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Goodnight And Good Luck Mccarthyism Analysis

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Throughout the film, various themes become evident; the most obvious of themes as mentioned was McCarthyism. McCarthy used the power of media to intensify the “Red Scare”, to the point that individuals began to question and judge anyone who they believed to be a communist whether they were or not. Although McCarthyism ended, it left many jobless, due to accusations of communism, “ ten thousand Americans lost their jobs because of their past or present affiliation with the Communist party”. Lastly, McCarthyism lead to constant suspicion and one might say it manifested hatred between Americans. Similarly the theme of dissent goes hand in hand with McCarthyism and is also prevalent throughout the film. McCarthy was stripping the American people …show more content…

It was time where suspicion, distrust and fear were widespread throughout the country. People were more concerned about their own personal welfare than the problem at hand. McCarthy’s methods were both thoughtless and vicious; because he wanted to accomplish his goal regardless if it meant violating the rights and values of the American people. Clooney managed to capture the essence of this to an extent; he kept his political views to himself and portrayed the realism of America in the 1950’s. He presented the facts and information in an accurate manner, by doing so; it gives the viewers a sense of the history without polluting their minds. The use of archived clips and the fact there was no actor playing McCarthy added to the authentication of the film. Clooney used a simplistic approach by not over staging this film. Similarly an intricate story was allowed to be told; it focused on the truth and impracticalities of the trials and showed the downfall of Senator Joseph McCarthy “ In the end, the principal and most pathetic victim of McCarthyism would be- McCarthy himself”. As a result of this, it not only broaden ones understanding of this era, it gave a great insight into America during the 1950’s. Although this may be a film, this is based on a very true piece of American

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Similarly, “Good Night and Good Luck” by George Clooney was written in 2005 about Edward Murrow and the CBS News’ coverage of McCarthyism as a method to censor the media. Their newscast was against Senator Joseph McCarthy. They blamed McCarthy because he was discovered of being a communist. Clooney’s film addressed how communism

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McCarthy, who used doctored photographs and false documents, was eventually censored for his actions” (Nixon, McCarthyism Address). In this speech, president Nixon described how McCarthyism actually destroyed the careers and lives of many. They were accused and legally attacked by a corrupt senator who was found to create false evidence. Many of the victims were innocent men, abandoned by the US government and left helpless. The government did not act to protect them.

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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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McCarthy swore every politician was a communist. Communism is a “system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self- perpetuating political party” (dictionary.com). The influence of McCarthy led to blackballing, which influenced Hollywood’s creative individuals and their business. During this time was when people were judged and had opinions that were far from the truth. Because of Bradbury living in this era, the book was greatly influenced by communism and McCarthyism.

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McCarthy “was notoriously difficult on writers and entertainers, many of whom were labeled communist sympathizers and were unable to continue working” (Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan and the Blacklist: None Without Sin”). Both the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy trials “could often destroy a career [or life] with a single unsubstantiated accusation” (Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan and the Blacklist: None Without Sin”). These unsubstantiated accusations and claims in both instances were used as a catalyst for furthering hidden

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Joseph McCarthy started accusing everyone of being communist. “New Dealers committed to feminism, racial equality, and the end of economic exploitation; how fellow travelers became virulent cold warriors; and the trauma the Second Red Scare inflicted upon upstanding American families.” This quote depicts how important the Second Red Scare was back in the 1950’s. It wasn’t only important but it was also very scary to many

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After World War II, the Americans were scared that communism would replaced their federal government as it had done with China and other countries of Asia. Powerful political figures such as the HUAC and McCarthy accused innocent people of being communists. This practice of making accusations was used as the base to film “Good Night and Good Luck” by George Clooney. In the film, Edward R. Murrow and his dedicated staff talked about McCarthy in their TV program “See it Now”. Their program was a turning point in the “Red Scare” because they spotlighted McCarthy.

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As the textbook states, McCarthyism was “best practiced by Senator Joe McCarthy, remained strong in the early 1950s as the figures such as the cross-dressing FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Bobby Kennedy, and Richard Nixon scored political points by accusing rivals of being “soft” on communism and thus not loyal Americans” (LP 257). For McCarthy`s part, he threw wild charges that the media and public ate up. As the textbook states, “McCarthy, shockingly, accused General George Marshall being disloyal and during the 1952 campaign, Eisenhower-a longtime colleague of Marshall-did not even defend his friend for fear of upsetting McCarthy- undoubtedly the most cowardly act

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It was during his early career as a Judge that “McCarthy made the needs of children involved in contested divorces a priority.” this extract from Thomas Reeve’s biography that suggests McCarthy experienced a troubled childhood that could have lead to desire for power. During his fist election campaign, he accused his opposition, Robert La Follette, of War profiteering despite having personally profited from WWII. His early monotonous Senate career erupted in 1950 when he produced a list of 205 suspected communists exclaiming “The state department is infested with communists…this list of names were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department.” The majority of accusations had little or no verification and is seen as propaganda aimed to exploit the fear of communism that had arose from the cold war.

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McCarthy was the judge, jury and even an executioner who sought to make sure no one was safe from McCarthyism. Accusations of treason or disloyalty without conducting the right evidence is McCarthyism. Simply put, it was to minimize the threat of communism and convicting suspects who deemed to be a security threat to the US. McCarthy's outlandish way of campaign of identifying and eliminating suspected communists enraged the community. Supported by the media and used propaganda as a tool to get it where it needed too and that was to fool people into supporting it fully.

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The McCarthyism era in the United States came to be a major contributor to various social changes in America during the early years of the Cold War. The McCarthy campaign was known for its belligerent accusations against individuals and organizations who were conspired to be associated with Communism. Most were the victims to McCarthyism were tragically affected due to economic and social sanctions. The attack of the Civil Rights Movement by McCarthyism ended up actually helping bring success to the movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

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The book lays out details of how regular Americans to politicians and celebrities were being accused of being communists, having connections to communists or advocating freely to be communist. The book also shows the effect of Joseph McCarthy to the public during the McCarthy era, as he was the direct cause of publicizing ordinary to well-known Americans to communist ties, as the effects of publicizing brought what is known as the “Red Scare” in the United States and Americans feared communism. I choose to read Nightmare In Red for

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McCarthyism. McCarthyism was used to eliminate the danger of American communism because people believed Soviet puppets might subvert the government, steal official secrets, and sabotage the army. By late 1950 's, many men and women had lost their jobs, have been deported, or placed in jail. McCarthyism was powerful because different agencies and individuals took a part of the process.

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McCarthy was a public figure that many Americans believed in and rooted for. Even though now in history, we see McCarthy as a villain in the scene of the Cold War, millions of American's at the time saw him to be simply wonderful. One thing that McCarthy was know for, was the number of people he had accused of being communist. McCarthy held hearings, and even brought hundreas of people infront of senate commities, that later on ruined many peoples lives. It was even said in the Pearson's video about McCarthy that he would carry around an envelope of names in his pockets during his press interviews and speeches , claiming to have hundreds of names of known communist that were involved in the government .

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Amid of the so-called perfect era of the 1950s, political figures of the United States protagonist on their very own soap opera of gossiping, which eventually affected the moral of Americans. The exemplar article “The Smearing of Joe McCarthy: The Lavender Scare, Gossip, and Cold War Politics” by Andrea Friedman discusses the hearsay nature surrounding Senator Joseph McCarthy. The 1950s generation believed in conventional heterosexual relationships. Allegedly Senator McCarthy was suppressing his sexual desire for men. An image was enough to spark gossip to romantically link Senator McCarthy to attorney Roy Cohn along with other allegations.

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