Critique of JFK and the Kennedy Myth

In response to audience questions, Stockwell takes apart Oliver Stone’s movie JFK. He criticizes the film’s basic thesis: Kennedy was killed because he was going to withdraw from Vietnam. “It does not add up,” says Stockwell and Stone’s reliance on Jim Garrison was “off base.” The film lacks, he says, “convincing evidence,” adding “I don’t mind Hollywood making a good story but why not use the truth?” Stockwell lambasts JFK as a “confused man with a lot of charisma” who ran “a secret war against Cuba.” But “a cult of Kennedy followers” has portrayed him as a “great, liberal saint.” And Stone contributes to this myth making. Toward the end there are discussions on Reagan and Bush One policies and CIA destabilization campaigns. Stockwell also warns, “Most people watch six hours of TV a day. Go home and unplug your TV set. You cannot watch it and develop your mind.” He concludes with, “We hold the intellectual and moral high ground and you can draw a lot of strength from that.”