Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 6,7 (click to see context) from:
''JFK'' is a 1991 film directed and co-written by Creator/OliverStone about the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and its aftermath, based around the investigation by UsefulNotes/NewOrleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Creator/KevinCostner). After reading the Warren Report and finding it unsatisfactory, Garrison decides to launch an investigation on his own. After reviewing witness reports and interviewing some people on his own, Garrison becomes convinced Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy, and that all of the suspicious events seem to be circling a Texas businessman named Clay Shaw (Creator/TommyLeeJones), who goes by the alias Clay Bertrand. Shaw has connections to Lee Harvey Oswald (Creator/GaryOldman), the CIA, the FBI, and others.
to:
''JFK'' is a 1991 film directed and co-written by Creator/OliverStone about the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and its aftermath, based around the investigation by UsefulNotes/NewOrleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Creator/KevinCostner). After reading the Warren Report and finding it unsatisfactory, Garrison decides to launch an investigation on his own. After reviewing witness reports and interviewing some people on his own, Garrison becomes convinced Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy, and that all of the suspicious events seem to be circling a Texas Louisiana businessman named Clay Shaw (Creator/TommyLeeJones), who goes by the alias Clay Bertrand. Shaw has connections to Lee Harvey Oswald (Creator/GaryOldman), the CIA, the FBI, and others.
Changed line(s) 12,13 (click to see context) from:
The film was and still is intensely controversial for its liberal use of ArtisticLicense in depicting the events of and around Garrison's investigation, when in reality the movie is ''not'' meant to be the definitive investigation into Kennedy's death, but rather an allegory of the general public's frustration over not knowing the actual truth about the assassination. Or so Stone says, but in other interviews, [[FlipFlopOfGod well...]] Stone released an annotated screenplay with ''all'' of the references.
to:
The film was and still is intensely controversial for its liberal use of ArtisticLicense in depicting the events of both the Kennedy Assassination and around Garrison's investigation, when in reality investigation. In response, Stone claimed the movie is ''not'' meant to be the definitive investigation into Kennedy's death, but rather a “counter-myth” to the official account and an allegory of the general public's frustration over with not knowing the actual truth about the assassination. Or so Stone says, but in other interviews, truth. On [[FlipFlopOfGod well...]] the other hand]], Stone released asserted the film’s accuracy by releasing an annotated screenplay with ''all'' of his references and still reiterates many of the references.
same themes and theses in interviews and in his non-allegorical 2021 documentary ''JFK: Through the Looking Glass''.
* AbortedArc:
** Garrison’s first clue is David Ferrie’s BlatantLies about his activities in Texas during the assassination, heavily implying he was involved. However, the film never delves any deeper into this even during Ferrie’s later (fictional) confession, nor does Garrison ever speculate any actual role for Ferrie in the assassination.
** The film initially paints the assassination as a far-right FalseFlagOperation for an invasion of Cuba, but since such an invasion obviously never happened despite the conspiracy’s ostensible success, the film switches midstream in favor of a more nebulous conspiracy to escalate the Vietnam War.
* AnachronismStew:
** Several witnesses and pieces of evidence investigated or presented by Garrison at the 1969 Shaw trial didn’t emerge until the 1970s.
** Immediately after the assassination, Guy Bannister proposes a toast to “Camelot in smithereens," even though "Camelot" as a term for the Kennedy presidency stems from a post-assassination ''Life'' Magazine interview with Jackie Kennedy in which she referred to JFK’s love for the musical ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}'' and compared their time in the White House to the lyrics, "Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot."
** The film presents Lee Bowers’ statements from Mark Lane’s 1966 book ''Rush to Judgement'' as if they were his testimony to the Warren Commission in 1964.
** In their first meeting, Garrison confronts Shaw with an Italian newspaper accusing him of involvement in a CIA front for political espionage tied to an assassination attempt on Charles de Gaulle.[[note]]The film obscures that this paper was ''Paese Sera'', a [[TabloidMelodrama sensationalist tabloid]] tied to the Italian Communist Party which offered no credible evidence for its claims.[[/note]] This meeting is framed by footage of [[ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans Mardi Gras]] (February 1967) but says it’s Easter Sunday (March 26, 1967) when in fact Garrison first interviewed Shaw just before Christmas on December 23, 1966 and indicted him on March 1, 1967, three days ''before'' that article was published.
** Garrison’s first clue is David Ferrie’s BlatantLies about his activities in Texas during the assassination, heavily implying he was involved. However, the film never delves any deeper into this even during Ferrie’s later (fictional) confession, nor does Garrison ever speculate any actual role for Ferrie in the assassination.
** The film initially paints the assassination as a far-right FalseFlagOperation for an invasion of Cuba, but since such an invasion obviously never happened despite the conspiracy’s ostensible success, the film switches midstream in favor of a more nebulous conspiracy to escalate the Vietnam War.
* AnachronismStew:
** Several witnesses and pieces of evidence investigated or presented by Garrison at the 1969 Shaw trial didn’t emerge until the 1970s.
** Immediately after the assassination, Guy Bannister proposes a toast to “Camelot in smithereens," even though "Camelot" as a term for the Kennedy presidency stems from a post-assassination ''Life'' Magazine interview with Jackie Kennedy in which she referred to JFK’s love for the musical ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}'' and compared their time in the White House to the lyrics, "Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot."
** The film presents Lee Bowers’ statements from Mark Lane’s 1966 book ''Rush to Judgement'' as if they were his testimony to the Warren Commission in 1964.
** In their first meeting, Garrison confronts Shaw with an Italian newspaper accusing him of involvement in a CIA front for political espionage tied to an assassination attempt on Charles de Gaulle.[[note]]The film obscures that this paper was ''Paese Sera'', a [[TabloidMelodrama sensationalist tabloid]] tied to the Italian Communist Party which offered no credible evidence for its claims.[[/note]] This meeting is framed by footage of [[ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans Mardi Gras]] (February 1967) but says it’s Easter Sunday (March 26, 1967) when in fact Garrison first interviewed Shaw just before Christmas on December 23, 1966 and indicted him on March 1, 1967, three days ''before'' that article was published.
Changed line(s) 24,25 (click to see context) from:
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: It would be easier to list what the film '''didn't''' get wrong, and that's just considering information ''not'' tied to the JFK assassination. Even Oliver Stone has stated regret at not making the film's fictional status clearer.
** Several historians have taken Stone to task on the movie for massively changing real life events. For example, Garrison never delivered an in-court summation of the trial and they cite numerous mistakes Stone made in the film.
** Several historians have taken Stone to task on the movie for massively changing real life events. For example, Garrison never delivered an in-court summation of the trial and they cite numerous mistakes Stone made in the film.
to:
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: It would be easier to list what the film '''didn't''' get wrong, and that's just considering concerning information ''not'' tied to the JFK assassination. Even Oliver Stone has stated regret at not making the film's fictional status clearer.
** Several historians have taken Stone to task on the movie for massively changing real life events. For example, Garrison never delivered an in-court summation of the trial and they cite numerous mistakes Stone made in the film.clearer.
** Several historians have taken Stone to task on the movie for massively changing real life events. For example, Garrison never delivered an in-court summation of the trial and they cite numerous mistakes Stone made in the film.
Changed line(s) 27,28 (click to see context) from:
** In pointing out the supposed superimposed photo of Oswald holding the rifle, the film does not include the facts that Marina Oswald herself said that she took the photo, nor that she took several such photos (only one of which is commonly cited as supposedly being doctored), nor that photo bore 11 scratch imperfections unique to Oswald's own camera, nor that investigators have successfully recreated the photo as early as 1967.
** In the immediate aftermath of the assassination, Guy Bannister proposes a toast: "To the new era; Camelot in smithereens," even though "Camelot" as a term for the Kennedy presidency stems from a post-assassination interview with his widow Jackie in ''Life'' Magazine where she referred to his love for the musical ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}'', particularly the line, "Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot."
** In the immediate aftermath of the assassination, Guy Bannister proposes a toast: "To the new era; Camelot in smithereens," even though "Camelot" as a term for the Kennedy presidency stems from a post-assassination interview with his widow Jackie in ''Life'' Magazine where she referred to his love for the musical ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}'', particularly the line, "Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot."
to:
** In pointing out the supposed superimposed photo of Oswald holding the rifle, the film does not include the facts that Marina Oswald herself said that she took the photo, nor that she took several such photos (only one of which is commonly cited as supposedly being doctored), nor that photo the photos bore 11 scratch imperfections unique to Oswald's own camera, nor that investigators have successfully recreated the photo as early as 1967.
** In the immediate aftermath of the assassination, Guy Bannister proposes a toast: "To the new era; Camelot in smithereens," even though "Camelot" as a term for the Kennedy presidency stems from a post-assassination interview with his widow Jackie in ''Life'' Magazine where she referred to his love for the musical ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}'', particularly the line, "Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot."1967.
** In the immediate aftermath of the assassination, Guy Bannister proposes a toast: "To the new era; Camelot in smithereens," even though "Camelot" as a term for the Kennedy presidency stems from a post-assassination interview with his widow Jackie in ''Life'' Magazine where she referred to his love for the musical ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}'', particularly the line, "Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot."
Changed line(s) 36 (click to see context) from:
* CastingGag: Jim Garrison himself makes a brief cameo as [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCourts Supreme Court]] Chief Justice Earl Warren, the namesake of the commission investigating the Kennedy assassination and which ended with the official "Oswald acted alone" determination.
to:
* CastingGag: CastingGag:
** Jim Garrison himself makes a brief cameo as [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCourts Supreme Court]] Chief Justice Earl Warren, the namesake of the commission investigating the Kennedy assassination and which ended with the official "Oswald acted alone"determination.determination.
** One of the anti-Kennedy bar patrons at the beginning of the film is played by Perry Russo, on whom the character of Willie O’Keefe was partially based.
** Jim Garrison himself makes a brief cameo as [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCourts Supreme Court]] Chief Justice Earl Warren, the namesake of the commission investigating the Kennedy assassination and which ended with the official "Oswald acted alone"
** One of the anti-Kennedy bar patrons at the beginning of the film is played by Perry Russo, on whom the character of Willie O’Keefe was partially based.
Changed line(s) 40 (click to see context) from:
* ContrivedCoincidence: Mr X cites the [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness multiple cases of agencies behaving against protocol]] and the [[ReassignedToAntarctica unusual timing of him being sent to the South Pole on a mundane diplomatic excursion]] shortly prior to the assassination as reasons he suspects that Oswald being made a patsy for JFK's death was part of a coverup for a black-op.
to:
* ConspiracyKitchenSink: The film is essentially Oliver Stone’s attempt to collate the conflicting theories of prominent conspiracists Mark Lane, Jim Garrison, Fletcher Prouty, and Jim Marrs into a single narrative.
* ContrivedCoincidence: Mr X cites the [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness multiple cases of agencies behaving against protocol]] and the[[ReassignedToAntarctica unusual timing of him being [[ReassignedToAntarctica sent to the South Pole Pole]] on a mundane diplomatic excursion]] excursion shortly prior to the assassination as reasons he suspects that Oswald being made a patsy for JFK's death was part of a coverup for a black-op.
* ContrivedCoincidence: Mr X cites the [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness multiple cases of agencies behaving against protocol]] and the
* ConvenientPhotograph:
** The film strongly implies that the famous photo of Oswald showing off his new rifle and revolver is so convenient it must be fake.
** In the script, Mr. X asserts that “General Y” is present in the background of the “Three Tramps” photograph to signal to the supposed agents that they’ll be okay. This outlandish claim (actually made by Fletcher Prouty about Edward Lansdale) doesn’t explicitly make it into the film, but is still dramatized apropos of nothing in an [[RewatchBonus earlier flashback]] while Garrison’s staff discuss the three tramps during their restaurant meeting.
** The film strongly implies that the famous photo of Oswald showing off his new rifle and revolver is so convenient it must be fake.
** In the script, Mr. X asserts that “General Y” is present in the background of the “Three Tramps” photograph to signal to the supposed agents that they’ll be okay. This outlandish claim (actually made by Fletcher Prouty about Edward Lansdale) doesn’t explicitly make it into the film, but is still dramatized apropos of nothing in an [[RewatchBonus earlier flashback]] while Garrison’s staff discuss the three tramps during their restaurant meeting.
* DatedHistory: Less than a week after the film hit theaters, the Soviet Union collapsed, ushering in an easing of Cold War secretiveness that allowed scholars unprecedented access to both American and Soviet sources that directly contradict many of the films suppositions about things like the inner workings of the Kennedy Administration, what Oswald actually did in Russia, and the KGB’s disinformation efforts to feed conspiracy theories.
Changed line(s) 46,49 (click to see context) from:
* DistinctionWithoutADifference: One clip of an interview with Oswald about three months before the events in Dallas[[note]]He was arrested in New Orleans for a brawl with a gang of anti-[[UsefulNotes/FidelCastro Castro]] Cuban militants and somehow got into a television debate as a result.[[/note]] has him stating about his political beliefs: "I am not a Communist. I am a Marxist-Leninist."[[note]]There is actually a difference between the two, with Marxism-Leninism being the mainstream form of communism as opposed to Marx's actual ideas, but in 1963, most people would think it's semantics. In the [[https://youtu.be/tInqL3g6vJw?t=42 actual interview]], Oswald was pressed on this and did explain the difference.[[/note]]
* DoubleThink: When decrying the "magic bullet" theory, Garrison focuses on the implausibility of a single bullet entering Connelly's back, shattering his rib, exiting his chest, turning right to shatter his wrist before making a "dramatic u-turn" to burying itself in Connelly's left thigh in "almost pristine" condition[[note]]The film ignores that photos of the "magic bullet" exist, showing it looking exactly like a bullet that's bounced through that much of a human body would look like.[[/note]]. Yet, in his summation positing six shots Garrison claims two misses, three that hit Kennedy (throat, back, and head), and... ''one'' that hit Connelly. Without the extenuating circumstance of the bullet being slowed and tumbled by first hitting JFK (which the shattered test bullets failed to account for) actually makes the "magic bullet" even more magical in Garrison's theory.
* GayConservative: Willie O'Keefe, who's in jail for gay prostitution, hated JFK for being soft on Communism and for helping civil rights.
* GilliganCut: We get to see Dean Andrews talking to Clay Bertrand immediately after he tells Garrison he never met him.
* DoubleThink: When decrying the "magic bullet" theory, Garrison focuses on the implausibility of a single bullet entering Connelly's back, shattering his rib, exiting his chest, turning right to shatter his wrist before making a "dramatic u-turn" to burying itself in Connelly's left thigh in "almost pristine" condition[[note]]The film ignores that photos of the "magic bullet" exist, showing it looking exactly like a bullet that's bounced through that much of a human body would look like.[[/note]]. Yet, in his summation positing six shots Garrison claims two misses, three that hit Kennedy (throat, back, and head), and... ''one'' that hit Connelly. Without the extenuating circumstance of the bullet being slowed and tumbled by first hitting JFK (which the shattered test bullets failed to account for) actually makes the "magic bullet" even more magical in Garrison's theory.
* GayConservative: Willie O'Keefe, who's in jail for gay prostitution, hated JFK for being soft on Communism and for helping civil rights.
* GilliganCut: We get to see Dean Andrews talking to Clay Bertrand immediately after he tells Garrison he never met him.
to:
* DistinctionWithoutADifference: One clip of an interview During a debate after his arrest for brawling with Oswald about three months before the events in Dallas[[note]]He was arrested in New Orleans for a brawl with a gang of anti-[[UsefulNotes/FidelCastro Castro]] Cuban militants and somehow got into a television debate as a result.[[/note]] has him stating about his political beliefs: "I am in New Orleans, Oswald says, “I’m not a Communist. I am Communist, I’m a Marxist-Leninist."[[note]]There ” There is actually a slight difference between the two, with two[[note]]Communism is a broad term for all sorts of far-left ideologies while Marxism-Leninism being is effectively the mainstream form model of communism as opposed to Marx's actual ideas, single-party state autocracy practiced in the Soviet Union and Cuba.[[/note]], but in 1963, it's mostly semantics since Marxist-Leninist is precisely what most people would think it's semantics. In mean by “communist”. It’s also the [[https://youtu.be/tInqL3g6vJw?t=42 [[ArtisticLicenseHistory opposite]] of the distinction Oswald [[https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1138#relPageId=661 actually made]]. He claimed to be a Marxist (an adherent of Marx’s actual interview]], ideas) rather than a mainstream Communist (i.e. Marxist-Leninist), in an attempt to ''distance'' himself from the negative connotations.
* DoubleThink:
** Garrison decries the implausibility of a single bullet entering Connally’s back, shattering his rib, exiting his chest, turning right to shatter his wrist, then making a “dramatic u-turn” to bury itself in Connally’s left thigh in “almost pristine” condition.[[note]]The film ignores that [[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/305144?objectPage=7 photos]] of this bullet exist that show it looks exactly how a bullet that’s bounced through that much of a human body should.[[/note]] Yet in positing six shots Garrison himself claims two misses, three that hit Kennedy (throat, back, and head), and… ''one'' that hit Connally. Without being slowed and tumbled by first hitting JFK (a factor also absent from Garrison’s shattered test bullet exhibit) the “magic bullet” is actually even more magical in Garrison’s theory, and requires two equally magical bullets that vanish without a trace after piercing Kennedy’s back and throat.
** Garrison asserts that an approaching target is clearly an easier shot than a departing one, therefore multiple shooters must’ve been waiting for a crossfire, yet his own theory positions two out of three shooters (TSBD & Daltex Building) behind their target.
** Mr. X convinces Garrison that JFK’s security was compromised by citing the open-topped car and recent assassination attempts on French President Charles de Gaulle. Shortly afterward, Garrison steps up his case against Shaw based in part on a conversation in which David Ferrie argued the exact opposite: “If it’s planned right, no problem. Look how close they got to de Gaulle; Eisenhower was always riding around in an open car.”
** Garrison’s conspiracy case against Shaw relies almost exclusively on connecting Shaw to Oswald, yet his assertions of conspiracy are heavily predicated on absolving Oswaldwas pressed on of the shooting. In this effort, Garrison portrays Oswald as the victim of a FrameUp yet maintains he was killed because HeKnowsTooMuch, ideas that are not only incongruent with each other but also with Garrison’s assertion that Shaw was part of the conspiracy because he then reached out to ''assist'' Oswald in finding a lawyer using a PaperThinDisguise.
** Garrison relies almost exclusively on the credulity of witness testimony to make his case for a grassy knoll shooter, yet he disregards that many of those same witness said they heard three shots when he proposes that there were actually six shots anddid explain only two from the difference.knoll.
** At some times Garrison asserts that the Zapruder film was “the proof they didn’t count on” and deliberately suppressed; at other times he claims the Warren Commission falsified evidence specifically to match the film. The third option -- that the Commission genuinely collated the film with other evidence to refine their case -- is never considered.
** Garrison imputes connivance to the Dallas Police because no record was kept of Oswald’s interrogation, yet argues that incriminating photographs of Oswald were faked in part because Oswald is recorded as claiming so in his interrogation. Granted, no stenographic or audio record was made but the police ''did'' record the interviews via old-school affidavits, which are ironically substantiated by including rather than omitting such denials.
** Garrison argues that the speedy arrival of Patrolman Baker and the presence of Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles on the stairs preclude Oswald from being the shooter, but he doesn’t apply these same criteria to his own theoretical sniper team, who apparently escaped the same position totally unobserved.[[note]]The only alternative escape routes to the staircase were the service elevators parked on the fifth floor and the external fire escape, neither of which were used by anyone.[[/note]]
*DoubleThink: When decrying EverybodySmokes: Cigarettes and smoke-filled rooms are everywhere, in keeping with the "magic bullet" theory, 1960s setting and FilmNoir atmosphere. Garrison focuses on smokes a DistinguishedGentlemansPipe while Clay Shaw sports a cigarette holder. Nervous witnesses frequently need a CigaretteOfAnxiety. Ironically, the implausibility of a single bullet entering Connelly's back, shattering his rib, exiting his chest, turning right to shatter his wrist before making a "dramatic u-turn" to burying itself in Connelly's left thigh in "almost pristine" condition[[note]]The film ignores that photos of the "magic bullet" exist, showing it looking exactly like a bullet that's bounced through that much of a human body would look like.[[/note]]. Yet, in his summation positing six shots Garrison claims two misses, three that hit Kennedy (throat, back, and head), and... ''one'' that hit Connelly. Without the extenuating circumstance of the bullet being slowed and tumbled ends by first hitting JFK (which the shattered test bullets failed to account for) implying Shaw’s eventual death from lung cancer was actually makes foul play; the "magic bullet" original script even more magical in Garrison's theory.
calls it “supposed” lung cancer.
* FreezeFrameBonus: The dramatization of the conspirators putting Oswald’s palm print on the rifle after his death shows them using the bare rifle barrel, correctly reflecting that the rifle had to be disassembled to find the print.[[note]]The film doesn’t draw attention to this, however, since it demystifies why the print took so long to find.[[/note]]
* GayConservative: Willie O'Keefe, who's in jail for gay prostitution,hated hates JFK for being soft on Communism and for helping civil rights.
* GilliganCut:We Used frequently to undermine testimony the film wants viewers to disbelieve. For instance, we get to see Dean Andrews talking to Clay Bertrand immediately after he tells Garrison he never met him. him.
* DoubleThink:
** Garrison decries the implausibility of a single bullet entering Connally’s back, shattering his rib, exiting his chest, turning right to shatter his wrist, then making a “dramatic u-turn” to bury itself in Connally’s left thigh in “almost pristine” condition.[[note]]The film ignores that [[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/305144?objectPage=7 photos]] of this bullet exist that show it looks exactly how a bullet that’s bounced through that much of a human body should.[[/note]] Yet in positing six shots Garrison himself claims two misses, three that hit Kennedy (throat, back, and head), and… ''one'' that hit Connally. Without being slowed and tumbled by first hitting JFK (a factor also absent from Garrison’s shattered test bullet exhibit) the “magic bullet” is actually even more magical in Garrison’s theory, and requires two equally magical bullets that vanish without a trace after piercing Kennedy’s back and throat.
** Garrison asserts that an approaching target is clearly an easier shot than a departing one, therefore multiple shooters must’ve been waiting for a crossfire, yet his own theory positions two out of three shooters (TSBD & Daltex Building) behind their target.
** Mr. X convinces Garrison that JFK’s security was compromised by citing the open-topped car and recent assassination attempts on French President Charles de Gaulle. Shortly afterward, Garrison steps up his case against Shaw based in part on a conversation in which David Ferrie argued the exact opposite: “If it’s planned right, no problem. Look how close they got to de Gaulle; Eisenhower was always riding around in an open car.”
** Garrison’s conspiracy case against Shaw relies almost exclusively on connecting Shaw to Oswald, yet his assertions of conspiracy are heavily predicated on absolving Oswald
** Garrison relies almost exclusively on the credulity of witness testimony to make his case for a grassy knoll shooter, yet he disregards that many of those same witness said they heard three shots when he proposes that there were actually six shots and
** At some times Garrison asserts that the Zapruder film was “the proof they didn’t count on” and deliberately suppressed; at other times he claims the Warren Commission falsified evidence specifically to match the film. The third option -- that the Commission genuinely collated the film with other evidence to refine their case -- is never considered.
** Garrison imputes connivance to the Dallas Police because no record was kept of Oswald’s interrogation, yet argues that incriminating photographs of Oswald were faked in part because Oswald is recorded as claiming so in his interrogation. Granted, no stenographic or audio record was made but the police ''did'' record the interviews via old-school affidavits, which are ironically substantiated by including rather than omitting such denials.
** Garrison argues that the speedy arrival of Patrolman Baker and the presence of Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles on the stairs preclude Oswald from being the shooter, but he doesn’t apply these same criteria to his own theoretical sniper team, who apparently escaped the same position totally unobserved.[[note]]The only alternative escape routes to the staircase were the service elevators parked on the fifth floor and the external fire escape, neither of which were used by anyone.[[/note]]
*
* FreezeFrameBonus: The dramatization of the conspirators putting Oswald’s palm print on the rifle after his death shows them using the bare rifle barrel, correctly reflecting that the rifle had to be disassembled to find the print.[[note]]The film doesn’t draw attention to this, however, since it demystifies why the print took so long to find.[[/note]]
* GayConservative: Willie O'Keefe, who's in jail for gay prostitution,
* GilliganCut:
Changed line(s) 53,55 (click to see context) from:
** The real Jim Garrison tried to railroad an innocent man, Shaw, after his investigation came up empty. The trial was a fiasco and many of his theory's particulars (namely, that Oswald, Shaw and Ferrie were not only co-conspirators but involved in a love triangle) were by all accounts preposterous, leading more than a few writers to accuse Garrison of homophobia. The movie makes a passing mention to Garrison's later indictment on bribery and corruption charges, but passes them off as a smear concocted by the GovernmentConspiracy to discredit him (which, to be fair, the real Garrison insisted as well). Indeed, many conspiracy theorists, that is people who doubted the Warren Commission, protested Garrison's trial and prosecution, along with his well-attested character flaws, as tarnishing any genuine grounds for criticism of the official report.
** Depending on your POV, JFK himself is given one of these. The real Kennedy was, for the most part, a typical Cold War liberal that took a hard line on Cuba and Vietnam, but Stone portrays him as a radical progressive and Lyndon Johnson as a manipulative super-villain who rams the Tonkin Gulf resolution through Congress to get elected. In fact, Kennedy's record on Vietnam is much more mixed, and open to interpretation. He had ''de facto'' committed the US to South Vietnam by the time he was assassinated, and the CIA-backed coup that killed Ngo Dinh Diem and plunged South Vietnam into chaos had already taken place (though Kennedy expressed regret about the coup after it happened). The snippet of Kennedy telling Walter Cronkite that "in the last analysis, it's (South Vietnam's) war" is taken out of context from a longer interview where he ''also'' tells Cronkite that withdrawing American troops from Vietnam would be a mistake. That said, Kennedy made comments to his advisers indicating that he ''hoped'' he could withdraw troops from Vietnam in the future, but suspected he couldn't until after the 1964 election because Republicans would turn it into a campaign issue.
** The opening narration also stresses Kennedy's support for the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement, which was largely lukewarm until the last months of his presidency (his speech sampled in the film came in June 1963, just five months before his death) and peacemaking efforts with the Soviet Union while ignoring his brinksmanship over Cuba (which is blamed, naturally, on the CIA "lying" to Kennedy) and Berlin, along with the increases in military spending and armaments production which occurred during his administration. Conversely, there's no acknowledgment of Lyndon Johnson's work in actually passing the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, as the film defines him entirely through his actions in Vietnam.
** Depending on your POV, JFK himself is given one of these. The real Kennedy was, for the most part, a typical Cold War liberal that took a hard line on Cuba and Vietnam, but Stone portrays him as a radical progressive and Lyndon Johnson as a manipulative super-villain who rams the Tonkin Gulf resolution through Congress to get elected. In fact, Kennedy's record on Vietnam is much more mixed, and open to interpretation. He had ''de facto'' committed the US to South Vietnam by the time he was assassinated, and the CIA-backed coup that killed Ngo Dinh Diem and plunged South Vietnam into chaos had already taken place (though Kennedy expressed regret about the coup after it happened). The snippet of Kennedy telling Walter Cronkite that "in the last analysis, it's (South Vietnam's) war" is taken out of context from a longer interview where he ''also'' tells Cronkite that withdrawing American troops from Vietnam would be a mistake. That said, Kennedy made comments to his advisers indicating that he ''hoped'' he could withdraw troops from Vietnam in the future, but suspected he couldn't until after the 1964 election because Republicans would turn it into a campaign issue.
** The opening narration also stresses Kennedy's support for the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement, which was largely lukewarm until the last months of his presidency (his speech sampled in the film came in June 1963, just five months before his death) and peacemaking efforts with the Soviet Union while ignoring his brinksmanship over Cuba (which is blamed, naturally, on the CIA "lying" to Kennedy) and Berlin, along with the increases in military spending and armaments production which occurred during his administration. Conversely, there's no acknowledgment of Lyndon Johnson's work in actually passing the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, as the film defines him entirely through his actions in Vietnam.
to:
** The real Jim Garrison tried to railroad an innocent man, Shaw, after his investigation came up empty. The trial was a fiasco and many of his theory's particulars (namely, that Oswald, Shaw and Ferrie were not only co-conspirators but involved in a [[BondageIsBad sadomasochistic]] [[SexualDevianceIsEvil homosexual]] [[ForTheEvulz thrill-killing]] love triangle) were by all accounts preposterous, leading more than a few writers many to accuse Garrison of homophobia. The movie makes a passing mention to Garrison's later indictment on bribery and corruption charges, but passes them off as a smear concocted by the GovernmentConspiracy to discredit him (which, to be fair, the real Garrison insisted as well). Indeed, even many conspiracy theorists, that is people who doubted the Warren Commission, conspiracists protested Garrison's trial the Shaw Trial and prosecution, along with his Garrison’s well-attested character flaws, flaws as tarnishing any genuine grounds for criticism of the official report.
**Depending on your POV, JFK himself is given one of these. The portrayed as a radical progressive and peacemaker while the real Kennedy was, for the most part, a typical Cold War liberal that who campaigned on being tougher on the Soviets than Eisenhower and took a hard line on Cuba and Vietnam, but Stone portrays him as a radical progressive and Lyndon Johnson as a manipulative super-villain who rams the Tonkin Gulf resolution through Congress to get elected. In fact, Kennedy's record on Vietnam is much more mixed, and open to interpretation. He had ''de facto'' committed the US to South Vietnam by the time he was assassinated, and the CIA-backed coup that killed Ngo Dinh Diem and plunged South Vietnam into chaos had already taken place (though Kennedy expressed regret about the coup after it happened). Vietnam.
*** The snippet ofKennedy JFK telling Walter Cronkite that "in “in the last analysis, it's (South Vietnam's) war" it’s [South Vietnam’s] war” is taken out of context from a longer interview where he ''also'' tells Cronkite said that withdrawing American troops from Vietnam would be a mistake. That said, Kennedy made comments to While he did tell his advisers indicating that he ''hoped'' “hoped” he could withdraw troops from Vietnam in the future, but suspected JFK also said he couldn't couldn’t risk it until after the 1964 election because Republicans would turn it into a campaign issue.
**issue, and by the time he was assassinated he had ''de facto'' committed the US to South Vietnam and the US-backed coup that killed Ngo Dinh Diem and left South Vietnam in chaos and dependent on US troops had already happened (though Kennedy regretted it almost immediately).
*** The American University speech is taken out of context and presented as absolute proof that JFK was desperate to get along with the Soviets and end the Cold War, ignoring his brinksmanship over Cuba (which is blamed, naturally, on the CIA "lying" to him) and Berlin (where he challenged the Soviets on the world stage and said, “To those who think we can work with the Soviets, let them come to Berlin,” just weeks after his American University speech) and excusing the increases in military spending and armaments production that occurred during his administration.
*** The opening narration also stresses Kennedy's support for the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement, which was largely lukewarm until the last months of his presidency(his (the speech sampled in the film came in June 1963, just five months before his death) and peacemaking efforts with the Soviet Union while ignoring his brinksmanship over Cuba (which is blamed, naturally, on the CIA "lying" since he was very reluctant to Kennedy) and Berlin, along with the increases in military spending and armaments production which occurred during his administration. alienate Southern Democrats, whom he was actively conciliating when he was shot. Conversely, there's there’s no acknowledgment of Lyndon Johnson's Johnson’s work in actually passing the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, Acts (ironically by politicizing JFK as an InspirationalMartyr). Instead, the film defines him LBJ entirely through his actions in Vietnam. Vietnam as a manipulative super-villain who rams the Tonkin Gulf Resolution through Congress to get elected.
**
*** The snippet of
**
*** The American University speech is taken out of context and presented as absolute proof that JFK was desperate to get along with the Soviets and end the Cold War, ignoring his brinksmanship over Cuba (which is blamed, naturally, on the CIA "lying" to him) and Berlin (where he challenged the Soviets on the world stage and said, “To those who think we can work with the Soviets, let them come to Berlin,” just weeks after his American University speech) and excusing the increases in military spending and armaments production that occurred during his administration.
*** The opening narration also stresses Kennedy's support for the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement, which was largely lukewarm until the last months of his presidency
** The real David Ferrie wasn’t just gay, he preferred teenage boys.
Changed line(s) 62,63 (click to see context) from:
* HumansAreWarriors: Befitting his background as a high-ranking intelligence agent, Mr. X believes this, believing that humanity and government as we know it exist because of war, and the state's ability to wage war translates to holding power over the people. He uses this to provide a possible outline of the conspiracy's motives, and how the then-ongoing Vietnam War ties into it.
* IHaveManyNames: Clay Shaw, alias Clay Bertrand. The film presents this as being common knowledge among New Orleans's gay community, but the real Shaw never used that name - it was a combination of Dean Andrews playing a prank on Jim Garrison and Garrison's own belief that when gay men use an alias, they only change their last names. [[https://www.jfk-online.com/jfk100bertrand.html Seriously.]]
* IHaveManyNames: Clay Shaw, alias Clay Bertrand. The film presents this as being common knowledge among New Orleans's gay community, but the real Shaw never used that name - it was a combination of Dean Andrews playing a prank on Jim Garrison and Garrison's own belief that when gay men use an alias, they only change their last names. [[https://www.jfk-online.com/jfk100bertrand.html Seriously.]]
to:
* HumansAreWarriors: Befitting his background as a high-ranking intelligence agent, Mr. X believes this, believing that humanity society and government as we know it exist because of war, and the state's ability to wage war translates to holding power over the people. He uses this to provide a possible outline of the conspiracy's motives, and how the then-ongoing Vietnam War ties into it.
* IHaveManyNames: Clay Shaw, alias Clay Bertrand. The film presents this as being common knowledge among New Orleans's gay community, but the real Shaw never used thatname - name; it was a combination of Dean Andrews playing a prank on Jim Garrison and Garrison's own belief that when gay men use an alias, they only change their last names. [[https://www.jfk-online.com/jfk100bertrand.html Seriously.]]
* IHaveManyNames: Clay Shaw, alias Clay Bertrand. The film presents this as being common knowledge among New Orleans's gay community, but the real Shaw never used that
Changed line(s) 65 (click to see context) from:
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Near the end of his monologue, Mr. X says "Don't take my word for it--don't believe me. Do your own work, your own thinking."
to:
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
** Near the end of his monologue, Mr. X says "Don't take my word for it--don't believe me. Do your own work, your own thinking.""
** Garrison looks directly into the camera when he says, “It’s up to you,” at the end of his summation.
** Near the end of his monologue, Mr. X says "Don't take my word for it--don't believe me. Do your own work, your own thinking.
** Garrison looks directly into the camera when he says, “It’s up to you,” at the end of his summation.
Changed line(s) 72 (click to see context) from:
* OffOnATechnicality: Much of the information about Clay Shaw is thrown out (particularly the fact that he used the alias "Clay Bertrand" while participating in his shady deals) because he didn't have a lawyer present while he was being booked.[[note]]In fact, his lawyer ''was'' in the police station but was involved with other officials, while Shaw was at the booking desk.[[/note]] The movie says this wasn't legally sound, and then implies that it may have been part of the GovernmentConspiracy to keep Shaw from being convicted. In real life, the judge took over questioning when the booking officer was called in and determined that he had badly violated procedure; in turn, the jurors reported in their statements that they were disgusted by Garrison's lack of evidence (their deliberations, including bathroom breaks, lasted a ''half-hour'').
to:
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Some historical figures ''were'' harmed (see ''HistoricalVillainUpgrade''), but the names of several others are changed.
** It’s widely assumed Stone changed the names of Ruth and Michael Paine to “Janet and Bill Williams” to avoid potential legal action given the aspersions the film casts on them.
** The ''Jerry Johnson Show'' and its host are expies of Creator/JohnnyCarson and ''The Tonight Show'', on which Garrison was a guest on January 31, 1968. Nothing like Garrison being suppressed from showing the Allen photograph happened, however. Carson did politely interrupt Garrison for the first commercial break, but at that time they were [[https://youtu.be/-ahBSHUE-yc?t=951 calmly discussing the Zapruder film]], and the interview resumed calmly after the break.
** "Mr. X" is based on L. Fletcher Prouty, a retired Air Force Lt. Colonel and all-purpose conspiracy theorist who served as an adviser to the film.
** "General Y" is clearly M/Gen. Edward G. Lansdale, the military head of the real Anti-Castro Operation Mongoose. A FreezeFrameBonus of Y’s desk even bears the partially obscured nameplate “M/Gen. E.G. [La]nsd[al]e”. A major flaw in this is that Y (Lansdale) could hardly have had X (Prouty) ReassignedToAntarctica “one week after the murder of Vietnamese President Diem in Saigon” since Lansdale resigned the day before the Diem Coup because he refused to participate in it.[[note]]The real Prouty was informed of this assignment “a month or two” earlier and viewed it as a paid vacation at the time.[[/note]]
** Garrison’s staffer Bill Broussard is based on William C. Wood (a.k.a. Bill Boxley), an ex-CIA agent turned private investigator initially hired by Garrison to “understand the mentality of the Agency” but later fired ostensibly for his agency affiliation.
* NominalImportance: The film accentuates certain testimony by naming the witnesses while obfuscating others either by complete omission or by grouping them together under vague terms like “other people”.
** Garrison cites Richard Carr and Roger Craig by name for their stories of Oswald and others leaving Dealey Plaza by car, but says only that “other people” say Oswald took a bus and then a cab. This obfuscates these witnesses, which include the bus driver Cecil [=McWatters=], the cab driver William Whaley, and Oswald’s ex-landlady Mary E. Bledsoe who happened to be taking the bus home from the parade.[[note]]Oswald also still had a bus transfer endorsed by [=McWatters=] in his pocket upon his arrest.[[/note]]
** Garrison cites Domingo Benavides, Acquilla Clemens, and Frank Wright by name for their equivocal accounts of J.D. Tippit’s murder, but brushes off all other accounts as, “Not one credible witness could identify Oswald as Tippet’s killer.” Besides ignoring Helen Markham who saw and identified Oswald as the shooter, this relies on ExactWords to discount a dozen other witnesses who firmly identified Oswald as the man they saw confront Tippit and flee the scene holding and reloading a revolver.[[note]]This is especially dishonest to William Scoggins, who witnessed the whole scene but admitted Oswald was obscured by some foliage for the few seconds of the actual shooting.[[/note]]
* ObfuscatingPostmortemWounds: The film spins simple mistaken impressions and miscommunication into allegations that this trope was used to hide that JFK was shot from multiple directions. In actuality, the doctors at Parkland never saw JFK’s back wound so they just assumed the bullet entered his throat before immediately widening the wound into an emergency tracheotomy. Consequently, when the pathologists at Bethesda discovered the back wound they didn’t recognize the throat wound, assumed there was no exit, and opted to X-ray for the bullet rather than completely dissect the president’s neck.[[note]]They initially tried probing the wound, but were obstructed by muscles that’d closed back into the wound, which some conspiracists (including this film) claim as evidence that the back wound was shallow.[[/note]] The pathologists cleared all this up the next day by phoning the Parkland doctors before writing up their final report.
* OffOnATechnicality:Much of the information about Garrison’s primary evidence that Clay Shaw is thrown out (particularly the fact that he used the alias "Clay Bertrand" while participating in his shady deals) “Clay Bertrand” is thrown out because he didn't have a Shaw’s lawyer wasn’t present while he was being booked.at his booking.[[note]]In fact, his Shaw’s lawyer ''was'' in the police station but was involved with other officials, officials while Shaw was at the booking desk.[[/note]] The movie says implies this wasn't wasn’t legally sound, sound and then implies that it may have been part of the GovernmentConspiracy to keep Shaw from being convicted. In real life, the judge took over questioning when and determined there was substantial evidence that the booking officer was called in and determined that he had badly violated procedure; in turn, procedure by transferring the jurors reported in their statements ''attributed'' alias from the arrest sheet to a pre-signed fingerprint form[[note]]It being impractical for Shaw to sign afterward with fingerprint ink on his hands.[[/note]] without confirming it with Shaw, adding that they were disgusted by Garrison's lack of evidence (their deliberations, including bathroom breaks, lasted a ''half-hour'').under the circumstances even if the booking officer ''had'' asked Shaw about the alias it would’ve violated Shaw’s ''Miranda'' rights.
** It’s widely assumed Stone changed the names of Ruth and Michael Paine to “Janet and Bill Williams” to avoid potential legal action given the aspersions the film casts on them.
** The ''Jerry Johnson Show'' and its host are expies of Creator/JohnnyCarson and ''The Tonight Show'', on which Garrison was a guest on January 31, 1968. Nothing like Garrison being suppressed from showing the Allen photograph happened, however. Carson did politely interrupt Garrison for the first commercial break, but at that time they were [[https://youtu.be/-ahBSHUE-yc?t=951 calmly discussing the Zapruder film]], and the interview resumed calmly after the break.
** "Mr. X" is based on L. Fletcher Prouty, a retired Air Force Lt. Colonel and all-purpose conspiracy theorist who served as an adviser to the film.
** "General Y" is clearly M/Gen. Edward G. Lansdale, the military head of the real Anti-Castro Operation Mongoose. A FreezeFrameBonus of Y’s desk even bears the partially obscured nameplate “M/Gen. E.G. [La]nsd[al]e”. A major flaw in this is that Y (Lansdale) could hardly have had X (Prouty) ReassignedToAntarctica “one week after the murder of Vietnamese President Diem in Saigon” since Lansdale resigned the day before the Diem Coup because he refused to participate in it.[[note]]The real Prouty was informed of this assignment “a month or two” earlier and viewed it as a paid vacation at the time.[[/note]]
** Garrison’s staffer Bill Broussard is based on William C. Wood (a.k.a. Bill Boxley), an ex-CIA agent turned private investigator initially hired by Garrison to “understand the mentality of the Agency” but later fired ostensibly for his agency affiliation.
* NominalImportance: The film accentuates certain testimony by naming the witnesses while obfuscating others either by complete omission or by grouping them together under vague terms like “other people”.
** Garrison cites Richard Carr and Roger Craig by name for their stories of Oswald and others leaving Dealey Plaza by car, but says only that “other people” say Oswald took a bus and then a cab. This obfuscates these witnesses, which include the bus driver Cecil [=McWatters=], the cab driver William Whaley, and Oswald’s ex-landlady Mary E. Bledsoe who happened to be taking the bus home from the parade.[[note]]Oswald also still had a bus transfer endorsed by [=McWatters=] in his pocket upon his arrest.[[/note]]
** Garrison cites Domingo Benavides, Acquilla Clemens, and Frank Wright by name for their equivocal accounts of J.D. Tippit’s murder, but brushes off all other accounts as, “Not one credible witness could identify Oswald as Tippet’s killer.” Besides ignoring Helen Markham who saw and identified Oswald as the shooter, this relies on ExactWords to discount a dozen other witnesses who firmly identified Oswald as the man they saw confront Tippit and flee the scene holding and reloading a revolver.[[note]]This is especially dishonest to William Scoggins, who witnessed the whole scene but admitted Oswald was obscured by some foliage for the few seconds of the actual shooting.[[/note]]
* ObfuscatingPostmortemWounds: The film spins simple mistaken impressions and miscommunication into allegations that this trope was used to hide that JFK was shot from multiple directions. In actuality, the doctors at Parkland never saw JFK’s back wound so they just assumed the bullet entered his throat before immediately widening the wound into an emergency tracheotomy. Consequently, when the pathologists at Bethesda discovered the back wound they didn’t recognize the throat wound, assumed there was no exit, and opted to X-ray for the bullet rather than completely dissect the president’s neck.[[note]]They initially tried probing the wound, but were obstructed by muscles that’d closed back into the wound, which some conspiracists (including this film) claim as evidence that the back wound was shallow.[[/note]] The pathologists cleared all this up the next day by phoning the Parkland doctors before writing up their final report.
* OffOnATechnicality:
Changed line(s) 75,76 (click to see context) from:
** {{Averted}}. The film makes it quite clear that Kennedy was ''not'' popular in the South. Some gentlemen in the bar are actually seen ''cheering'' when they hear that he has been assassinated.
** In addition, the movie doesn't portray Kennedy as being a saint, either. He's said to fund military development only in districts he needs to win his next election.
** In addition, the movie doesn't portray Kennedy as being a saint, either. He's said to fund military development only in districts he needs to win his next election.
to:
** {{Averted}}. The film makes it quite clear that adds a female investigator named Susie Cox to Jim Garrison’s historically all-male team.
** The film is firmly rooted in the “Camelot” myth of the Kennedywas ''not'' popular in Administration as an avaunt-garde champion of civil rights, Soviet rapprochement, and pacifism (''see AdaptationalHeroism''), with any contradictions either ignored or excused as political necessity or the South. Some gentlemen in result of other’s lies. The film’s villains all fall into at least one of the bar are actually seen ''cheering'' when three antithetical categories: racists, fascists, and the military-industrial complex. Moreover, the ultimate implication is that all the subsequent horrors of racial strife and the Vietnam War not only stem directly from Kennedy’s death, but do so because they hear that he has been assassinated.
** In addition,were the movie doesn't portray Kennedy as being a saint, either. He's said to fund military development only in districts he needs to win his next election.''desired outcome'' of JFK’s deep-state assassins.
** The film is firmly rooted in the “Camelot” myth of the Kennedy
** In addition,
Changed line(s) 81,82 (click to see context) from:
** When shooting a flashback to visualize a character seeing smoke come from a rifle at "the grassy knoll" during the shooting, Oliver Stone had to use a smoke machine because modern rifles don't emit enough smoke, ironically disproving some of the claimed evidence for a second gunman there in doing so.
** Unintentional example: one scene features Garrison and one of his staff in the Depository with a gun identical to Oswald's. The staffer quotes the supposed time stated by the Warren Report for Oswald's shots, 5.6 seconds,[[note]]The report actually gives Oswald closer to eight seconds.[[/note]] and then goes through the motions of firing three shots while Garrison times him. Garrison then announces his time as "Six, seven seconds." As numerous people who've timed the scene have reported, Garrison's staffer actually ''makes the shots in 5.6 seconds''.[[note]]It took 2.3 seconds to work the bolt action for Oswald's rifle, so assuming he had the first round chambered in advance, he actually only needed 4.6 seconds.[[/note]]
** Unintentional example: one scene features Garrison and one of his staff in the Depository with a gun identical to Oswald's. The staffer quotes the supposed time stated by the Warren Report for Oswald's shots, 5.6 seconds,[[note]]The report actually gives Oswald closer to eight seconds.[[/note]] and then goes through the motions of firing three shots while Garrison times him. Garrison then announces his time as "Six, seven seconds." As numerous people who've timed the scene have reported, Garrison's staffer actually ''makes the shots in 5.6 seconds''.[[note]]It took 2.3 seconds to work the bolt action for Oswald's rifle, so assuming he had the first round chambered in advance, he actually only needed 4.6 seconds.[[/note]]
to:
** When shooting a flashback to visualize a character seeing smoke come from a rifle at "the grassy knoll" during the shooting, Oliver Stone had to use a smoke machine to visualize a character seeing rifle smoke from the grassy knoll because modern rifles don't emit enough smoke, ironically disproving some of the claimed same supposed evidence for a second gunman there in doing so.
he was dramatizing.
**Unintentional example: one During a scene features with Garrison and one of his staff Lou Ivon in the Depository with a gun identical to Oswald's. The staffer Oswald's, Ivon quotes the supposed time for Oswald's shots stated by the Warren Report for Oswald's shots, as 5.6 seconds,[[note]]The seconds[[note]]The report actually gives Oswald closer to eight seconds.[[/note]] and then goes through the motions of firing three shots while Garrison times him. Garrison then announces his time as "Six, "Between six, seven seconds." As seconds," but as numerous people who've timed the scene have reported, Garrison's staffer Ivon actually ''makes the shots in 5.6 seconds''.[[note]]It took 2.3 seconds to work the bolt action for Oswald's rifle, so assuming he had the first round chambered in advance, he actually only needed 4.6 seconds.[[/note]][[/note]] Moreover, actor Gary Oldman does it in closer to 5.1 seconds when dramatizing Oswald firing the shots during both Garrison’s talk with Senator Long and Garrison’s court summation. No one in the ''entire film'' takes more than 5.6 seconds to fire three shots.
** Senator Long’s insistence that “the first shot would ''always'' be the best,” sounds like common sense. However, not only are performance anxiety and target panic (a.k.a. “buck fever”) well-recognized factors adverse to first shots, but it’s irrelevant in this case since the final shot was objectively the best regardless of the number of shooters. Even Garrison’s own theory requires his proposed elite sniper on the grassy knoll to fire low the first time to account for JFK’s throat wound.
** Garrison’s idea that it would’ve been easier to shoot Kennedy on Houston Street than Elm Street doesn’t account for the facts that an approaching target exponentially increases the relative speed and angle whereas a retiring target decreases both, making the target appear to slow and stabilize. There’s also the obvious tactical and psychological advantage of shooting a well-guarded human being in the back.
** Garrison is incredulous that Oswald could make it from the sniper’s nest to the lunchroom for his encounter with Truly and Baker in a “maximum” of 90 seconds. This is based on two 1964 re-enactments with Truly and Baker in which they reached the rendezvous in 90 and 75 seconds. However, Truly and Baker both testified that this represented their ''minimum'' time, and even so a stand-in for Oswald beat them both times. Garrison also misstates the distance as five flights of stairs when [[WritersCannotDoMath it’s actually only four]].
** Garrison twice brings up that the police didn’t test if Oswald’s rifle had been fired that day. There is no scientific test to determine how recently a gun has been fired, only whether or not it has been fired since its last cleaning.
** For all the fuss Mr. X and subsequently Garrison make about the laxity of presidential security, JFK is actually unusual (especially among US presidents) for being shot at from such distance and concealment; close-range pistol shots are far more common (e.g. Lincoln, Garfield, and [=McKinley=], both Roosevelts, Ford, Reagan, not to mention Bobby Kennedy and even Oswald himself.)
** The film imputes shady pecuniary interests to the people Marina Oswald was staying with because their tax returns are classified… [[https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6103 just like everybody else]].
**
** Senator Long’s insistence that “the first shot would ''always'' be the best,” sounds like common sense. However, not only are performance anxiety and target panic (a.k.a. “buck fever”) well-recognized factors adverse to first shots, but it’s irrelevant in this case since the final shot was objectively the best regardless of the number of shooters. Even Garrison’s own theory requires his proposed elite sniper on the grassy knoll to fire low the first time to account for JFK’s throat wound.
** Garrison’s idea that it would’ve been easier to shoot Kennedy on Houston Street than Elm Street doesn’t account for the facts that an approaching target exponentially increases the relative speed and angle whereas a retiring target decreases both, making the target appear to slow and stabilize. There’s also the obvious tactical and psychological advantage of shooting a well-guarded human being in the back.
** Garrison is incredulous that Oswald could make it from the sniper’s nest to the lunchroom for his encounter with Truly and Baker in a “maximum” of 90 seconds. This is based on two 1964 re-enactments with Truly and Baker in which they reached the rendezvous in 90 and 75 seconds. However, Truly and Baker both testified that this represented their ''minimum'' time, and even so a stand-in for Oswald beat them both times. Garrison also misstates the distance as five flights of stairs when [[WritersCannotDoMath it’s actually only four]].
** Garrison twice brings up that the police didn’t test if Oswald’s rifle had been fired that day. There is no scientific test to determine how recently a gun has been fired, only whether or not it has been fired since its last cleaning.
** For all the fuss Mr. X and subsequently Garrison make about the laxity of presidential security, JFK is actually unusual (especially among US presidents) for being shot at from such distance and concealment; close-range pistol shots are far more common (e.g. Lincoln, Garfield, and [=McKinley=], both Roosevelts, Ford, Reagan, not to mention Bobby Kennedy and even Oswald himself.)
** The film imputes shady pecuniary interests to the people Marina Oswald was staying with because their tax returns are classified… [[https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6103 just like everybody else]].
Added DiffLines:
* ScienceIsWrong: Garrison draws a laugh from the court by deriding the use of “fancy physics” in favor of “use your eyes, your common sense.”
Added DiffLines:
* UnreliableExpositor:
** Whether he’s being hyperbolic or simply mistaken, Senator Long overstates the peculiarity of the single-bullet theory when he describes it as “that crazy bullet zig-zagging all over the place so it hits Kennedy and Connally seven times.” The theory actually asserts four hits causing seven wounds: four of entry, three of exit.
** Garrison asserts that, “They were refurbishing the floors in the Depository that week, which allowed unknown workmen in and out of the building.” That’s half true at best: the refurbishment had been going on much longer than a week and was being done by regular employees. The building superintendent even testified that, “If we had not been using some of our regular boys putting down this plywood, we would not have had any need for Lee Oswald at that time.”
** Garrison claims Connally holding onto his hat “which is impossible if his wrist has been shattered” is evidence he didn’t share a bullet with JFK. Not only is this claim medically dubious but there’s no evidence Connally ever dropped the hat and Nelly Connally vividly recalled her husband clutching it to his chest after he was shot even though she too believed he’d had been shot separately.
** Garrison disparages the “magic bullet” theory with, "but the government says they can prove it with [[ScienceIsWrong some fancy physics and a nuclear laboratory]]" in a way that implies theoretical physics was used to handwave the bullet trajectory. What he’s actually referencing is the (anachronistic) House Select Committee’s neutron activation tests which matched bullet fragments from Kennedy’s head to fragments in the limo’s rug and front seat and fragments from Connally’s wrist to the Parkland Hospital bullet.
** Whether he’s being hyperbolic or simply mistaken, Senator Long overstates the peculiarity of the single-bullet theory when he describes it as “that crazy bullet zig-zagging all over the place so it hits Kennedy and Connally seven times.” The theory actually asserts four hits causing seven wounds: four of entry, three of exit.
** Garrison asserts that, “They were refurbishing the floors in the Depository that week, which allowed unknown workmen in and out of the building.” That’s half true at best: the refurbishment had been going on much longer than a week and was being done by regular employees. The building superintendent even testified that, “If we had not been using some of our regular boys putting down this plywood, we would not have had any need for Lee Oswald at that time.”
** Garrison claims Connally holding onto his hat “which is impossible if his wrist has been shattered” is evidence he didn’t share a bullet with JFK. Not only is this claim medically dubious but there’s no evidence Connally ever dropped the hat and Nelly Connally vividly recalled her husband clutching it to his chest after he was shot even though she too believed he’d had been shot separately.
** Garrison disparages the “magic bullet” theory with, "but the government says they can prove it with [[ScienceIsWrong some fancy physics and a nuclear laboratory]]" in a way that implies theoretical physics was used to handwave the bullet trajectory. What he’s actually referencing is the (anachronistic) House Select Committee’s neutron activation tests which matched bullet fragments from Kennedy’s head to fragments in the limo’s rug and front seat and fragments from Connally’s wrist to the Parkland Hospital bullet.
Added DiffLines:
* WritersCannotDoMath: Garrison incorrectly states that Oswald had to rush down five flights of stairs to get from the sixth floor sniper’s nest to the second floor lunchroom. It’s actually only four.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Misplaced, moving to the correct tab
Deleted line(s) 95 (click to see context) :
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Executive Action'', the first film to outline a conspiracy to kill Kennedy, using the exact same "triangulated fire" theory, complete with the third shot hitting Connally but not Kennedy.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** The film's ending scroll declares that "In 1979, Richard Helms, director of Covert Operations in 1963, admitted that Clay Shaw had worked for the CIA." What Helms actually said was that Shaw had been a contact of the Domestic Contact Service from Dec 1948 to May 1956. That basically means Shaw was sometimes interviewed by the CIA about his frequent travels abroad (the transcripts of which are now declassified in the National Archives); he "worked for" the CIA in the same way any witness to a crime might work for the local police department.
** The ending also states that the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that Kennedy's death was the result of a "probable conspiracy". What it doesn't say is that the committee's conclusion essentially agrees with the Warren Commission except for the new evidence provided by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination_Dictabelt_recording an audio recording]] that they lacked the budget to investigate further but has since been largely disproved.
** The ending also states that the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that Kennedy's death was the result of a "probable conspiracy". What it doesn't say is that the committee's conclusion essentially agrees with the Warren Commission except for the new evidence provided by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination_Dictabelt_recording an audio recording]] that they lacked the budget to investigate further but has since been largely disproved.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 44,45 (click to see context) from:
* DistinctionWithoutADifference: One clip of an interview with Oswald about three months before the events in Dallas[[note]]He was arrested in New Orleans for a brawl with a gang of anti-[[UsefulNotes/FidelCastro Castro]] Cuban militants and somehow got into a television debate as a result.[[/note]] has him stating about his political beliefs: "I am not a Communist. I am a Marxist-Leninist."[[note]]There is actually a difference between the two, with Marxism-Leninism being the mainstream form of communism as opposed to Marx's actual ideas, but in 1963, most people would think it's semantics.[[/note]]
* DoubleThink: When decrying the "magic bullet" theory, Garrison focuses on the implausibility of a single bullet entering Connelly's back, shattering his rib, exiting his chest, turning right to shatter his wrist before making a "dramatic u-turn" to burying itself in Connelly's left thigh in "almost pristine" condition[[note]]The film ignores that photos of the "magic bullet" exist, showing it looking exactly like a bullet that's bounced through that much of a human body would look like[[/note]]. Yet, in his summation positing six shots Garrison claims two misses, three that hit Kennedy (throat, back, and head), and... ''one'' that hit Connelly.[[note]]Without the extenuating circumstance of the bullet being slowed and tumbled by first hitting JFK actually makes the "magic bullet" even more magical in Garrison's theory.[[/note]]
* DoubleThink: When decrying the "magic bullet" theory, Garrison focuses on the implausibility of a single bullet entering Connelly's back, shattering his rib, exiting his chest, turning right to shatter his wrist before making a "dramatic u-turn" to burying itself in Connelly's left thigh in "almost pristine" condition[[note]]The film ignores that photos of the "magic bullet" exist, showing it looking exactly like a bullet that's bounced through that much of a human body would look like[[/note]]. Yet, in his summation positing six shots Garrison claims two misses, three that hit Kennedy (throat, back, and head), and... ''one'' that hit Connelly.[[note]]Without the extenuating circumstance of the bullet being slowed and tumbled by first hitting JFK actually makes the "magic bullet" even more magical in Garrison's theory.[[/note]]
to:
* DistinctionWithoutADifference: One clip of an interview with Oswald about three months before the events in Dallas[[note]]He was arrested in New Orleans for a brawl with a gang of anti-[[UsefulNotes/FidelCastro Castro]] Cuban militants and somehow got into a television debate as a result.[[/note]] has him stating about his political beliefs: "I am not a Communist. I am a Marxist-Leninist."[[note]]There is actually a difference between the two, with Marxism-Leninism being the mainstream form of communism as opposed to Marx's actual ideas, but in 1963, most people would think it's semantics. In the [[https://youtu.be/tInqL3g6vJw?t=42 actual interview]], Oswald was pressed on this and did explain the difference.[[/note]]
* DoubleThink: When decrying the "magic bullet" theory, Garrison focuses on the implausibility of a single bullet entering Connelly's back, shattering his rib, exiting his chest, turning right to shatter his wrist before making a "dramatic u-turn" to burying itself in Connelly's left thigh in "almost pristine" condition[[note]]The film ignores that photos of the "magic bullet" exist, showing it looking exactly like a bullet that's bounced through that much of a human body would looklike[[/note]].like.[[/note]]. Yet, in his summation positing six shots Garrison claims two misses, three that hit Kennedy (throat, back, and head), and... ''one'' that hit Connelly.[[note]]Without Without the extenuating circumstance of the bullet being slowed and tumbled by first hitting JFK (which the shattered test bullets failed to account for) actually makes the "magic bullet" even more magical in Garrison's theory.[[/note]]
* DoubleThink: When decrying the "magic bullet" theory, Garrison focuses on the implausibility of a single bullet entering Connelly's back, shattering his rib, exiting his chest, turning right to shatter his wrist before making a "dramatic u-turn" to burying itself in Connelly's left thigh in "almost pristine" condition[[note]]The film ignores that photos of the "magic bullet" exist, showing it looking exactly like a bullet that's bounced through that much of a human body would look
Changed line(s) 83 (click to see context) from:
-->"Back, and to the left. Back, and to the left. [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Back, and to the left]]."[[note]]It turns out this does not mean anything-the impact of a bullet can make one's head go either way, no matter the direction it was fired from. In JFK's case, his head actually does move infinitesimally forward before the force of the his skull exploding slightly forward and to the right sends his head back and to the left.[[/note]]
to:
-->"Back, and to the left. Back, and to the left. [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Back, and to the left]]."[[note]]It turns out this does not mean anything-the impact of a bullet can make one's head go either way, no matter the direction it was fired from. In JFK's case, his head actually does move [[https://www.jfk-online.com/Closeup_312-313.gif infinitesimally forward forward]] before the force of the his skull exploding slightly forward and to the right sends a reflexive spasm send his head back and to the left.[[/note]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** In the immediate aftermath of the assassination, Guy Bannister proposes a toast: "To the new era; Camelot in smithereens," even though "Camelot" as a term for the Kennedy presidency stems from a post-assassination interview with his widow Jackie in ''Life'' Magazine where she referred to his love for the musical ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}'', particularly the line, "Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot."
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 64 (click to see context) from:
* ManipulativeEditing: Garrison's breakdown of the Zapruder film posits, "The third shot, Frame 232, hits Kennedy in the back pulling him downward and forward." Ignoring that the real Zapruder film shows Kennedy still clutching his throat until at least Frame 260, the film fabricates a corresponding forward lurch by interspersing one filmed by Stone in conscious imitation of the grainy Zapruder film with a slow-motion clip from the actual Zapruder film which at proper speed merely shows Kennedy gradually collapsing towards his wife with no hint of being struck between his initial neck wound and the fatal head-shot.
to:
* ManipulativeEditing: Garrison's breakdown of the Zapruder film UsefulNotes/ZapruderFilm posits, "The third shot, Frame 232, hits Kennedy in the back pulling him downward and forward." Ignoring that the real Zapruder film shows Kennedy still clutching his throat until at least Frame 260, the film fabricates a corresponding forward lurch by interspersing one filmed by Stone in conscious imitation of the grainy Zapruder film with a slow-motion clip from the actual Zapruder film which at proper speed merely shows Kennedy gradually collapsing towards his wife with no hint of being struck between his initial neck wound and the fatal head-shot.
