A Final Perspective; Hollywood (and History) Catches Up to Ted Kennedy
"A telephone, not an automobile, exposed the worst parts of Ted Kennedy’s character at Chappaquiddick, a tragic episode explored on the silver screen in a new movie.
"One of the film’s producers commented on the picture three years ago, “You’ll see what he had to go through.” But most accounts (I have yet to watch) depict the final product as a more balanced account that shows what Mary Jo Kopechne “had to go through,” too.
"Kennedy’s coverup eclipsed the crime when it comes to assessing character. No amount of special effects or dramatic license can escape that truth.
"Sure, throwing a party for six, older, married male guests and six, twentysomething, unmarried women marks one as a cad. And yes, driving after downing an ocean of rum and cokes, and doing so despite the lack of a license and the presence of a chauffer, indicts the senator’s judgment. But his actions, and lack thereof, after the midnightish crash represent the worst of the senator at his worst moment.
"Ted Kennedy went to bed rather than to first responders after driving Mary Jo Kopechne to her death. Before he called the cops, he called his cronies. He called his German mistress. He called his lawyer. He even called the hotel manager to narc on party goers in another room disturbing his sleep. At ten the next morning, Ted Kennedy finally went to the police.
“ 'She didn’t drown,” the diver who retrieved Kopechne’s body noted. “She died of suffocation in her own air void. " . . .
A friend of mine once stopped Ted's son Patrick from entering a Providence College sporting event without a ticket. "Don't you know who I am!?" exclaimed Patrick. Nut doesn't fall far from the tree. Thing is Patrick couldn't hold it together mentally like Ted, which in the long run is a better thing for him.
Producer Mark Ciardi: This Film Isn’t for ‘the Right or the Left, It’s for the Truth’
. . . "Ciardi described the film’s setting, which begins a day before the Chappaquiddick incident and ends six days after. “It’s amazing how compelling that narrative is when you just look at the facts,” he said, casting the film as neither politically left or right. “[The writers] used the inquest. It wasn’t off of a book. We went with the facts that we knew, and didn’t make a movie for the left or the right. It’s for the truth, and what’s great about that is how audiences on both the left and the right — and reviewers, especially — are praising the movie.”
"Mansour concurred, saying, “It’s not an ideological film but an honest film.” '
Thomas Lifson: Don’t miss Chappaquiddick! "The movie Chappaquiddick exceeded my very high expectations. Not only is it a truthful exploration of the events that led up the death of May Jo Kopechne and the criminal cover-up of Ted Kennedy’s culpability therein, it goes deep into the character of the man, and how he got to the depraved state of indifference to the life of a young woman who had devoted herself to “the cause” of the Kennedy family.
. . . "The process of the cover-up is laid out in fascinating detail, revealing the ruthlessness of the Kennedy family coterie of high powered advisors, especially Ted Sorenson and Robert McNamara. I could not help but reflect on the resonance with the deep state issues of today of the way that laws and procedures and professional responsibilities of the government officials dealing with the car wreck and the corpse meant nothing to them in the face of “the cause” of protecting the Kennedys. The local, state, and federal officials we see are a kind of Kennedy Deep State that had absolute control over the handling of the matter."
. . . "Do yourself a favor and see this movie as soon as you can."
‘From the NY Times: Chappaquiddick’ Distorts a Tragedy
Many scenes cross from dramatic interpretation to outright character assassination. In this version, the Kennedy character leaves Kopechne to die as she gasps for air, and then, with the aid of his brothers’ old advisers, cooks up a scheme to salvage his presidential ambitions.
I saw no trace of refutation of the details of this movie; only pique that this image of Kennedy was presented. TD
