Not many topics have produced more material than the subject of John F. Kennedy and his tragic death in November 1963. The more publications have occurred and keep occurring, the more it seems that narratives and explanations are multiplying and differing. John F. Kennedy is not only being remembered by the political world or his friends and family, he has become a symbol of youth, progress and reform which is being remembered by all kinds of people and all parts of society. Kennedy is being portrayed in popular culture such as movies, music, pop art and photography. His face is reoccurring constantly in the history books and in modern art.
This text focuses on the cultural narrative of John F. Kennedy and his assassination in the movie “JFK” (directed by Oliver Stone in 1991). I am aware that there are multiple ways of approaching the subject of JFK and especially that John F. Kennedy means different things to different people. I will not try to cover all possible narratives involving JFK and the assassination but I will explain that the movie “JFK” had a specific agenda and a certain narrative which was portrayed very explicitly to the audience.
When John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Oliver Stone was a teenager and thought of the killing of the president as a turning point in American modern history. After he had read Jim Garrison’s novel “On the trail of the Assassins” (1988) in which Garrison, the district attorney of New Orleans at the time of JFK’s death, described his research concerning the death of JFK, he decided to make a movie out of Garrison’s story. His decision to direct “JFK” paid off not only because the movie stimulated a heated debate over the remaining documents involving the death of JFK which are being withheld by the government up to the present, but also because Stone created a stunning movie which earned him a Golden Globe.
The movie “JFK” shows the district attorney of New Orleans Jim Garrison making it his personal agenda to find out the truth regarding the assassination of president Kennedy. He soon becomes convinced that there was more to it than the official evaluation by the government and the “Warren Commission” which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald had been the lone assassin of the president. Garrison becomes dedicated to his cause of revealing the plot, the conspiracy which killed JFK and proving that the lone assassin theory is simply a cover up by government authorities to conceal their involvement in the plot.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. General approach and aesthetic methods
3. Analysis of the Dealey Plaza sequence
4. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines the cultural narrative of the John F. Kennedy assassination as presented in Oliver Stone’s 1991 film "JFK", specifically analyzing how the director uses cinematic techniques to construct a persuasive, non-documentary perspective on the event.
- The role of "JFK" as a docudrama and its influence on historical memory.
- The mechanics of visual storytelling and the blend of real and recreated footage.
- Analysis of witness testimonies and their function in creating a "conspiracy" narrative.
- The impact of auditory and visual cues on the audience's perception of "truth."
- Contradictory evidence regarding the technical feasibility of the film's depicted claims.
Excerpt from the Book
The narrative of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Oliver Stone’s movie “JFK”, illustrated with the help of one short sequence
The scene I selected to illustrate the mechanics of the movie and how it affects the audience’s overall impression of the movie and its message deals with the witnesses on site where the president’s limousine passed when he was shot. It shows four different witnesses essentially describing the same. They were standing at different locations on Dealey Plaza, the multi-complex site where the caravan made the turn to head on underneath the railroad tracks, and describe that they saw and heard shots coming from behind the picket fence near a grassy knoll in front of the president’s car. These descriptions are of course not according to the Warren Commission report which concluded that the shots came from the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository building behind the president’s limousine at the time the shots rang out. They rather underline an argument for a second shooter who delivers the fatal head shot not from the Book Depository building but from the grassy knoll.
The scene opens with Garrison, one of his assistants (Lou Ivon) and the first witness J.C. Price high above Dealey Plaza on some kind of rooftop. We hear the man describing to Garrison how he had overlooked the whole scenery, pointing to the wooden fence and saying that this is where the shots came from. The camera moves from the center of the top overlooking Dealey Plaza to the left, where the three men were. It zooms in from a Medium Close Shot to a Full Close-Up Shot and shows the faces of Garrison and the witness in one shot. The camera moves slowly and steadily. Once we see the black/white images, the camera moves more rapidly and chaotic, without focus or aim.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the historical and cultural significance of the JFK assassination and introduces the focus on Oliver Stone's 1991 film as a specific cultural narrative.
2. General approach and aesthetic methods: Discusses the film's nature as a docudrama that mixes historical fact with fiction to persuade the audience of its version of the truth.
3. Analysis of the Dealey Plaza sequence: Provides a detailed breakdown of the witness scenes and how camera work, editing, and sound design create an illusion of authenticity.
4. Conclusion: Addresses technical inconsistencies in the film's depiction of the shooting and reflects on the broader cultural desire for conspiracy theories over random tragedy.
Keywords
John F. Kennedy, Oliver Stone, JFK, docudrama, assassination, conspiracy theory, Dealey Plaza, cultural narrative, film analysis, cinematic techniques, witness testimony, historical memory, Jim Garrison, Warren Commission, collective imagery.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this paper?
The paper focuses on the cultural narrative of the John F. Kennedy assassination as depicted in Oliver Stone's 1991 movie "JFK", specifically analyzing how the film constructs its own version of history.
What is the main objective of the author?
The author aims to evaluate how Stone uses specific aesthetic methods—such as the mixing of real and reproduced footage—to persuade the audience that the film's conspiracy-based narrative is the truth.
What methodology is used in the study?
The study employs a close textual and visual analysis of a specific sequence in the film, contrasting it with external historical reports and secondary scholarly essays.
What are the key thematic areas covered?
Key themes include the distinction between documentary and docudrama, the use of witness testimonies, the influence of cinematic atmosphere on truth perception, and the role of JFK as an American cultural myth.
What does the main body of the work discuss?
The main body examines the specific "Dealey Plaza" witness scene, detailing how the director orchestrates visual cues and camera movements to validate the "second shooter" theory.
Which keywords characterize this analysis?
Key terms include "JFK," "docudrama," "conspiracy," "aesthetic methods," and "cultural narrative."
How does the author explain the use of "black and white" footage in the film?
The author argues that Stone uses shaky, black and white footage to simulate amateur documentary evidence, which effectively tricks the audience into perceiving recreated scenes as authentic historical facts.
Does the film successfully prove the conspiracy theory?
The author concludes that while the film is aesthetically stunning and persuasive, it lacks technical accuracy, as experts have noted that rifles are generally smokeless and the view from the fence was obstructed, undermining the film's visual claims.
- Citation du texte
- Michael Schmid (Auteur), 2004, The narrative of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Oliver Stone's movie 'JFK', illustrated with the help of one short sequence , Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/66503
