Best Of Enemies (2015)

[Kromm]

A brilliant, fascinating documentary covering the "debates" during the 1968 Republican and Democratic Conventions on ABC between William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal.

 

On Demand on iTunes and Netflix, on DVD from various retail outlets like Amazon. VERY worth seeking out and shockingly relevant to today--because while it's about two white guys talking... the violent idealogical split between the two is present in today's society in similar proportions and features many of the same issues.  And displayed against society in 1968 it's got extra juice--these conventions were danger and drama magnets in of themselves and intercut with what these two men who truly hated each other and what the other represented were saying to each other, it's actually surprisingly nail-biting.

 

Buckley and his presentation of his views were the very nucleus of what's today turned into Fox News. Vidal was an early pioneer of openly talking about sexuality and other liberal societal issues--albeit sensationally in a way that admittedly doesn't resonate the same today--remember that Myra Breckenridge was the story of a Transsexual (that's the exact term that was used in Myra Breckenridge and discussions about it within this documentary, so let's not debate it in this one specific context, please).

 

Anyway, I'd never seen these debates and what we see of them in this documentary--and the interviews and commentary the film has about them--is fascinating. Really even though he stuck around in pop culture and was relevant deep into the 90s, I'd forgotten how totally the entire conservative media nation we now have is built on Buckley and this documents that really well. As for Vidal? Well admittedly Myra Breckenridge has some unpleasant aspects (it's not just about a Transsexual/Transgenderism but Vidal's version is also a rapist), but it's interesting to see how Vidal skewered Buckley, and how deeply personal taking Buckley down a few pegs was to him. Also Vidal was really one of the first major media figures to go out there speaking to the main establishment/white heterosexual America and dare to say that homosexuality is perfectly normal. His portrayal of it in his books may have not always lived up to illustrating that, but it's important that he said it when and where he did.

 

Anyone else see this yet?

Edited December 4, 2015 by Kromm