Jackie

[Eva Elisabeth]

Has anyone seen this one? Is it worth watching (respectively spending on)?
https://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2...-jfk-video
Thanks!

[Gene C]

The preview looks good.
I just like to be entertained and feel good when I go to a movie. As much as they cost, I want to feel happy when I leave the theater.
I don't want to pay $20 to feel sad. And I don't want to spend $20 and have the wife feeling sad too.

[Eva Elisabeth]

(02-10-2017 08:27 AM)Gene C Wrote:  The preview looks good.
I just like to be entertained and feel good when I go to a movie. As much as they cost, I want to feel happy when I leave the theater.
I don't want to pay $20 to feel sad. And I don't want to spend $20 and have the wife feeling sad too.

Same here. And I like to "travel abroad", and in winter see summer.

[PaigeBooth]

(02-10-2017 07:47 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Has anyone seen this one? Is it worth watching (respectively spending on)?
https://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2...-jfk-video
Thanks!

Thank you for sharing this, Eva. It looks like a great movie! I have not seen it yet, but plan to do so. Next to Lincoln, John F. Kennedy is one of my favorite presidents. I have been researching his professional and personal life for the past few years and find both him and Jackie fascinating.
2017 is also a big year for anyone interested in President Kennedy. May 29th marks the centennial of his birth.
I have been asked to give a speech about the assassination of President Kennedy and the conspiracy therories next month, and am looking forward to it.
I remember watching National Geographic Channel's movie "Killing Kennedy" when it came out in 2013. The actors who played President Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald were great, but I was disappointed in the way the story was told. But, if you have an interest in Kennedy it is a good one to watch.
There are so many mysteries surrounding President Kennedy and his death, I am certain I am in for some interesting questions from my audience next month. If there is anything worth sharing, I will be sure to do so.

[JMadonna]

I've seen it and yes it is worth watching.

On Jackie's tour of the White House they had Portman pantomiming Jackie's actual voice. She didn't get it right but because that episode was filmed in black and white it looks like the age of the film caused the problem. Very effective.

I don't think you'll feel sad at the end of the movie, I think you'll have a greater appreciation and admiration for her. At least that's how I felt. She dug in her heels and forced the leaders of the world to follow her lead.

I had no idea that as she was planning JFK's funeral, movers were already moving her out of the White House.

[Thomas Kearney]

I paid $9.50 to see it at the E Street Theater. It's worth watching. Remind me to tell you a funny story about an interaction I had with John Hurt at St. Matt's. The scenes there got cut

[L Verge]

"I had no idea that as she was planning JFK's funeral, movers were already moving her out of the White House."

Very different from the kind treatment that a former President Johnson gave the grieving widow Lincoln (who did sort of overstay her welcome). I have heard that both President and Mrs. Lyndon Johnson could not wait to assume the reins of government and the White House. Strong personalities, both of them, and hard-core politicians.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks for all your comments.
I saw it tonight (well worth the 6.50). Very impressive acting by Nathalie Portman. I wonder how much of "Jackie" (the person) was fictional and how close fiction came to reality. From how the movie presented her I'm on the fence as for what to think of her - as a First Lady.
JMaradonna, I share your appreciation as for her conduct after the tragedy (although from the beginning one felt she did the "pomp burial" for herself, not for him, which she also later admitted - however, her way to deal with what the office did to the family, legitimate IMO). I missed little JJ's last salute. Also I feel for her as for Mary how brutal life hits right in the immediate aftermath - both were suddenly "nothing" anymore, and yes, the (20th century) Johnsons couldn't wait. Mrs. Johnson in the movie came over extremely un-endearing.

As a First Lady I found her disappointing. Like Mary, she loved glamour and re-decorating the White House beyond a reasonable budget. I found it quite a slap in the face of the taxpayer when in the WH tour she said she wanted only the best, even if not from the US. Mary did the same, yet like with the burial I felt Jacqueline did it even more for herself than Mary. Despite she could have learned from Mary's history instead of repeating former faux-pas. And I just don't find it smart to tell such into TV camera, like much of what she said in the WH tour. As a voter and taxpayer I would have gotten upset to learn how much is spent for the luxurious life of those whom I voted for to make the people's life better.

Mary was at least also caring for and about others (wounded soldiers) - did Jackie do any charity as a First Lady?

[PaigeBooth]

(02-11-2017 08:08 PM)L Verge Wrote:  "I had no idea that as she was planning JFK's funeral, movers were already moving her out of the White House."

Very different from the kind treatment that a former President Johnson gave the grieving widow Lincoln (who did sort of overstay her welcome). I have heard that both President and Mrs. Lyndon Johnson could not wait to assume the reins of government and the White House. Strong personalities, both of them, and hard-core politicians.

I agree, Lyndon Johnson was a fierce politician who enjoyed power. However, by the time JFK was assassinated in 1963, LBJ was on his way out. Both JFK and his brother Bobby hated Lyndon Johnson. The only reason JFK chose LBJ as his running mate in 1960 was because of LBJ's popularity in Texas. By 1963, however, Johnson had seen his popularity plummet to zero, and Kennedy was planning to choose a new running mate in 1964. Had Kennedy lived, Lyndon Johnson would have slowly fallen from power. Thus, he was the one man who benefitted the most from JFK's death.
However, through my research, I have found that although Jackie was not fond of LBJ, he was respectful of her needs after the assassination.
When Jackie returned home from Dallas with her husband's body, LBJ refused to stay at the White House, despite pleas from the Secret Service that it was safer at the White House. LBJ insisted Jackie needed privacy.
I cannot imagine where the Jackie movie would have gotten the info that movers were packing things up while she was planning JFK's funeral. Although Jackie immediately began packing JFK's personal belongings from the Oval Office the day after the murder, I have never heard anything about movers packing things up against her will.
In my speech, I plan to portray LBJ as a man desperate for political power, and whose political career was saved by Kennedy's untimely death. However, I do not portray him as someone behind the plot to kill Kennedy, as many conspiracy theories suggest.

---

P.S. Eva, I have not found any evidence that Jackie did any charity work while she served as First Lady as of yet. Her time as First Lady was spent traveling around the world and meeting with world leaders, and as you noticed in the movie, redecorating the White House! Jackie loved privacy and raising her children was her first priority.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Well, raising her children with the help of lot of nannies the average people couldn't afford. Quite reminded me of a queen's life(style). Maybe all First Ladies had that, just I had never seen it so clearly. It seems so far away from the people, but on their expenses. I'd also think in modern media age such office isn't the best to raise small children nor when you love privacy.

[PaigeBooth]

Yes, Jackie grew up wealthy and married into wealth. She had nannies during her time in the White House, but she was a devoted mother. She guarded her children from the spotlight as much as possible, which was often difficult given her position as First Lady.

One interesting fact about Jackie: she did not like the title "First Lady." It reminded her of a race horse!

[JMadonna]

Jackie had 1 full-time aide (Michelle Obama had 23). At that time a woman's place was in the home and that is where she spent most of her time. The TV media was coming into its own during that time (national news expanded from 15 minutes to 1/2 an hour) and the beautiful first lady had a face and style that attracted attention. In politics that is the gold standard.

[PaigeBooth]

(02-12-2017 10:04 AM)JMadonna Wrote:  Jackie had 1 full-time aide (Michelle Obama had 23). At that time a woman's place was in the home and that is where she spent most of her time. The TV media was coming into its own during that time (national news expanded from 15 minutes to 1/2 an hour) and the beautiful first lady had a face and style that attracted attention. In politics that is the gold standard.

Thanks for the comparison, JMadonna. Very interesting about the number of aides with which these women were staffed.
I agree with you, Jackie's beauty and elegance captivated the nation. JFK knew this better than anyone. That's why he loved it when she campaigned with him. Whenever Jackie came, crowds consistently doubled.

[JMadonna]

Mamie Eisenhower had 1 aide paid for by her husband.
Jackie's aide was paid for by the taxpayers. The rest of the first ladies followed this tradition until Hillary needed 4. Laura Bush had 1 and then Michelle needed 23.

[Linda Anderson]

(02-12-2017 12:27 PM)JMadonna Wrote:  Mamie Eisenhower had 1 aide paid for by her husband.
Jackie's aide was paid for by the taxpayers. The rest of the first ladies followed this tradition until Hillary needed 4. Laura Bush had 1 and then Michelle needed 23.

According to Snopes, Michelle Obama's staff size was about the same number as her predecessors.

"A look at some first ladies and their staff sizes:

Laura Bush: Between 24 and 26 by end of President George W. Bush’s term in 2009, according to Anita McBride, Mrs. Bush’s chief of staff.

Lady Bird Johnson, whose signature issue was beautifying roadways, had a staff of 30, said Stacy A. Cordery, a history professor at Montmouth [sic] College in Illinois who studies first ladies.

Betty Ford had almost the same number.

Jacqueline Kennedy, who made renovating the White House her cause, had about 40 people on staff, Cordery said."

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/firstlady.asp