Film: Gender Roles In The Washington Post

I watched The Post for the third quarter film assignment. This movie is set in 1971 when Daniel Ellsberg, a military analyst that worked for the US government, steals top secret documents called the Pentagon Papers that discuss US military involvement in Vietnam War and leaks a part of them to the New York Times. After the New York Times publishes a shocking piece on these documents, the Washington Post frantically tries to get insight on this story. As the New York Times is investigated for publishing government secrets, Ellsberg presents the entire set of papers to the Washington Post. Kay Graham, the new leader of the Washington Post following her husband’s death and the first women to be the publisher of a large newspaper company, struggles

This movie highlighted a major shift in the ideas of gender roles in America, as Graham challenged the idea that women should remain at home and not lead major businesses. Thus, this theme was primary displayed through Graham’s struggle to break into the male dominated field of newspaper publishing. One specific movement that highlighted this was when Graham walked through a group of wives socializing to get to a business meeting and was the only female in the room when she got there. This scene displayed how it was very uncommon for women to have a career like Graham’s and showed the audience how gender roles were starting to change. Similarly, whenever Graham had to make any major decision about the Washington Post this theme was highlighted, as several characters continuously doubted her decisions in a sexist way and talked down to her. Thus, this also shows the cultural context of this time period, as many people still saw women as inferior to males. By staying strong and making bold decisions that benefited the American people, Graham challenged these ideas and this aspect of American

The screenwriter of this film did not base it on any one event and instead consulted several sources. Thus, some of the conflicts in Graham’s personal life and her experience as the publisher of the Washington Post were likely exaggerated for the movie. Some historians were also upset at how the New York Times were portrayed in this film, as some believe that this newspaper played a key role in the publication of the Pentagon Papers that wasn’t conveyed in the film. However, the overall historical context and events that took place during this period were accurately portrayed. Thus, I would recommend this film because of how engaging it was but not necessarily for learning about history, as it did not include many factual or specific historical