Good night and Good luck

Good Night and Good Luck is a film about McCarthyism in America. Joe McCarthy was a prominent Senator from Wisconsin known for his anti-communist crusade in the United States. Many of the people that were investigated and blacklisted during the paranoia were innocent of involvement in communist activity.  The film begins with the introduction of Edward R. Murrow, a man who fought against segregation and Joesph McCarthy. He warns that television is used to distract people.

                                                  Joesph McCarthy

The film then cuts back to 1953, it explains how many are suspected of communist sympathies. Mr. and Mrs. Wershaba discuss signing a loyalty oath to the United States of America. Mr. Wershaba says his wife should sign the oath but she is unsure of it. Many people had to denounce communism even if they weren't communists themselves. The film goes on to discuss a man named Milo Radolovich, being asked to denounce his father. He was asked to do so because his father was reading a Serbian newspaper. If he fails to denounce his father he will not be allowed to enter the airforce. 

I find this very ironic because Yugoslavia was behind the Iron Curtain and was a victim of Soviet Imperialism. The idea that every Serbian-American newspaper would be sympathetic to the Yugoslav government is ridiculous.  Many immigrants to the United States from Eastern Europe were political refugees who strongly disagreed with their government. 

Initially after Mr. Murrow's segment, he believes that it went well. Mr. Wershaba is told that Mr. Murrow has been on the Soviet payroll since 1935. He disagrees with this but still takes the envelope with the alleged evidence. Murrow's boss warns him that he went too far with his Segment. Murrow. Murrow asks his coworkers if they have any connections to communists. One of his workers says that his ex-wife attended Communist meetings. 

Many intellectuals in the 1930s were socialist or communist sympathizers. The New Deal took elements of socialist ideology and combined them with American capitalism. Many Ideologies use different elements of others. I think we should encourage the marketplace of ideas in our country and not ban different beliefs.

 Murrow makes another address about Senator McCarthy. He implies that McCarthy is trying to destroy American democracy. He is praised in the papers for his courage in going after the Senator's methods. Many in the country in both political parties were hesitant to go after McCarthy. Another paper slams Murrow as being a socialist. 

It is announced that Radolovich is going to be allowed back into the Air Force. McCarthy is brought on the program and he makes an appeal to every American to join with him in his Crusade against communism. He says that he will not be intimidated by those who attack him. In the next segment, Murrow says that he did not expect McCarthy to behave differently. He says that he is not a communist and that people should be allowed to discuss a variety of ideas. 

It is announced that the Senator will be investigating Joe McCarthy. This was largely due to the Senator's methods and the Senator deciding to go after the United States Army. The cynic in me wonders if his investigating the Army would have revealed other unrelated crimes. 

Mr. and Mrs. Wershaba are asked to think about leaving. Murrow's boss is upset and reprimands him by having his program reduced to five episodes on Sunday. It cuts back to the award show and Murrow continues his speech saying that people have to openly discuss different ideas.

I think this movie was released during an interesting time (2005) at the height of the Iraq War. I am unsure whether the director of the movie was motivated to release the movie at this time, but is probable that some of the people who worked on the film were against the War. The Iraq War like many wars throughout American history was a time of great media. The Patriot Act allowed the US government to monitor American citizens.  The themes of this movie such as government censorship and intimidation of anti-government voices are still as relevant as they were then. I am glad that I was able to see this movie to gain a greater insight into those who fought against McCarthyism.