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Goodnight And Good Luck Film Analysis

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The film one has chosen to review and analyse is George Clooney's “Goodnight and Good Luck”. It is set in America in the 1950's, a full decade after World War II ended, a period of economic growth and recovery after the Great Depression. It was a time of revolution in terms of social, economic and cultural advancement. Having said that, it was also a period of political turmoil, paranoia and intimidation under Senator Joseph McCarthy. This movie explores the way journalist Edward Murrow used his position to expose McCarthy and his abuse of power. In simplistic terms this film depicts the war between the media and a politician seeking to destroy the rights and values of the American people by masking it as patriotism. One will analyse the various themes, major scenes, techniques and the impact …show more content…

In Lameman’s terms, it was a method to expose supposed communists who infiltrated the United States. McCarthy was notorious for making false allegations and accusations to attract attention to his policy, brainwashing Americans into believing their country was being intruded by communists. A large majority of McCarthy’s accusations were backed up by little or next to no evidence, “HUAC’s circuslike investigations and unproved accusations left a trail of shattered reputations and broken lives”. This was seen especially in the case of Air Force Reserve Milo Radulovich, who was discharged from the force due to supposedly having family who were Communist sympathizers. When trialled, a sealed envelope was present with supposed evidence but was never opened. This illustrated the dangers of McCarthyism; effectively it was a modern day witch hunt. After all of this, Milo was reinstated but had a very difficult time due to those false allegations. As these accusations were common, Clooney wanted to highlight the severity of McCarthyism through his

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Imagine the wicked House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) arrest an innocent man. The HUAC does not arrest the man because he has committed a murder, but because he is a communist. Many communists became victims of HUAC in the Red Scare crisis of the 1950s. These communists made the right decision to speak out for their freedom and against injustice. These communists also spoke out for their freedom of different beliefs.

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McCarthy manipulated the media, told outrageous stories about the communist conspiracy in the United States, and used his power and America’s fear to besmirch any opponents as “communist sympathizers” to make sure he remained at the top. Actually, most conservative members of Congress supported McCarthy because it helped them gain votes during elections. The majority of McCarthy 's movement attacked liberals and members of the Democratic Party and this aided anyone who was not part of those topics and organizations. Then McCarthy began to target the Army because they wouldn’t favor David Schine, one of his former investigators, who had been drafted in. “Senator Joseph McCarthy began hearings investigating the United States Army, which he charged with being ‘soft’ on communism.

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People were terrified of communism spreading to the United States, so when accusations started floating around everyone would believe them. McCarthy accused people of communist behavior, although many were falsely accused, no one knew better than to think they were guilty because of how scared they were of communism spreading. This resembles how certain characters were accused of witchcraft in The Crucible. The Red Scare caused nationwide hysteria just how the Salem Witch Trials caused hysteria to the people of Salem.

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McCarthy created the uproar of having a ‘witch hunt’ on communists in America. His influence on the people gave him credibility when he accused those innocent people. “He cited 81 cases that day. He skipped several numbers, and for some cases repeated the same flimsy information. He proved nothing, but the Senate called for a full investigation.”(ushistory.org).

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The Soviet Union was on the verge of a nuclear war, so McCarthy put fear in everyone because no one had any idea who was a communist and who was not. He made everyone afraid to trust people, even the friends other had. They were afraid that they would be accused

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Many lies and false evidence were used to convict innocent politicians and citizens. The feud intensified when Senator McCarthy responded to the news report. McCarthy sent a video to CBS in which he contradicted Murrow and accused him of being a communist. Afterwards, Murrow cleared all accusations against him and proved that he was not a communist. Additionally, McCarthyism created a strong fear and paranoia among U.S. citizens.

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By portraying the era of McCarthyism and Senator McCarthy's manipulation of power through fear tactics, the film sheds light on the detrimental consequences of suppressing dissenting voices. Murrow's powerful statement, "We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty," accompanied by persuasive devices such as alliteration and repetition, serves to provoke critical analysis of current political events and discourage complacency. III. Dangers of Fear and Complacency: Clooney warns against the dangers of fear and complacency by drawing parallels between historical events and contemporary issues. He editorializes history to present his perspective on the red scare and criticizes media complacency during the Bush administration.

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It was derived from the fear and hatred they had deep inside them. Mccarthy used this plot to get rid of his opponents and secure him a prime spot for a next term as a senator. McCarthy’s trials were no different to The Salem witch trials by raising suspitions he was able to destroy lives with a written list. Although people tried to contradict his allegations the majority’s fear of communists clouded the court’s judgement. They had no remorse for the aftermath of their doings.

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Spielberg, I believe tends to be too much “Westernized”. Mr. Donovan fights for the American values and the Western way of living, despite the many (often irrational) attempts to stop him from doing so by most of the Americans depicted in the film. While Mr. Donovan fights to defend the Western value of “liberty” and “equality”, his countrymen are too much blinded by their fear of Communism to realize that they and Mr. Donovan are defending the same values. Nevertheless, while Mr. Donovan relies on the rights and duties of “every human being”, his countrymen (which include judges, attorneys, and journalists) act through their fears (Mr. Spielberg may have been thinking of toady’s crisis and debates). The main point here, however, is how Hollywood tries to promote the American core values of “fighting for what is right”.

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