Last night I watched the three (3) hour director’s cut of Oliver Stone’s 1991 film "JFK" with Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones and a raft of other well known actors.
I remember watching this film back in 1991 and, in particular, key lines from the film still resonate ("back and to the left, back and to the left"..).
It’s not too hard to buy into the conspiracy theories. Seeing isn’t always believing, but I did some background checking after watching the film.
It turns out that the film was the first to reproduce the infamous Zapruder film – a sequence shot by a bystander during the motorcade when Kennedy was killed. Outstanding! Contemporary evidence of such a magnitude hadn’t had widespread viewing until 1991 (it had been screened on national TV in the late 70s, but no wider distribution until Stone’s JFK)!
Digging around online, I also came across some conjecture that the chain of evidence in the subsequent investigation (of JFK’s death) may have been interfered with. In particular a missing bullet which would defeat the lone gunman theory. There continues to this day to be conjecture about a possible cover-up.
The film gives us plenty of questions to ask about the day JFK was killed. Naturally, here’s my take on it.
#1 – I don’t buy that Lee Harvey Oswald was alone. There are far too many unanswered questions – in particular why he chose not to take his shots when the motorcade was heading down Houston street (instead, he waited until the motorcade was right between the triangulation of an easy killing zone).
#2 – There are too many coincidences and unanswered questions – especially around physical evidence from the scene. Accounts from bystanders clearly contradict the conclusion of the Warren Commission (which my gut tells me was about as accurate as any government commission, but dangerously negligent in this particular instance).
#3 – Watch the film. Kennedy’s head does indeed go back.. and to the left. This is not consistent with being shot from behind. Assuming the film hasn’t been tampered with…
#4 – It was the middle of the cold war. Not a time for a country to be paranoid about government cover-ups of a coup d’etat. The powers that be at the time probably thought pinning it on Oswald alone would quiet civil unrest and outrage, but ultimately it still smells wrong.
It’s just as likely that the subsequent investigation was interfered with in the interests of ‘national security’ – doesn’t that sound disturbingly familiar?
If you’d like a more detailed analysis take a look here.
