"Best of Enemies" (2015) and Information in Post-Election America
Dir. Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon
“There is an implicit conflict of interest between that which is highly viewable and that which is highly illuminating.” -William F. Buckley Jr.
Don’t insult yourself. Raise your expectations. Don’t listen to the dimmest; seek out the brightest. I’m not telling you what to do, but if you’re going to take a stance on something, educate yourself with ideas that encourage you to think. Think, and come up with your own original thoughts instead of repeating simplified rhetoric. You may wonder: people have free will, but why do so many not use it? Well, because it’s easier. We’re the smartest creatures but despite our self-consciousness, the instinct to blindly follow still takes over. Too many ignore their ability to be knowledgeable and end up like one of those lined-up geese crossing the highway, and sooner or later, they’re going to get hit head-on at 65 miles per hour without even realizing where they went wrong.
Not to say to drown yourself in politics or feel like you need to have a take on everything — I think the opposite is an ideal way of living — but recognize that there’s no end-all to your beliefs. Learn. No one is ever done learning. Everything is changing. Keep learning. In this film, we're told the story of the ten televised debates between the conservative William Buckley and liberal Gore Vidal in 1968, and get insights into their off-camera thoughts and the news coverage that was done throughout the series. Vidal and Buckley couldn’t have been more separated in their spectrum of beliefs but they offered something to Americans. They rose points and didn’t implant them. Broadcast news used to be respected. Now, too many don’t even know what the “news” even is. The definition of what a “journalist” is has become completely blurred. There aren’t a lot of things that annoy me but all of this really pisses me off.
This documentary shows a clip from the film The Best Man, based on Vidal’s work, in which Henry Fonda’s character is asked, “Do you think people mistrust intellectuals like you in politics.” He responds: “Intellectual? You mean I wrote a book? Well, as Bertrand Russell said, ‘People in a democracy tend to think they have less to fear from a stupid man than an intelligent one.’ Actually it’s the other way around.” — ‘Nuff said.
11/11/24
