Critic’s Notebook: The January 6 committee hearings are a must-see on TV

Critic’s Notebook: The January 6 committee hearings are a must-see on TV

Viewers looking for tension, drama and historical, political and moral urgency now have something to put at the top of their essential viewers list. The first “episode” of the January 6 committee hearing presented the horrific story of one of the darkest days in American history, with a horrific film and powerful testimony. It remains to be seen whether he will do what he will in the coming weeks to move the needle among citizens who seem to have settled into their positions. But judging by the initial contribution, there will be plenty of powerful material for those with an open mind.

The audience was deemed important enough to be broadcast live on all major television and cable news networks. Except, that is, Fox, which kept its regular prime-time programming. Because, after all, Tucker Carlson may have important new information on important national issues like testicular tanning. But Fox viewers shouldn’t feel completely left behind because Sean Hannit’s text was heard for the first time, and we’ll no doubt hear what other Fox characters wrote at future audiences.

The opening remarks were made by Mississippi Democrat Benny Thompson, which was, of course, his prerogative as chairman of the committee. But while her speech was given a decent tone, it was Liz Cheney who immediately picked up the process with her tightly controlled but very noticeable outrage. Most of Cheney’s fellow Republicans were outraged by her principled stance.

The hearing included clips from several Trump aides, including former Attorney General Bill Barr, of video interviews in which he recounted how he told the former president that his election theft allegations were false. (To be fair, Trump may not understand why Barry used legal technical terms like “bullshit,” “nonsense,” and “crazy stuff” to contradict Trump’s claims about electronic voting machines, etc.)

Among the other figures seen briefly in the video are Washington’s former golden couple Jared and Ivanka, shown in close-up. Ivanka, to her credit, showed that she trusted Barry’s decision. Jared, for his part, complained about the threat of resignation from a former White House aide, Pete Cipolon, instead of the rise of Trump’s false allegations. “I managed to cry, to be honest,” Jared said, once again showing horror when he was one of the strongest people in the country.

The committee was smart enough to know that words mattered, but not as much as pictures. Hence the inclusion of disturbing visceral footage from twelve minutes of an attack on the rebel capital.

The hearing convincingly concluded that Trump staged a day of terror, showing events such as his personal White House meeting with Sidney Powell, Michael Flynn and Rudy Julian, which likely made the Mad Hat tea party look like a Mensa meeting. Not to mention his December 2020 Twitter account, in which he called on his followers to attend the January 6 rally. “Be there, it will be wild!” Fiancee.

The evening was attended by two key witnesses: Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards, who was seriously injured while defending American Democracy headquarters; And documentary filmmaker Nick Quested, who was involved with the Proud Children a few weeks before the attack. Edwards presented his “straight blood, sweat and tears shed that day”. He also recalled that when he realized they were outrageously superior, he told his commander-in-chief, “I think we’re going to need more people here.” Which, in terms of downsizing, far outweighs the “you’ll need a bigger boat”.

Quested gave us important testimony about the organized efforts of the proud boys and judges in the weeks leading up to January 6th. But before that, the British filmmaker made dramatic statements such as: “I saw the crowd turn from protesters to rebels. The rebels,” he described in detail the seriousness of his report. We learn that the hotel where his team stayed the night before the riots “wasn’t as satisfying as we wanted” and that he and members of the Proud Boys were eating at Tucker’s in DC, which really proves the theory. it’s good. Advertising.

Cheney, knowing full well that viewership ratings could go far if the series lags behind, offered unique revealing clues to bring people together in the coming weeks. Of course, these hearings are expected to have the same uplifting effect on American society as the Watergate hearings. This is probably a big dream because we live in a very different and much more fragmented America. But we can really hope that the deeply disturbing evidence on display could touch at least some hearts and minds. And we can experience this with Benjamin Franklin, who, when asked what form of government he and his Constitutional Convention members had established, replied, “Democracy, if you can keep it.” Of course, we may need a bigger boat.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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