COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JONATHAN FREEDLAND IN THE
GUARDIAN
Ahead of the Academy
Awards, Jonathan Freedland celebrates Steven Spielberg’s timely tale of press
freedom
"Why The Post
should win the 2018 best picture Oscar"
Ridiculous.
Steven Spielberg is, and always has been, a mediocre
director.
He has indeed made a fortune with his pictures, but that is
precisely because he is the greatest maker of schlock in history, and, in case
you hadn't noticed, schlock sells, just like junk food or Barbie Dolls.
Although I am one who strongly believes that the Oscars do
not represent merit - there being a long record of counter examples and even
embarrassments - still, newspapers and columnists play the Hollywood promotion
game and pretend they do represent merit.
So, let’s pretend for a moment they do represent merit. I
don't think Spielberg can possibly compete on merit.
And this movie is full of crap. Katherine Graham was
anything but an admirable person.
There is even the distinct possibility she had her hubby, an
embarrassingly deranged man and owner of The Post, murdered. But even without
that unproved claim, she was a very nefarious establishment figure.
As for The Washington Post, well, if you like American
imperialism, that's one of your papers of choice. It promotes war ceaselessly.
Ben Bradlee, Graham's editor was, without question, a CIA
insider, the kind of guy often in the past the security agency has planted in
outfits like the New York Times and Washington Post a number of times.
There were many reasons for publishing the Pentagon Papers.
It did not happen without major establishment insider support. To portray it as
a brave battle with truth and the brave decision of this one woman is simply
inaccurate, although it may be good drama.
I find it questionable at a time of fading influence by the
mainline commercial press that we have a film making one of the club's big
members look heroic.
The long-term record of The Post is appalling. Always,
always a supporter of war and the Washington establishment, the kind of paper
that has undoubtedly done far more
harm than good over time.
Praise them? I don't think so.
