Saturday, October 17, 2015

Greetings from the brink of disaster


I'm watching The Missiles of October, the 3 hour, made-for-TV movie about the
Cuban Missile Crisis. The production values aren't great -- it's basically a stage play shot on video tape. But the script, which is based on oral histories and news stories and notes by the men who were there, is literate and compelling. It doesn't sensationalize events because it doesn't have to. The stakes in this real-life drama were as high as they can possibly get.

William Devane does an exceptional job as JFK. He has the hair, the accent, the cadence and the mannerisms. More than that, he captures the intellect, the wit, and the curious but wonderful combination of detachment and compassion that made the real man so special.

Watching a TV movie about the world on the precipice of thermonuclear war makes me think of the reality show we're all currently watching.

"It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization." So said JFK to his Cabinet in October 1962.

You know what else is insane? Voting Donald Trump as one of those two men.


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