2) This movie was released very timely in the United States. The war in Iraq seemed to be going nowhere fast in the search for WMDs. We were all told that they were definitely there, just like McCarthy told everyone that communists were definitely in our government. Our country was scared that there might be WMDs and we would be defenseless, just like the Red Scare in the 1950s.
The government lied to the people of the United States, both in 1953 and in 2005, and they were caught both times. Journalists were a huge part of getting the truth out to America. In 1953, the CBS program, See it Now, bravely stood up to Senator Joseph McCarthy when almost everyone else was too afraid to do so. In 2005, many journalists acted as watchdogs for the government in many articles to show how the government was lying about WMDs, including an article in The New Republic.
When this movie came out, I'm sure a lot of people quickly noticed the correlation because what happened then and what was happening now. I think that it gave many people a call to action and to not believe everything that they are told. It also showed that maybe the government doesn't always have our best interests at heart because in 1953, they were willing to persecute so many innocent people for just living their lives, and in 2005, they allowed so many young men and women go overseas and die for something that they never should of had to. I think that by having this movie come out when it did, it allowed us to open up our eyes and see that the government does make mistakes, sometimes very monumental ones, and that we shouldn't just believe what they tell us to.
You might improve this blog by citing some of the news articles that called attention to the lack of WMD's. Interesting conclusion and a good picture.
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