The addition of his assassination kind of bothered me. Everyone's reaction to it seemed slightly strange, like when Joe says "the world has gone crazy."
I love this movie, but that part irks me. It doesn't seem to work... or something.
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You cannot have a movie set in November 1963 and NOT have the assassination. It was just a catastrophic event it effected everybody (and I was only 15 months).
I have a beef with the goof that there was no snow in January, in Massachusetts. It is very possible to not have snow in January. In fact we can have a green Christmas and a white Easter. Doesn't happen very often, but it is possible.
Just because it didn't snow doesn't mean it wasn't winter. It rarely snowed the 2011-2012 winter season, same with 2009-2010. The reaction to the assassination isn't strange or anything. I was only 9 when 9/11 happen but I remember people lighting candles and having moments of silence.
shareYes, but that was how the world felt at the time -- that everything had been dropped on its head. I was in HS in Dallas the day Kennedy was shot, and the whole world just shut down. School was let out, you saw people on the streets just wandering around dazed. I heard the rumors that a couple of people had commited suicide, clutching pictures of JFK. Most of my friends thought we were about to go to war, or that snipers were everywhere. I didn't go downtown for almost a year.
I think the reaction of Joe worked well in the movie. Same mentality as Sept 11th for you young'uns.
I wasn't born until 1971 but my mother (who was born in 1950) has told me she vividly remembers when she heard about the Kennedy assassination: she was in 8th grade and in her PE class. She said the principal came over and made the announcment. My mom said she was dumbfounded and thought, at first, that it was a joke. She, her classmates, teachers, and administrations were crying in bewilderment. She also said classes were cancelled the rest of the day and week.
So, it's not unusual or exaggerated to use the reaction in the movie. The entire country (and world, too) felt the exact same way.
I totally agree with you nj cisneros. I am English but both my parents are from the States and were in grade school when Kennedy was assassinated. My mum remembers it just as your mum did - eveyone was in a total state of shock and crying. I think the scene in the film captures the reality of what happened really well, and I would suggest it's British people who think it's weird because we are not nearly as patriotic as the Americans. I doubt I would cry if Tony Blair were killed. I would be shocked, of course, but I'm not sure us Brits would react in the same way.
shareThe first time i saw this film, when i was a kid, i couldnt understand why so many people were crying for a man they never met. My mum told me that it was a big shock at the time and how well liked JFK was. Its was only years later when Princess Diana died that i understood that kind of mass mourning. It felt like a personal loss and I cried for days. Even now, watching footage of her - i get a lump in my throat. You're right though - I think if El Pres Tony was bumped off - id be slightly glad!
shareI was in Rockport Ma and watched them shoot the scene where Winona walks up the street while the annoucement of the assassination was blasting over loud speakers. They had to do it over 15 times because the kids playing in the leaves at the end kept screwing up...and it's one long continuous shot...Richard Benjamin was all banged up black eye and all after an accident while shooting pool scenes earlier....cool stuff..
shareI was in high school when JFK was shot. It was an all-girls Catholic high school, and everyone was hysterical crying. I vividly remember walking home from school, and how the adults were all in their houses watching TV. The kids, those too young to understand, were out playing as though everything was normal. The line in the movie when Winona Ryder's character is walking home from school (as I was) and she notices the same thing - kids playing - "I feel like there's not a single adult left on the planet." That line really made me sad!!
shareThe difference between Great Britain and America is that we don't give a *beep* about politicians nowadays. I think your forgetting the death of Princess Diana that was more shocking than JFK by a long run and look how the country reacted.
I think your wrong by saying Brits are not as patriotic as the Americans. Not everyone celebrates their country the same way. I think America goes over the top with their patriotism. I think we express it more through sport. Look at when 26,000 fans went to Las Vegas and supported Ricky Hatton. I was there and many Americans said I wish our country was this patriotic.
>>>I think the reaction of Joe worked well in the movie. Same mentality as Sept 11th for you young'uns.
Exactly what I was thinking; I was in 6th grade when that happened and seeing how everyone reacted and normal classes just stopped while they turned on the TV (radio in the movie, of course). Brought back those memories pretty quick.
As for the OP, I don't think that part was overdone; simply said, things were different back then.
Kiera
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Yeah I asked my dad if people were really that upset when Kennedy died. He told me that he was in his 5th grade class when a teacher came in and told them that the President had died. He and his classmates were shocked at the news and just started crying. I guess since I haven't lived in a generation when a beloved president was assassinated then I really wouldn't understand those strong feelings.
shareI was five years old when JFK was assassinated... Watching his funeral on TV was the first time I saw my father cry.
And now for something completely different...
Just to echo what has already been said: the movie's depiction of JFK's assassination was not out of touch or unrealistic. I've spoken with numerous people (I was all of 1 when it happened so I don't have any of my own memories) and they have described scenarios much like the one in this movie. Disbelief, shock, horror, etc. It was one of this country's darkest moments.
shareThe film was set in 1963 so It could never be described as "Out of Touch". I think the Assassination was handled very realistically, I'm only 26 so obviously I don't remember it, but I do remember the world similarly coming to a standstill as news of September 11th broke. It was the same jawdropping silence. People just immediately stopped what they were doing and huddled together in front of the nearest TV or radio. I would imagine that was what Kennedy's assassination was like too, (correct me if I'm wrong) and the film does a really good job of portraying those emotions, just pure shock and sadness.
Four legs good, Two legs bad
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I don't think you quite understand the affect JFK had on many, many, many Americans, particularily the Catholic. My grandmother is a devout Catholic and JFK was like a God to them back then. The first Catholic president, we may not think its a big deal now but back then it was. He was young, charismatic and incredibly intelligent. He had a beautiful wife that was revered all throughtout the nation, regardless of how people felt about her husband and he had 2 small children that would most likely remember very little if anything of their amazing father.
People were shocked, hurt and afraid. And they weren't crying over a stranger. They were crying over their President. Their president who hadn't even been given an entire term and who lost his life because he wanted to be more personable and let them take the cover off the presidential car.
As far as his drug use, who the *beep* cares? Did you know he smoked one joint in the White House? JFK's mob ties are completely different can of worms that I won't open but for you to think people's genuine sadness over the death of the president is "funny" than I feel sorry for you. Obviously you are unable to fathom how events of thsi magnitude, whether happening to a stranger or a close relative can affect people considerably.
Agreed. It felt out of place.
shareI have seen the Kennedy assassination portrayed on numerous TV shows set in 1963 ("American Dreams", "Mad Men") and yes, the reactions portrayed were pretty much identical to what is shown in "Mermaids". I was 2 months shy of my 3rd birthday when JFK was killed; I was a little older when RFK was shot and we were on family vacation and I just remember my parents (life-long Republicans and even at 7 years old I knew this) and they wouldn't leave the hotel room because they were glued to the TV. And RFK wasn't even the President. So yeah, I agree it was important to include in the movie "Mermaids"...plus for the fact that JFK was the first Catholic president and Charlotte's obsession with Catholicism...seemed fitting somehow.
shareThen you obviously don't know history. This was the height of the Cold War, we had just stared down a thermonuclear war with the Soviet Union a year before. You know how you have fire and tornado drills at school? We had them in case the Soviets lobbed their missiles at us (I lived in Omaha, #1 on the Soviets hit list). They still showed the "Duck and cover when you see the flash" movie in the early 60s. And Kennedy was very popular, with a 70% approval rating at one point during his term. And now the President is killed by a sniper. Plus, this was set in MASSACHUSETTS??? What exactly do you think the reaction should be? To put this in perspective, think 9/11.
This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.
I take you can't have seen any of the actual news footage of the reaction to the Kennedy assassination because it was pretty much how it was portrayed in this film. I don't remember it, but I do remember a friend's mother had a picture of Kennedy on her wall and we are British. The world may have changed, but the truth of history remains the same.
'Well I've got two words for you - STFU'
I was born almost 20 years after the Kennedy assassination but my parents remember it vaguely,even though they themselves were small children and from the UK. My mother remembers it all over the TV and papers.
The only way I can vaguely relate and I think a lot of brits maybe able to relate would be when Princess Diana died. She was a popular lady and very loved. I was 15 and remember that day vividly. It was just an extremley strange week, everything was just surreal and felt really sombre.