Today (Nov 22) is the 50th Anniversary of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The event shook the entire nation and the world on this day, 1963. I myself was born long after Kennedy and have only recently become acquainted with his life. A week ago I got the opportunity to view "Killing Kennedy" on Neo Geo, starring Rob Lowe and Ginnifer Goodwin. The film does a brilliant job of making you connect with JFK and Jaquline, his wife. The emotional turmoil of the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the battles JFK has with his health and woman problems really balances the often saintly depicted president. Yet, despite his flaws you become convinced that Jack, as he was called by his brother Bobby and close friends, was a good man trying to do the right thing.
Then enter Lee Harvery Oswald. The villain in the Kennedy Story. Oswald is Marxist who flees America in search of his dream land Russia. There he hopes Marxism will flourish, but to his dismay he is unable to fit in and is considered a spy by the locals. Taking his wife Marina, back to America, Harvey seeks to make Marxism work in the United States. When Harvey learns of the "Cuban Missile Crisis" and Kennedy's stance against Cuba having nuclear arms, Harvey becomes a activist and descends further into madness. Oswald and Kennedy later meet on the fateful day, in 1963 in Dallas, Texas, where from warehouse Oswald makes history and assassinates the president.
The Scene in Killing Kennedy will move you. When Jacqueline is holding the corpse of his beloved and rocking like a child with autism. You know that Jack and Jacqueline dearly loved each other and this event has torn them apart. Oswald is arrested, but there are numerous theories that have been spread that he was not the only one involved in the assassination. In fact, much of allure of the Assassination of JFK is the uncertainty of who was behind it. Oswald was killed on his way to trial by Jack Ruby. Thus leaving the truth shrouded in shadows.
Today conspiracy theorists concoct ideas to explain it all. But what really matters is that a nation was shaken. Camelot as it was called, collapsed. A president was slain. But more importantly a father, a husband, a son, and man was slain. He was more than a leader of a great nation, he was person who was beloved and who loved. I wonder when he got in that topless limo if he knew for even a second that something was different about today. Was there a profound sense of this being unlike every other day of his life? Or was it a surprise, and unfathomable from the beginning? We will never know. We are left only with the echoes and the newsprints.
Today two other allegedly important releases happened today. Microsoft has made available their latest gaming console, Xbox One. In addition the sequel to the Hunger Games Film, Catching Fire, debuts in theaters. It is a shame that Microsoft and the companies behind Catching Fire couldn't have delayed the release or released their products a day early out of reverence for JFK. Now instead of a nation remembering a tragedy, they will be distracted with entertainments.
I recommend that every person not well acquainted with JFK and his life should watch "Killing Kennedy" on Neo Geo or when it is released on Bluray/DVD. If the channel or DVD is not available, pick up a copy of Bill O'Reilly's Killing Kennedy for a fast paced read of the events of Kennedy's life leading up to the assassination. We should not forget major events in ths nation's history. We should remember with respect those who have died and never forget the tragedies that have shaped us. I speak for other countries as well. Do not let your history be lost. Remember those figures and events that had an impact on your nations.
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