Chappaquiddick

[no_hypocrisy]

Why was this movie made?

It can't be for the profit potential.

And it was made last year and will be released in about 10 days. Why the delay?

Is there a delusion that by dredging up the past (no pun intended) this will have an impact on the Midterm Elections?

[BumRushDaShow]

1. It is an old old old RW talking point event.

You know they are desperate when they dredge it up (and then someone makes a movie about it). I remember reading about it coming out but then forgot about it until this commercial.

[C_U_L8R]

2. Rightwingers totally suck at entertainment or creativity

This political vanity project will probably prove that point once again

[GoCubsGo]

3. I was wondering that myself.

I saw a preview for it yesterday. I don't get it, either. I suppose it's someone's attempt at distraction.

[dhol82]

4. Jeebus!

They are dredging this shit up again?
All the players are dead. What are they trying to do?

[Demsrule86]

11. No one will ever know what really happened...all the gossip is just

supposition. This move is too. I can read the papers of that era if I have any interest in this subject which I don't. And I fail to see what a great uncle did over 50 odd years ago should hurt Joseph Kennedy III...but that is how the GOP rolls.

[dhol82]

16. Sorry, did not realize this is connected with a Kennedy running for office

Damn.
Wonder why the republicans have a memory block for the trump family KKK shit in the 20’s?

[petronius]

5. I noticed the other day that the Fox site has a whole block embedded with the

'real' news, titled "Chappaquiddick (paid content)" - I wondered what that was about. Now I'm just wondering where they found the tiny shred of integrity required to label it as advertising...

[woodsprite]

6. To drag the Kennedy name through the dirt before Joe runs for Pres. or VP in 2020. n/t

[Demsrule86]

10. That's it...can you imagine that young, good looking well spoken guy running against Trump

who looks like the cryptkeeper. He has young kids too...very appealing.

[Yavin4]

20. How does what his great uncle did hurt Joe?

Everybody's family tree has some ugly incidents on them.

[woodsprite]

21. Yes, but they will try anything to remind

people about any Kennedy scandal they can, even though I t has no bearing on Joe at all. It’s all in how the public perceives the candidate. How many people have we seen say they were totally against Hillary, but the only reason they gave for their decision was that she was married to Bill.

[Blue_true]

27. Republicans do stuff like that, and some on our side use it as talking points

to attack some of our some of our candidates. People are dredging up stuff against Gillibrand from way back and I am sure that is going to happen to Harris and Booker if they look like potential front running candidates.

[uponit7771]

52. There's NOT ONE THING the KGOP can say to anyone anymore about anything. The next DNC prez

... candidate can be trans from another planet with 1234234 kids and 2423 baby mamas

they bet not say shit

[betsuni]

54. +1

[SaschaHM]

7. I'm not surprised that it was made. I'm surprised that it took them this long to make it.

Regardless of your political leanings, the entire incident (incident and aftermath) is a part of the Kennedy legacy and that legacy gets mined for mini series and films almost yearly (the most recent being "Jackie" in 2016).

Historical movies are made all the time depending on the interests of the writer/director and the story that they want to tell. "The King's Speech" writer famously wanted to tell that story for decades (started researching in the 70s), but waited for The Queen Mother to die in 2002 (at her request) and then it took 7 years for development to even begin on the film. The release of "Chappaquiddick" was delayed from 2017 due to a packed awards season. Unloading it in April seems like a way to at least recoup some cash and/or get some early contender buzz since few big dramas release in the first half of the year.

Edit: Looks like this script made 2015's blacklist of the best unproduced scripts of the year.

[Demsrule86]

9. I won't be watching it.

[SaschaHM]

12. Eh, I'll probably checck it out on a Tuesday matinee to see if Jason Clarke and Kate Mara are going

to be in contention come next years Oscars.

[Demsrule86]

13. They are good...and honestly I don't see how it can hurt Joe Kennedy III.

Maybe I will break down and see it...don't remember it.

[SaschaHM]

15. It's not meant to hurt him. Hell, it was concieved (script written prior to Dec. 2015) before he ..

even became a national figure.

[Demsrule86]

41. I find the timing suspicious.

[lunamagica]

32. Most Oscar contenders come out in December.The Academy seems to have a short memory span

and Oscar hopefuls rarely release their movies in Spring.

[SaschaHM]

36. I follow Oscar contention like a sport and yes, most contenders come out towards the end of the year

as Chappaquiddick was originally scheduled to last year. However, recently 1-2 films have been able to break through. "Get Out" was a major contender and was released in February of 2017. They first hired a director (who left due to scheduling) for this movie in 2015, filmed it late 2016, and prepared to release it in late 2017. However, Entertainment Studios thought that "Hostiles" starring academy award winner Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike would be it's contender (amazing critical buzz, but fail to catch on in a crowded season) for the 2017 Oscars and moved this (in Sept of last year) to April. If anything, it has imo an outside shot at nominations for it's actors.

That being said, no distributor wants to take a lose so this was never going to be shelved. Not that I believe it should. I doubt the controversy or conspiracy that this was an attempt born in 2015 to take down Joe Kennedy III 3-5 years later exists outside of DU.

[dflprincess]

14. I could see some historical value in "The King's Speech"

(and the Queen is said to have liked the movie).

"Chappaquiddick" serves no such purpose and may only hurt the members of the family who were in no way connected to the scandal.

[SaschaHM]

18. The purpose is entertainment. It's a Kennedy related historical political scandal.

People always tend to eat those things up. And I don't think any historical incident is free from review at a later date and after cultural changes, but to each his own.

[Demsrule86]

8. It won't...probably a shot across the bow to Joseph Kennedy III who is a very appealing candidate.

[Blue_true]

28. If it is.

The tactic will backfire badly if Joe Kennedy III is what he looks like, a family guy who is in love with his wife and has been faithful. The movie will bring more scrutiny
on his life so far, that can be very good for him or very bad, but his own actions so far will dictate which. With the disclosures coming out on Trump's sex acts and fidelity with ALL of his wives, republicans trying the pant zipper shaming on Joe Kennedy III will only blow up Trump massively if Joe has lived a clean life. If Joe has womanizers like his uncle and dad did, then that need to be highlighted now.

[Demsrule86]

39. Joe Kennedy's Dad was unfaithful? Not that I care, I have always suspected my Dad was not

completely faithful although I am positive he loved my Mother.

[Blue_true]

42. Yes, once. Ended in difficult divorce.

The divorce had to be approved by the Catholic Church. Don't know whether he remarried.

[Demsrule86]

43. I didn't know that. I think that is personal myself. Don't care.

If rapist Don the con can get elected...must not matter much to others as well.

[Blue_true]

45. Democrats get held to a higher standard.

Last edited Mon Mar 26, 2018, 10:06 PM - Edit history (1)

By democrats in an honest fashion and republicans trying to take advantage. I bet you that republicans will try to use Chappaquidick against Joseph Kennedy III if he runs, even after they got a pig like Trump.

[Demsrule86]

46. By whom the Republicans? Fuck them. They got nothing to say..and Democrats should ignore this

crap and stop dancing to the Gop tune. I doubt very seriously that what a grand uncle did will affect Joe Kennedy III.

[Blue_true]

48. I don't put anything past republican politicians.

I know some individuals who are decent people and are republicans, not racist, not anti Muslim, not anti woman (hell, some are women), they vote party line. Sometimes I silently look at them and wonder what the hell is going on in their heads.

[Demsrule86]

51. I just don't think they can play that card effectively after Trump.

They are of course capable of any nasty trick in the book...evil is what they are.

[madville]

17. It's an interesting story

Probably wanted to wait until he has passed away to make the movie though. Not many under 60 will even care about it or know what it is about anyway.

It's an interesting event in our political history for sure.

[doc03]

19. Why was it the first time I ever heard of it was in a

commercial for the Stormy Daniels 60 Minute interview?

[Tarc]

22. This film is being released by Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios

An indie distribution company that has financed mostly schlock thus far, though Allen has been in the news more recently for his $300 million acquisition of the Weather channel.

Curiously flush with funds of late, this guy is....

[mountain grammy]

29. Thanks. I was interested in who made it.

They could possibly make a good story of it, but I seriously doubt that'll be the case.

[quartz007]

53. All big stock owners are flush with cash.

Today the stock market exploded upwards.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

23. I was already an adult when Chappaquiddick happened,

and I have reasonably clear memories of the event. I also read a book about it which came out a good twenty or more years later, which was neither a whitewash nor a smear job, but about as balanced as it could have been.

My main reason not to bother to see the movie is that (and I just watched the preview) I simply won't learn anything new.

Added on edit:
Those of you who weren't around then, or who were very young, may possibly find this movie informative. I don't know, since I haven't seen it. But the events we call Chappaquiddick overwhelmed the news cycle at the time. It happened two days before the moon landing, and nearly pushed that event from the news cycle.
I think the main problem with the movie will be (and at least this is my personal take away) is that people pretending to by recent historical figures, such as Teddy Kennedy, always fall very short. They are pale imitations of the real person, and (especially for those of us who remember those historical figures, either because we saw them in life or saw plenty of TV coverage) as such are quite jarring.

[Kirk Lover]

47. So they used the moon landing as a distraction?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

50. Wasn't that remarkably clever!

And to think, they had to have the fake launch of Apollo 11 on July 16, two days before Chappaquiddick itself. Imagine the planning involved.

[CTyankee]

24. my daughter and her husband have a house on Chappy. He often gives a little tour to folks

visiting in the summer to them on the exact area of the island on his tour.

Chappy is lovely. I used to go visit them every summer but the trip is too tiring to me now. It's a long drive plus two ferries to get there. I used to do this every summer but now I'm just too old to do the damn trip. My SIL used to do a little Chappy tour for visitors who came to their house. It was interesting.

WTF? It was a tragedy. Get over it, GOP...really...

[Judi Lynn]

25. Of course it is slimy and stupid to bring it up again at ALL, after it dominated our news so long.

No reason to imagine we can repeat every story negative to a Democrat forever.

Maybe Charles Manson was secretly a Democrat. Let's dive into that.

Why not have another round of attacking Jane Fonda for visiting North VietNam.

What is this, Groundhog's Day?

[Blue_true]

30. The movie could backfire if it is a ploy to hurt Joe Kennedy or democrats.

If Joe Kennedy III proves be the solid husband and father that he seems to be, the movie and subsequent scrutiny on his personal life can be a boon for him, especially if he ends up facing Trump in the top or second spot of our ticket.

[Ferrets are Cool]

26. I had the same thought when I heard about it.

[IluvPitties]

31. It's the RW attempt to use the #metoo movement to tarnish the Kennedys

That is, to say that somehow the Kennedys/the Democratic Party covered up the death of a young woman for political expediency.

Lame attempt, but not surprising.

[Archae]

33. If Hollywood runs true to form...

The movie will be much like "JFK."

One or two facts, and the rest of the storyline will be pure bullshit.

[NBachers]

34. Notice the #thisreallyhappened hashtag to shove the knife a little deeper.

[question everything]

35. We discussed here before

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210255160

[OAITW r.2.0]

37. We should also rememeber the context of Ed Kennedy's life.

Survivor of a brutal plane crash. He had 2 brothers assassinated a few years earlier. His marriage with Joan was on the rocks. He was stealing a few moments of unfettered enjoyment. It ended in tragedy. He worked for all Americans in the Senate. I can forgive a moment of human falibility when I look at the entire work of his time on this Earth. He had a big Libido, like his brothers and Bill Clinton. But we know there were plenty of Republicans that had their own personnel proclivities and similar stories. The difference is they wanted a better world for all of us. Republicans, not so much.

[rownesheck]

38. I saw the preview in the theater.

I got the feeling it was created by some winger who wants to remind people that "democrats are bad too!" I'm not going to watch it, but ed helms is in it! I love ed helms!

[FarCenter]

40. Chappaquiddick happened almost half a century ago - it, and the Kennedys, are pretty irrelevant

[NCTraveler]

44. It would make one hell of a movie...

If they take the most salacious of gossip and put it together.

[Fla_Democrat]

49. Too soon?