Movie of the Week: “Chappaquiddick”
The dark shadow of the lion
When it comes to pathetic, malicious and corrupt politicians, we believe that in this field too we, brazilians, are world champions. But the truth is that it seems to be a prerequisite for political career to have some distortion of character or personality. An example of this is shown in the movie “Chappaquiddick”, directed by John Curran.
It is difficult for anyone in the world who has not heard of President John Kennedy and his tragic end, assassinated during his tenure. Not everyone, however, knows about his brother, Bob, also murdered while campaigning for the presidency. Fewer people even heard about his older brother, Joseph Jr, who was been prepared by his father for a political career, but who disappeared in action in World War II.
With so many tragedies in the family, which at the same time earned a great admiration for the Kennedy, it was natural that the next to follow the political path was Ted Kennedy, the youngest of the nine children of Joseph Kennedy senior.
Even as a young man, Ted Kennedy had been already in trouble. He was expelled from Harvard for defrauding exams, but was able to return and graduate in law. His first term as senator of Massachusetts was occupying the vacancy of John, when this one was elected president.
At the time shown in the film, in the year 1969, Ted Kennedy (Jason Clark) was at a special moment of his career. With the memory of the two brothers’ deaths still very recent in the memory of the electorate, there was no question to anyone that he would be the White House occupant in the 1972 election.
The mood was of general optimism among former supporters of the deceased Bob, who were already preparing to give Ted the support he needed. It was in this spirit that they gathered to celebrate in a beach house on the island of Chappaquiddick on July 18, 1969.
Among the six girls attending the party were Mary Jo Kopechne (Kate Mara), a 28-year-old former teacher who had actively participated in Bob Kennedy’s campaign. Also at the party were Ted’s cousin, lawyer and “handyman”, Joe Gargan (Ed Helms) and former Massachusetts attorney Paul Markham (Jim Gaffigan).
In a moment, after drinking like everyone else, Ted drove off with Mary Jo. Around midnight, the car with the two fell off a bridge. Ted managed to get out, while Mary Jo got stuck in the car, and died drowned.
Instead of asking for help from the authorities, Ted walked to the house where the group was and told what had happened to Gargan and Markham. Realizing the gravity of the incident, the three of them went to the scene of the accident, but could not get the young woman out.
Gargan insisted that Ted communicate the fact to the police, but the politician chose to leave the island without doing anything. The accident was discovered hours later by a fisherman who called the police. Ted only showed up almost ten hours after the accident.
Although screenwriters Taylor Allen and Andrew Logan said they did not want to make a documentary about the incident, the script was based on the nearly one thousand-page survey of the 1970 Massachusetts Supreme Court.
The film actually raises more questions than answers. Why did the senator take so long to report it to the police? What was he and Mary Jo doing? Why was not the autopsy performed on the girl’s body? How did Ted’s driver’s license that was expired miraculously stay valid?
Perhaps the strongest question is why the opposition and the press have not explored further this strange event? Thinking about our own politicians, perhaps the answer is the old maxim of San Francisco applied to politics, “it is giving that one receives”.
The fact is that after the incident, the most promising candidate for the White House gave up the Democrat’s nomination for George McGovern, that lose to Richard Nixon, who soon became involved in the Watergate scandal.
Ted Kennedy was elected to seven terms as a Massachusetts senator, and had such a brilliant career that he was nicknamed the Lion of the Senate. He was a champion of human rights, liberal causes, immigrant rights and gun control. However, it was only in 1980 that he attempted the nomination of the party to run for president, losing it to Jimmy Carter, who was seeking re-election.
“Chappaquiddick” is an interesting film for raising an obscure point in recent American history, although it has sinned not doing an initial contextualization, presumably assuming that all viewers are well aware of the facts surrounding the Kennedy family. Another merit of the film is to show that not everything is wonderful, romantic and perfect in the land of Uncle Trump. Watch it, discuss and form your own opinion.
Original Title: “Chappaquiddick”