Good Night, and Good Luck
Jan. 22nd, 2006 07:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksSaw Good Night, and Good Luck this weekend. It was playing at the Landmark theater on E Street in DC, which seems to play artier movies. The previews were interesting, but probably not things I'm going to see. David Straithairn was excellent as Edward R. Murrow. The entire theme of the movie, the idea that the government could and would ride roughshod over civil liberties in order to ensure their idea of security, was frighteningly apropos, given what's going on with the detainment of "security risks" and the domestic eavesdropping.
EDITTED TO ADD: I forgot to mention earlier that one of the most striking things in this movie was the cigarette smoking. Murrow smoked on screen during his broadcasts; he even indirectly endorsed a brand of cigarettes (Kent, I think). Everyone smoked in the office. It is such a sharp contrast to movies and TV today, in which only bad guys smoke; if a good guy smokes, it is a pipe only, because pipes are dignified, signaling wisdom and deliberation. Plus, smoking was banned in public buildings and the work place before I joined the work force, so the idea of an ashtray on the desk, right next to the typewriter was also a little strange.
EDITTED TO ADD: I forgot to mention earlier that one of the most striking things in this movie was the cigarette smoking. Murrow smoked on screen during his broadcasts; he even indirectly endorsed a brand of cigarettes (Kent, I think). Everyone smoked in the office. It is such a sharp contrast to movies and TV today, in which only bad guys smoke; if a good guy smokes, it is a pipe only, because pipes are dignified, signaling wisdom and deliberation. Plus, smoking was banned in public buildings and the work place before I joined the work force, so the idea of an ashtray on the desk, right next to the typewriter was also a little strange.
