Real Name: Leslie Wilber Address: 311 Constitution Victoria, TX 77901 Member Since: December 26, 2007 Last Signed In: November 18, 2008 Profile Views: 1105 Blog Views: 4015 Election day on the wide, wide world of web By that you mean? Film meets public record Beer, bannanas and veg-friendly soups Election season is winding up Just when I thought I had figured out When you can't get wetter If you want to whip up a souflet or thwart Nazis, Julia's your girl Keeping track of FOIA requests I said no mayo, brown mustard! December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 
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Film meets public record
I finally got to watch"Chicago 10" last night. The movie follows the MOBE and Yippie protests at the 1968 DNC, and the trial of eight men accused of organizing the demonstrations. Actors actually read portions of the court transcripts providing the voices for animated Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and the rest. Although I didn't love the animation (it reminded me of an in-flight safety video) this was a great way to bring to life recent history using public records. At 27, my grip on events from the 50s through the 70s has always felt tenuous. The history text books seemed to do a good job right up to the end of WWII, but then there was a big blank. In college, I learned more specific stuff -- like how the media covered Vietnam, or how U.S. - Russian relations affected underground publishing in the Soviet Union. But never the general U.S. history. "Chicago 10" has (whatever yummy sauce you like) on the healthy vegetable that is a bite-size history lesson. But there wasn't much context or ballance. So, yes, if you feel absolutely no empathy toward the protesters, you will HATE this flick. 3 comments from 3 users
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posted by
ragman
on Sep 16, 2008 at 10:29 PM
I enjoyed the movie very much. But I "got it".
posted by
LeslieWilber
on Sep 16, 2008 at 10:03 AM
I'll have to check it out. I figured the actor playing Judge Hoffman was exaggerating the curmudgeonly old man voice when I first heard about this movie on the radio. Then, they played a clip of Judge Hoffman talking and it was spot on. posted by
gansoblanco
on Sep 16, 2008 at 09:57 AM
Those of us of a certain age can remember reading The Tales of Hoffman: From the Trial of the Chicago 8/7 which was paperback book format of excerpts of the court transcripts. Definitely altered my world view.
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