JFK - Conspiracy Of Silence
Lots of documentaries have been commissioned to commemorate the 60th anniversary of John F Kennedy's assassination. But why are so few of them at odds with the Warren Commission's version of events?
You can’t fail to noticed that there are all manner of documentary films about John F Kennedy and his murder currently doing the rounds. Between National Geographic’s One Day In America all the way along to Channel 5’s JFK Assassination: What Happened In Trauma Room One, there would appear to be a film to suit every taste, not to mention one covering every aspect of the tragedy from the home movie heroics of Abraham Zapruder to the lonely stoicism of Jackie Kennedy.
There is one thing that unites the majority of these films, however, and it’s not just the horrific subject matter. No, of the films released to mark the anniversary of this world-shaking event, ones that more or less support the Warren Commission’s ‘long gunman’ conclusion far outweigh programmes willing to speculate that the murder of the 35th president of the United State didn’t begin and end with Lee Harvey Oswald.
Now, first things first, this isn’t entirely a bad thing. Over the years, theories about the Kennedy assassination have reached such an extent of ridiculousness that the version of events presented in Red Dwarf - the boys’ blundering leaves Kennedy obliged to murder himself - seems one of the less implausible suggestions.
But even if you believe Oswald shot the president without any assistance, you have to acknowledge the utter weirdness of some of the things that happened in Dallas on November 22nd 1963. Like the presence of so many police officers at Oswald’s arrest, an event that occurred just 75 minutes after the assassination. Or the fact that so many media people - together with Jack Ruby! - were on hand whenever the alleged killer was walked between holding cell and interview room. It’s one thing not to raise an objection to the party line; quite another to not even raise an eyebrow.
While the absence of incredulousness is part of many of the aforementioned films, it’s felt particularly strongly in ITV’s JFK: The Home Video That Changed The World. Here it would appear that Abraham Zapruder’s conviction that Oswald acted alone has been allowed to colour the entire presentation. So there’s no debate over the film’s inconsistencies [the strange edit as the presidential limo passes behind the Stemmons Freeway sign, so making it impossible to tell when Kennedy was first hit], the decision to keep it from the American public access for over a decade, the fact that the film contradicts the testimony of countless key witnesses, etc.
Of course, there are documentaries that dare to ask such difficult questions, and of course, the best of these are made by Oliver Stone. Whether you take in JFK: Destiny Betrayed or the abbreviated JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass, you’ll be pleased to see that there is at least one person still willing to look under the rocks. It’s just a shame that the man whose dedicated a lot more to understanding the assassination that just his time nor seems to spend so much of said time giving Vladimir Putin the benefit of the doubt.
Better then maybe to give The Assassination & Mrs Paine a go. With unprecedented access to Marina Oswald’s best friend, director Max Good is free to illuminate a part of the story that’s long been unavailable to Oliver Stone - legal action meant that JFK featured not Ruth and Peter Paine but Bill and Janet Williams.
Those of you who’ve seen National Geographic’s One Day In America will already be familiar with Mrs Paine who seems like a nice enough old lady who was generous to a young mother in a tough situation. All of which might be the case but if you know even just a little about Mrs Paine’s Warren Commission testimony means, the conversation can’t end there. Thanks to Max Good and his modest, unpretentious picture what he describes as ‘the last link to the murder of JFK’ is poured over as thoroughly as a prized family heirloom on Antiques Roadshow.