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Recently, President Donald Trump authorized the remaining files pertaining to the John F. Kennedy assassination to be declassified. For many people, their knowledge of the assassination comes fromOliver Stone’s 1991 courtroom thriller,JFK.However,it must be said that Stone’s movie is largely fabricated and hasn’t aged well, Stone whitewashing his “hero,” New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, played by Kevin Costner. The real trial was an unmitigated trainwreck.
As for those secret papers, don’t get your hopes up. Hyped at the end of the film, the sealed findings of the 1976-79 United States House Select Committee on Assassinations are bound to disappoint, at least for those who took the movieJFKto heart. The movie might be a filmmaking tour de force, but it’s the epitome of a bad-faith argument, the film predicated on baseless hearsay for the purpose of stirring up distrust. The pseudo-docudramaJFKwas a boon to the conspiracy community, popularizing glib paranoia, but failed to meaningfully answer lingering questions. Unfortunately, that was the director’s goal.
The Cruel Truth Behind Oliver Stone’s ‘JFK’
Will these disclosures prove a conspiracy, validate the series of events depicted in Stone’s film, or prove Oswald innocent? We wouldn’t bet on it. Keep in mind,Stone knowingly lied about several key facts. No misrepresentation so egregious as the character Costner played.The New Orleans DA left office with the reputation of an attention-seeker who waged a witchhunt against a man for being gay. The film was protested by LGBTQ+ groups in 1991, not surprisingly.
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Businessman Clay Shaw’s life was upended because he was a convenient scapegoat. Shaw, depicted by Tommy Lee Jones in the film, was singled out, homosexuality being illegal. In Garrison’s mind, the president’s murder was a “homosexual thrill-killing,” anti-gay slander popular at the time that insisted that queer people were prone to violent, anti-social urges. According to Patricia Lambert’s examination of the case inFalse Witness, confidantes were certain Garrison was deluded, his case “a fraud” with zero evidence.
‘JFK’ Is History for Entertainment Purposes Only
It wasn’t supposed to be an exposé or scholarly biography of Oswald, Shaw, or Garrison. In anLA Timessit-down, Stone lightheartedly dubbed it a “counter-myth.”In blunter terms, he was making counter-propaganda and rewrote history to better reflect his political views.You know, becausehe makes important movies, and would never waste your time. However, two wrongs don’t make a right, thus making him as morally reprehensible as those he labels as liars.
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The closing credits include the annoying message: “Dedicated to the young, in whose spirit the search for truth marches on.” This is wishful thinking. Even before the real-life trial started,Time Magazineridiculed Garrison for extracting testimony out of a witness through drugs and hypnosis, a key witness changing his story and struggling to identify Lee Harvey Oswald. Shaw was acquitted by a jury in under an hour. Garrison wasn’t fighting a corrupt system. Garrison was the corrupt system. No cover-up was proven. Remarkably, Garrison’s 15 minutes of fame still weren’t over.
Why Did Oliver Stone Mythologize an Absurd Footnote in Legal History?
If there were facts to be found and people to be held to account, Garrison’s bungling prosecution hampered any future attempts.Yes, the only villain in the case ofThe State of Louisiana vs Clay Shawwas the guy instigating it. Evenfellow conspiracy theoristsgroan at the mention of Garrison’s name. Stone’s choice to reinterpret this buffoon as a courageous crusader for justice is one of the more baffling decisions in cinema history. The director needed a face for the movement, his primary aim to discredit the Warren Commission, not accurately present the facts. Author Anthony Summers reiterates that Garrison’s haphazard waste of taxpayer dollars was little more than a power trip, tellingNewsweekthat
“I looked into the Clay Shaw trial while working on my bookNot in Your Lifetime. My interviewees included former New Orleans DA Jim Garrison, whom I judged a dubious character. I concluded, too, that the Clay Shaw trial was a travesty of justice. Oliver Stone’s movieJFK, drawing on Garrison’s work, irresponsibly muddied the ground in a case that was and remains important to the nation.”
Despite his directorial flair,Stone too often succumbsto crippling bouts of gullibility, providing a platform for comically disreputable public figures. L. Fletcher Prouty, one of the film’s consultants, was widely deemed a crackpot, a fact that didn’t bother Stone one bit. The discourse on this topic was irreparably damaged after this movie was ripped apart by historians.
This only makes it harder for those sincerely questioning the official Congressional inquiries and demanding accountability from their leaders. Thank Oliver Stone. And should those newly-declassified top-secret papers yield nothing of value, this film will only sink further into farce, albeit entertaining as hell.JFKis currently available to rent onPrime Video,Apple TV, andGoogle Play.
