'Back, and to the left'

[Dick Whitman]

Oliver Stone with an op-ed in today's USA Today in which he writes that Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories just don't get the attention they deserve.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/11/20/oliver-stone-jfk-conspiracy-assassination-oswald-column/3657321/

Stone writes that it is "common sense" that the President's head and body would have moved forward, not the way it actually does as documented in the Zapruder film, from a shot from the Texas School Book Depository. Of course, medical experts have long since debunked this theory. Kennedy's head did not snap back because of the force of the bullet. His body seized due to nerve damage. I can't believe Stone still trots it out.

He also includes a rundown of some eyewitnesses whose account differs from the official findings. The irony of this is delicious, as Stone is best known for a movie that first captured the chaos of a war zone.

 

[Bradley Guire]

I thought this was about "Pretty Boy" Keith Hernandez and the Magic Loogie.

 

[Steak Snabler]

He also includes a rundown of some eyewitnesses whose account differs from the official findings. The irony of this is delicious, as Stone is best known for a movie that first captured the chaos of a war zone.

Or you know, this one:

 

[poindexter]

Eyewitnesses suck. Incredibly unreliable.

I'm all about the mountain of info that the Zapruder film gives us.

 

[Dick Whitman]

He also includes a rundown of some eyewitnesses whose account differs from the official findings. The irony of this is delicious, as Stone is best known for a movie that first captured the chaos of a war zone.

Or you know, this one:

Moreso than "Platoon"?

 

[Small Town Guy]

I just rewatched JFK for about the 50th time and I still love the movie...even though its arguments are insane. But as a movie, damn it's entertaining.

 

[LongTimeListener]

I thought this was about "Pretty Boy" Keith Hernandez and the Magic Loogie.

I guessed Beyonce, but then that was just to the left to the left.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Has anyone else seen "Parkland" yet? I really enjoyed it. Very compelling to see the assassination through the experiences of peripheral players.

 

[Steak Snabler]

He also includes a rundown of some eyewitnesses whose account differs from the official findings. The irony of this is delicious, as Stone is best known for a movie that first captured the chaos of a war zone.

Or you know, this one:

Moreso than "Platoon"?

That's debatable, but the irony of Stone saying what he did is, to me, more poignant due to the fact that his film has done more than anything else to perpetuate and draw attention to many of the nutball conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination.

To say it another way, it's rich for the director of JFK to say there's not enough attention given to the JFK conspiracy theories, much moreso than the director of Platoon saying that.

 

[Starman]

Has anyone else seen "Parkland" yet? I really enjoyed it. Very compelling to see the assassination through the experiences of peripheral players.

I saw it on demand cable the other night and immediately kicked myself for blowing four bucks.

Dull, boring, tells you nothing you shouldn't already know. The responses of all the peripheral players are all utterly scripted and predictable, although we've had 50 years to hear the stories time and time again about how they did react.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I just rewatched JFK for about the 50th time and I still love the movie...even though its arguments are insane. But as a movie, damn it's entertaining.

It's an all-timer for me. Three hours just fly by every time I watch it.

 

[Dick Whitman]

To say it another way, it's rich for the director of JFK to say there's not enough attention given to the JFK conspiracy theories, much moreso than the director of Platoon saying that.

The ironic part for the director of "Platoon" was the part where he doesn't understand why people don't give more credence to the eyewitnesses.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Since 1962 to today, every poll on the subject ever taken shows that roughly two-thirds of Americans believe Kennedy's assassination was the result of a conspiracy. So it's silly of Stone to say that idea doesn't get enough attention. People's minds are made up, so they don't need to pay attention.

 

[joe king]

Since 1962 to today, every poll on the subject ever taken shows that roughly two-thirds of Americans believe Kennedy's assassination was the result of a conspiracy. So it's silly of Stone to say that idea doesn't get enough attention. People's minds are made up, so they don't need to pay attention.

The psychics must have voted in 1962.

 

[Dick Whitman]

The one aspect that gives me pause, and should probably give everybody pause, is Jack Ruby shooting Oswald. That's the kind of **** that happens when you're trying to shut someone up. And he seemed to know what he was doing, since he disposed of him with one well-placed shot like that.

 

[DanOregon]

And make sure you get it on live TV so people can see Oswald get shot and he doesn't just "die" in prison.

The thing is - if something like this happened today, I have no doubt that there would be a lot of "strings" tying whoever did it to whatever group you wanted to torch. He played video games, he listened to Glenn Beck and watched Fox News, he liked the NFL and The Voice, was an NRA/Daily Kos member...

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Sorry for the typo, should've been 1964, of course. ****, the other highly suspicious piece of evidence is that we've had a lot of other lone nut gunman in our history since then, sadly, and Oswald is the only one to maintain some form of innocence. "I'm a patsy." Those aren't the words of an assassin driven by personal demons, as the Warren Commission alleged.

 

[exmediahack]

Has anyone else seen "Parkland" yet? I really enjoyed it. Very compelling to see the assassination through the experiences of peripheral players.

I saw it on demand cable the other night and immediately kicked myself for blowing four bucks.

Dull, boring, tells you nothing you shouldn't already know. The responses of all the peripheral players are all utterly scripted and predictable, although we've had 50 years to hear the stories time and time again about how they did react.

I spent $1.29 for Parkland on Redbox the other day, mostly as my son wanted to see it as he just read "Kennedy's Last Days".

He liked the movie but I thought it was very weak. It seemed like the JFK version of "Bobby" (2006) but at least Bobby had some A-listers and there were some compelling back stories before the assassination.

I read a review of Parkland and it said the movie realizes it has no power after the killing itself.

As for "JFK", a superb movie - perfect styling, color, pacing. I had the good fortune to watch it in the theatre on Christmas Night for 1991 and it was an unforgettable movie experience.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Sorry for the typo, should've been 1964, of course. ****, the other highly suspicious piece of evidence is that we've had a lot of other lone nut gunman in our history since then, sadly, and Oswald is the only one to maintain some form of innocence. "I'm a patsy." Those aren't the words of an assassin driven by personal demons, as the Warren Commission alleged.

He's also quoted as saying, "I didn't shoot anyone."

Now: I think he did it. I think he pulled the trigger. And I think that any so-called conspirators were probably of the fringe group type, and perhaps only conspirators in Oswald's own mind, i.e. he was carrying out the group's work. But, yes, there were some strange things said and done in the 48 hours after the assassination.

 

[User 11148]

The one aspect that gives me pause, and should probably give everybody pause, is Jack Ruby shooting Oswald. That's the kind of **** that happens when you're trying to shut someone up. And he seemed to know what he was doing, since he disposed of him with one well-placed shot like that.

Oh come on, he shot him in the gut. If you wanna shut someone up you blast him in the head. There's no deathbed confession with a head shot.

Re: the Oswald killing. When we first moved here, we took some visitors over to Dallas to go to the Sixth Floor Museum (highly, highly recommended BTW). There were plenty of tourists there, including what appeared to be a middle-aged Japanese tour group. I and the tour group were at the part where Ruby does his thing at the same time. The thing is, over the years we've all seen that thing thousands of times, so we've become a bit hardened to it. But we almost always see the clip ending as they hurriedly rush Oswald away. But the clip they show in the museum, it keeps rolling on, with a TV reporter doing his thing. Reacting to the shooting, he says "Holy Cow!" (or something like it) in this big, excited teevee voice. I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. The simultaneity of the grisly violence and the g-rated oath struck me as hilarious (I know, I know, weird ... but let's face it, we've all become a bit jaded when it comes to that day). The funny thing was that tour group's reaction ... almost in unison, they slowly but deliberately got (and stayed) the hell away from me.