A Must See Movie

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men - not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular. - Edward R. Murrow

Good Night and Good Luck is a must see movie with rave reviews. It is not a docu-drama or anything close to an accurate portrayal of Edward R. Murrow, as Jack Shafer at Slate points out. The movie symbolically portrays the abuse of power being played out by the Bush Administration and models heroic action presumably in hopes news media will step up to the plate.
The mainstream media could use some pointers on courage these days. Bloggers have been trying to pick up the role, but their reach is still limited compared to especially the TV news.
The most interesting part of the movie was Murrow's stirring closing comments in each 30 minute TV show. The last closing comment was at some media conference whose significants slipped by me. But what he said reminded me of Gore's speech a recent media conference. I'd love to find the quote sometime, but I'll attempt to paraphrase.
Television can be an effective means of education, if the media chooses to do so. Most of what it does has a way of distancing it's audience from reality, dulling it's senses to important topics, stimulating emotional and irrational responses to subjects that call for a reason and thoughtful response.
The movie is very well done, moves quickly and is quite entertaining. What bothers me about it is as an independent film, it is in only one theater in town. This movie deserves a much broader audience. I have to wonder if there are other reasons why it's relegated to the artsy theater in town. Maybe it's message is apparent to the conservative movie houses and it is being rejected for political reasons.
For whatever the reason, it's not receiving the attention it deserves. I suspect blogosphere will help beat the drums.