2008.01.20: January 20, 2008: Headlines: Directors - Shriver: Figures: Directors: Documentaries: Criticism: Press-Enterprise: Todd Vanderwerff writes: 'Story of Sargent Shriver' falls short
Peace Corps Online:
Peace Corps News:
Directors of the Peace Corps:
Peace Corps Founding Director Sargent Shriver:
Sargent Shriver: Newest Stories:
2008.01.15: January 15, 2008: Headlines: Documentaries: Directors - Shriver: Figures: Directors: Newsblaze: American Idealist, The Story of Sargent Shriver :
2008.01.20: January 20, 2008: Headlines: Directors - Shriver: Figures: Directors: Documentaries: Criticism: Press-Enterprise: Todd Vanderwerff writes: 'Story of Sargent Shriver' falls short
Todd Vanderwerff writes: 'Story of Sargent Shriver' falls short
The documentary, sadly, is also kind of boring in the way that only televised documentaries can be, where a careful aping of the Ken Burns style (slow pans across old photographs and reverent music on the soundtrack) leads to history seeming like a delicate butterfly deftly pinned onto a piece of canvas and displayed under hot lights. It also, unfortunately, treats Shriver as a saint (perhaps unsurprisingly -- Maria Shriver is a producer), refusing to delve into why some of his more ambitious programs, like Johnson's Great Society plan, didn't pay off in the end, beyond a rather too-pat answer of "He just didn't have the funds."
Todd Vanderwerff writes: 'Story of Sargent Shriver' falls short
'Story of Sargent Shriver' falls short
10:00 PM PST on Sunday, January 20, 2008
By TODD VANDERWERFF
The Press-Enterprise
After exhausting all possible lines of inquiry into the lives of the main players in the Kennedy family saga, the industry that has sprung up around mythologizing the family has, apparently, turned to ancillary figures in the saga, if "American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver" is any indication.
Shriver, perhaps best known for being the father of Maria Shriver, better known as California's first lady, was the brother-in-law of President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert Kennedy.
He was often regarded as a political up-and-comer in the '60s, and his work within the Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations was instrumental in pushing civil-rights legislation to pass and putting the impoverished into the American spotlight. His most famous achievement was his work with the Peace Corps, which he was instrumental in creating.
Shriver, then, is one of those great old American stories about a man who enters a position of great power and mostly uses that power for good. He's largely been forgotten since his heyday in the '60s (despite being Democratic nominee George McGovern's running mate in the 1972 presidential election and running his own campaign for president in 1976). That may be why this documentary about his life is so scattershot, focusing less on the man and more on the achievements, as if to remind us of why we should reconsider the man in the first place.
The documentary, sadly, is also kind of boring in the way that only televised documentaries can be, where a careful aping of the Ken Burns style (slow pans across old photographs and reverent music on the soundtrack) leads to history seeming like a delicate butterfly deftly pinned onto a piece of canvas and displayed under hot lights.
It also, unfortunately, treats Shriver as a saint (perhaps unsurprisingly -- Maria Shriver is a producer), refusing to delve into why some of his more ambitious programs, like Johnson's Great Society plan, didn't pay off in the end, beyond a rather too-pat answer of "He just didn't have the funds."
This is really too bad. I didn't know much about Shriver beyond his Peace Corps work before seeing this, but the film proves he's definitely the sort of man who deserves a searching, probing biography. This, sadly, is not that.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: January, 2008; Shriver; Sargent Shriver (Director 1961 - 1966); Figures; Peace Corps Directors; Documentary Films; Criticism; Maryland
When this story was posted in February 2008, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Dodd vows to filibuster Surveillance Act Senator Chris Dodd vowed to filibuster the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that would grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that helped this administration violate the civil liberties of Americans. "It is time to say: No more. No more trampling on our Constitution. No more excusing those who violate the rule of law. These are fundamental, basic, eternal principles. They have been around, some of them, for as long as the Magna Carta. They are enduring. What they are not is temporary. And what we do not do in a time where our country is at risk is abandon them." |
| What is the greatest threat facing us now? "People will say it's terrorism. But are there any terrorists in the world who can change the American way of life or our political system? No. Can they knock down a building? Yes. Can they kill somebody? Yes. But can they change us? No. Only we can change ourselves. So what is the great threat we are facing? I would approach this differently, in almost Marshall-like terms. What are the great opportunities out there - ones that we can take advantage of?" Read more. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: Press-Enterprise
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Directors - Shriver; Figures; Directors; Documentaries; Criticism
PCOL40413
19