2/3 movies I'm analysing I'll need to order in, unless someone owns them and wants to lend them to me.
Hope I didn't miss too much Thursday, had all the symptoms of death and thought I'd go to the doctors.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
The Events of Watergate
So here's a neat little time line I found of watergate at http://www.watergate.info/burglary/
The site is SO helpful in providing information as a background to Nixon resignation.
I've decided having a good background knowledge about Nixon will be important because to assess the ways the films handle his resignation and the events that caused it will need a comparison to a non-hollywood influenced source of information which will explain the events as best they can.
I'm thinking that a composite from a multitude of non-fiction books, biographies and possibly even Nixon's autobiography would be a good place to start compiling the facts, in order to have a strong suit to compare with the films.
From this though I've also been thinking about looking at the films. When comparing them to each other and to the real story of Nixon's resignation, I'll have to explore the emotional response they're attemping to revoke. When doing this background information won't exactly prove my point, but perhaps references to the films audience, director and the context under which the film was made is more information I need to look into.
Until next time (Meaning later today, I'm going to be posting a lot !)
Alex
-x-
Brief Timeline of Events
1968
November 1968: Richard Milhous Nixon, the 55-year-old former vice president who lost the presidency for the Republicans in 1960, reclaims it by defeating Hubert Humphrey in one of the closest elections in U.S. history.
1970
July 23, 1970: Nixon approves a plan for greatly expanding domestic intelligence-gathering by the FBI, CIA and other agencies. He has second thoughts a few days later and rescinds his approval.
1971
June 13, 1971: The New York Times begins publishing the Pentagon Papers -- the Defense Department's secret history of the Vietnam War. The Washington Post will begin publishing the papers later in the week.
September 9, 1971: The White House "plumbers" unit - named for their orders to plug leaks in the administration - burglarizes a psychiatrist's office to find files on Daniel Ellsberg, the former defense analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers.
1972
June 17, 1972: Five men, one of whom says he used to work for the CIA, are arrested at 2:30 a.m. trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate hotel and office complex.
June 19, 1972: A GOP security aide is among the Watergate burglars, The Washington Post reports. Former attorney general John Mitchell, head of the Nixon reelection campaign, denies any link to the operation.
August 1, 1972: A $25,000 cashier's check, apparently earmarked for the Nixon campaign, wound up in the bank account of a Watergate burglar, The Washington Post reports.
September 29, 1972: John Mitchell, while serving as attorney general, controlled a secret Republican fund used to finance widespread intelligence-gathering operations against the Democrats, The Post reports.
October 10, 1972: FBI agents establish that the Watergate break-in stems from a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage conducted on behalf of the Nixon reelection effort, The Post reports.
November 11, 1972: Nixon is reelected in one of the largest landslides in American political history, taking more than 60 percent of the vote and crushing the Democratic nominee, Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota.
1973
January 30, 1973: Former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord Jr. are convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping in the Watergate incident. Five other men plead guilty, but mysteries remain.
April 30, 1973: Nixon's top White House staffers, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resign over the scandal. White House counsel John Dean is fired.
May 18, 1973: The Senate Watergate committee begins its nationally televised hearings. Attorney General-designate Elliot Richardson taps former solicitor general Archibald Cox as the Justice Department's special prosecutor for Watergate.
June 3, 1973: John Dean has told Watergate investigators that he discussed the Watergate cover-up with President Nixon at least 35 times, The Post reports.
June 13, 1973: Watergate prosecutors find a memo addressed to John Ehrlichman describing in detail the plans to burglarize
the office of Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist, The Post reports.
July 13, 1973: Alexander Butterfield, former presidential appointments secretary, reveals in congressional testimony that since 1971 Nixon had recorded all conversations and telephone calls in his offices.
July 18, 1973: Nixon reportedly orders the White House taping system disconnected.
July 23, 1973: Nixon refuses to turn over the presidential tape recordings to the Senate Watergate committee or the special prosecutor.
October 20, 1973: Saturday Night Massacre: Nixon fires Archibald Cox and abolishes the office of the special prosecutor. Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus resign. Pressure for impeachment mounts in Congress.
November 17, 1973: Nixon declares, "I'm not a crook," maintaining his innocence in the Watergate case.
December 7, 1973: The White House can't explain an 18 1/2 -minute gap in one of the subpoenaed tapes. Chief of staff Alexander Haig says one theory is that "some sinister force" erased the segment.
1974
April 30, 1974: The White House releases more than 1,200 pages of edited transcripts of the Nixon tapes to the House Judiciary Committee, but the committee insists that the tapes themselves must be turned over.
July 24, 1974: The Supreme Court rules unanimously that Nixon must turn over the tape recordings of 64 White House conversations, rejecting the president's claims of executive privilege.
July 27, 1974: House Judiciary Committee passes the first of three articles of impeachment, charging obstruction of justice.
August 8, 1974: Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to resign. Vice President Gerald R. Ford assumes the country's highest office. He will later pardon Nixon of all charges related to the Watergate case.
The site is SO helpful in providing information as a background to Nixon resignation.
I've decided having a good background knowledge about Nixon will be important because to assess the ways the films handle his resignation and the events that caused it will need a comparison to a non-hollywood influenced source of information which will explain the events as best they can.
I'm thinking that a composite from a multitude of non-fiction books, biographies and possibly even Nixon's autobiography would be a good place to start compiling the facts, in order to have a strong suit to compare with the films.
From this though I've also been thinking about looking at the films. When comparing them to each other and to the real story of Nixon's resignation, I'll have to explore the emotional response they're attemping to revoke. When doing this background information won't exactly prove my point, but perhaps references to the films audience, director and the context under which the film was made is more information I need to look into.
Until next time (Meaning later today, I'm going to be posting a lot !)
Alex
-x-
Brief Timeline of Events
1968
November 1968: Richard Milhous Nixon, the 55-year-old former vice president who lost the presidency for the Republicans in 1960, reclaims it by defeating Hubert Humphrey in one of the closest elections in U.S. history.
1970
July 23, 1970: Nixon approves a plan for greatly expanding domestic intelligence-gathering by the FBI, CIA and other agencies. He has second thoughts a few days later and rescinds his approval.
1971
June 13, 1971: The New York Times begins publishing the Pentagon Papers -- the Defense Department's secret history of the Vietnam War. The Washington Post will begin publishing the papers later in the week.
September 9, 1971: The White House "plumbers" unit - named for their orders to plug leaks in the administration - burglarizes a psychiatrist's office to find files on Daniel Ellsberg, the former defense analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers.
1972
June 17, 1972: Five men, one of whom says he used to work for the CIA, are arrested at 2:30 a.m. trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate hotel and office complex.
June 19, 1972: A GOP security aide is among the Watergate burglars, The Washington Post reports. Former attorney general John Mitchell, head of the Nixon reelection campaign, denies any link to the operation.
August 1, 1972: A $25,000 cashier's check, apparently earmarked for the Nixon campaign, wound up in the bank account of a Watergate burglar, The Washington Post reports.
September 29, 1972: John Mitchell, while serving as attorney general, controlled a secret Republican fund used to finance widespread intelligence-gathering operations against the Democrats, The Post reports.
October 10, 1972: FBI agents establish that the Watergate break-in stems from a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage conducted on behalf of the Nixon reelection effort, The Post reports.
November 11, 1972: Nixon is reelected in one of the largest landslides in American political history, taking more than 60 percent of the vote and crushing the Democratic nominee, Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota.
1973
January 30, 1973: Former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord Jr. are convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping in the Watergate incident. Five other men plead guilty, but mysteries remain.
April 30, 1973: Nixon's top White House staffers, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resign over the scandal. White House counsel John Dean is fired.
May 18, 1973: The Senate Watergate committee begins its nationally televised hearings. Attorney General-designate Elliot Richardson taps former solicitor general Archibald Cox as the Justice Department's special prosecutor for Watergate.
June 3, 1973: John Dean has told Watergate investigators that he discussed the Watergate cover-up with President Nixon at least 35 times, The Post reports.
June 13, 1973: Watergate prosecutors find a memo addressed to John Ehrlichman describing in detail the plans to burglarize
the office of Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist, The Post reports.
July 13, 1973: Alexander Butterfield, former presidential appointments secretary, reveals in congressional testimony that since 1971 Nixon had recorded all conversations and telephone calls in his offices.
July 18, 1973: Nixon reportedly orders the White House taping system disconnected.
July 23, 1973: Nixon refuses to turn over the presidential tape recordings to the Senate Watergate committee or the special prosecutor.
October 20, 1973: Saturday Night Massacre: Nixon fires Archibald Cox and abolishes the office of the special prosecutor. Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus resign. Pressure for impeachment mounts in Congress.
November 17, 1973: Nixon declares, "I'm not a crook," maintaining his innocence in the Watergate case.
December 7, 1973: The White House can't explain an 18 1/2 -minute gap in one of the subpoenaed tapes. Chief of staff Alexander Haig says one theory is that "some sinister force" erased the segment.
1974
April 30, 1974: The White House releases more than 1,200 pages of edited transcripts of the Nixon tapes to the House Judiciary Committee, but the committee insists that the tapes themselves must be turned over.
July 24, 1974: The Supreme Court rules unanimously that Nixon must turn over the tape recordings of 64 White House conversations, rejecting the president's claims of executive privilege.
July 27, 1974: House Judiciary Committee passes the first of three articles of impeachment, charging obstruction of justice.
August 8, 1974: Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to resign. Vice President Gerald R. Ford assumes the country's highest office. He will later pardon Nixon of all charges related to the Watergate case.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
"Evaluate the historical value of three films treatment of the end of Nixon's Presidency."
I like it, thanks for the suggestion Mr Wright!
This weekend I'm going to be at the state library researching what ACTUALLY happened, (even though I have a pretty good knowledge that leads me to understand Nixon was in the same sort of league as Mao in my books), giving what reliable information I can to set the situation of the real event. Then I'll compare them to All The Presidents Men, Frost/Nixon and the movie Nixon (the semi-biographical one, still more of a movie that it is factual)
Few questions though:
- When I'm doing this though, should I be putting the directors into their own context? ie. What age / situation they were in during his resignation, their political views or any other factor that might change the portrayal of the end of his presidency?
- Should I also include things like dramatic techniques which may exaggerate tension or heightened emotions for commercial purposes?
- As for the actual film themselves should I look into how realistic and accurate they are as opposed to how much Hollywood has polarised them in order to make a major film ?
- Maybe a small delve into human emotions? Perhaps things like conflicting emotion about Nixon in the movies (Like Nixon/Front) where the director attempts to create sympathy for the situation of Nixon, portraying him as the 'broken, lost, lonely man who made a lot of mistakes which cost him his life" type person. This, I suppose, is an interesting thing to assess, whether this spin on the character comes from the Director (Ron Howard) own personal context or whether it was just employed to make Frost/Nixon a good film. Perhaps it is the loathing you feel suddenly challenged by the directors appeal to look at Nixon in a sympathetic light after all the atrocious things he did is a good thing to evaluate and assess
- When I go about writing my Proposal and eventually my practise essay, should I be assessing the film based not only on historical values but on influences from Hollywood, Target Audience and the Directors personal Context?
- HISTORICAL VALUE: Are we talking how accurate? Once again, are we addressing how the influences previously mentioned affect this?
-Should I perhaps look at the film from differing perspectives? I'm not quite sure if this will work, I'm just thinking that by using broader scope such as this I'll be displaying strong analytical abilites.
If anyone (and I really mean, anyone) wants to discuss, answer or tell me I've written something useless up here, PLEASE TELL ME! This stuffs going to help me with my proposal, and I'd love feed back!
I like it, thanks for the suggestion Mr Wright!
This weekend I'm going to be at the state library researching what ACTUALLY happened, (even though I have a pretty good knowledge that leads me to understand Nixon was in the same sort of league as Mao in my books), giving what reliable information I can to set the situation of the real event. Then I'll compare them to All The Presidents Men, Frost/Nixon and the movie Nixon (the semi-biographical one, still more of a movie that it is factual)
Few questions though:
- When I'm doing this though, should I be putting the directors into their own context? ie. What age / situation they were in during his resignation, their political views or any other factor that might change the portrayal of the end of his presidency?
- Should I also include things like dramatic techniques which may exaggerate tension or heightened emotions for commercial purposes?
- As for the actual film themselves should I look into how realistic and accurate they are as opposed to how much Hollywood has polarised them in order to make a major film ?
- Maybe a small delve into human emotions? Perhaps things like conflicting emotion about Nixon in the movies (Like Nixon/Front) where the director attempts to create sympathy for the situation of Nixon, portraying him as the 'broken, lost, lonely man who made a lot of mistakes which cost him his life" type person. This, I suppose, is an interesting thing to assess, whether this spin on the character comes from the Director (Ron Howard) own personal context or whether it was just employed to make Frost/Nixon a good film. Perhaps it is the loathing you feel suddenly challenged by the directors appeal to look at Nixon in a sympathetic light after all the atrocious things he did is a good thing to evaluate and assess
- When I go about writing my Proposal and eventually my practise essay, should I be assessing the film based not only on historical values but on influences from Hollywood, Target Audience and the Directors personal Context?
- HISTORICAL VALUE: Are we talking how accurate? Once again, are we addressing how the influences previously mentioned affect this?
-Should I perhaps look at the film from differing perspectives? I'm not quite sure if this will work, I'm just thinking that by using broader scope such as this I'll be displaying strong analytical abilites.
If anyone (and I really mean, anyone) wants to discuss, answer or tell me I've written something useless up here, PLEASE TELL ME! This stuffs going to help me with my proposal, and I'd love feed back!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
PROPOSAL QUESTION TIMEEEE !
How exciting, I finally hit a spring of inspiration.
IDEA ONE:
How has the Presidency of Richard Nixon and the Events that followed influenced modern pop culture?
IDEA TWO:
Were the values of the American Constitution and Democratic system devalued by the presidency of Richard Nixon?
Comments? Suggestions?
IDEA ONE:
How has the Presidency of Richard Nixon and the Events that followed influenced modern pop culture?
IDEA TWO:
Were the values of the American Constitution and Democratic system devalued by the presidency of Richard Nixon?
Comments? Suggestions?
Sunday, February 7, 2010
So I rented Frost/Nixon and The Assassination of Richard Nixon.. Nixon
I have no idea about the latter, but my essay will be on the influence of Watergate on popular culture. Obviously the scandal was big enough to have three movies made about Nixon and his involvement (Predominately Frost/Nixon) but it also allowed for other stories surrounding the scandal to emerge,
BlahBlah, still no question to write about, I have however come across some delicious recipes for flour-free cake.
Also, I rented public enemies. It's not as good as I expected, maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it.
BlahBlah, still no question to write about, I have however come across some delicious recipes for flour-free cake.
Also, I rented public enemies. It's not as good as I expected, maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it.
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