service amid a July 13 assassination try. He raised his fist in defiance, revealing a exceptional stage of bravery and concern for his followers.
The assault produced one of the memorable journalist pictures in latest American historical past.
Trump Defiant, Decided Put up-Assassination Try pic.twitter.com/J0AaYEm2Qi
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) July 13, 2024
Days later, President Joe Biden ended his 54-year political profession with a whimper. White Home aides and press secretaries might now not cowl up his dementia-like signs following the June 27 presidential debate.
What was meant to cease his bleeding ballot numbers grew to become the yr’s saddest spectacle.
Vice President Kamala Harris hasn’t even allowed her mettle to be examined since changing into the de facto Democratic nominee. Journalists have been unable to ask her severe questions for greater than a month. Nonetheless, as her earlier debate performances with Tulsi Gabbard and Mike Pence confirmed, she has little composure underneath strain.
Fortunately, none of those conditions is as severe as a sitting Senator committing manslaughter. They don’t totally converse to Trump or Harris’s character with the identical depth as Kennedy’s actions. Trump’s braveness definitely speaks to his manliness and defiance, however Harris hasn’t had a public second to check her; only a lengthy sequence of poor debate performances, awkwardness and cowardice in entrance of cameras.
Even so, Trump and Harris’s management expertise are on full show. Individuals who concentrate know who Trump and Harris actually are. It’s apparent how they each deal with strain and the virtues and vices of each politicians are seen.
When Ted Kennedy refused to name emergency companies that night time in 1969, he confirmed who he was—weak, hole, and useless. Throughout his 1980 presidential marketing campaign, he struggled to share his motivation for desirous to run for president, as a result of he had none.
He was obsessed along with his success and couldn’t grapple with errors underneath strain. However it all grew to become a joke. The media was completely satisfied to deflect for him in the long run.
His alleged womanizing and drunken antics had been nearly washed away by historical past, nevertheless it took a mid-budget movie from a few filmmakers misreading the room to show what historical past had made very clear to those that paid consideration. Fortunately, it takes much less effort to chop by way of the trendy media.
When politicians present you who they’re … hear.
Tyler Hummel is a Wisconsin-based freelance critic and journalist, a member of the Music Metropolis Movie Critics Affiliation and the 2021 School Repair Fellow at Essential Road Nashville.