Trial of the Chicago 7 | Based on a True Story

Рет қаралды 11,857

Күн бұрын

Use code cynicalhistorian at incogni.com/cynicalhistorian to get 60% off an annual Incogni plan. Thanks for sponsoring
The Trial of the Chicago Seven had so much potential. The court transcript is replete with drama and easy to adapt, yet this movie fails at it. I don’t know what went wrong here, but it was a tremendous let down. I’ve been trying to focus on good movies, but my patrons voted for this on Patreon, so I slogged through it. Honestly, I wish I could have just thrown it aside. When a 1987 made-for-TV movie outdoes this well-funded production, you know something is a-miss. The true story is very compelling, because the ten people on the defense team became martyrs for freedom of speech as a result of this trial. The Nixon administration tried to silence protestors and they went to prison for it, like patriots. They turned the court into a circus because there was no other way to redress their grievances, showing what civil disobedience looks like.
------------------------------------------------------------
Errata
4:23 that's supposed to be George Wallace, not William, LOL (thx slade7490)
Bibliography
Hoffman Abbie, Steal This Book, 50th anniversary ed. with new forward by Lisa Fithian (1971; New York: Hachette, 2021). amzn.to/3PZCTWC
Julilly Kohler-Hausmann, Getting Tough: Welfare and Imprisonment in 1970s America (Princeton, N.Jer.: Princeton University Press, 2017). amzn.to/2M2ol7j
Mark L. Levine, George C. McNamee, Daniel Greenberg, eds., The Trial of the Chicago 7: The Official Transcript, forward by Aaron Sorkin )Seattle: Audible, 2020). amzn.to/3F3825i
Jon Wiener, Conspiracy in the Streets: The Extraordinary Trial of the Chicago Seven (New York: New Press, 2006). amzn.to/3rz4Gnr
Compilation of sources on trial: famous-trials.com/chicago8/13...
------------------------------------------------------------
Connected videos
Judas and the Black Messiah: • Judas and the Black Me...
Based on a True Story playlist: • Based on a True Story
------------------------------------------------------------
SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE VIDEOS: kzfaq.info_c...
Support the channel through PATREON: / cynicalhistorian
or by purchasing MERCH: cynical-historian-shop.fourth...
LET'S CONNECT
Twitch: / cynicalhistorian
Facebook: / cynicalcypher88
Discord: / discord
Twitter: / cynical_history
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/cynicalhisto...
Threads: www.threads.net/@cynicalhisto...
------------------------------------------------------------
Wiki: The Chicago Seven, originally the Chicago Eight and also known as the Conspiracy Eight or Conspiracy Seven, were seven defendants - Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Lee Weiner - charged by the United States Department of Justice with conspiracy, crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot, and other charges related to anti-Vietnam War and 1960s counterculture protests in Chicago, Illinois during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The Chicago Eight became the Chicago Seven after the case against co-defendant Bobby Seale was declared a mistrial.
------------------------------------------------------------
Hashtags: #history #thetrialofthechicago7 #review #basedonatruestory
------------------------------------------------------------
Chapters
0:00 intro and sponsor
2:54 reality
8:44 scholarship
10:16 accuracy
13:04 inaccuracy

Пікірлер: 59

@ergoat 7 ай бұрын

On a non-viral Facebook post that randomly came into my feed about The Trial of the Chicago 7, I felt compelled to write ~"I don't know how Aaron Sorkin managed to take all the sex, drugs, and rock n' roll out of one of the most iconic moments of the 60s counterculture, but he did." and one of Abbie Hoffman's fellow Yippies liked it. It made my day.

@shelbybrown8312 7 ай бұрын

At the 1998 taste of Chicago There were groups of off-duty police officers at the event wearing Tshirts that said "my dad beat up your dad in '68 riots" Which actually found pretty hilarious

@williamkarbala5718 7 ай бұрын

Right wingers can be pretty clever with the names signs sometimes ‘Obamas Nation is an abomination’ and ‘Obama bin Lying’ are pretty clever.

@slade7490 7 ай бұрын

4:23 I think you mean former Alabama Governor George Wallace? Honestly, if the real William Wallace traveled through time and ran for the election, I would vote for him, and I suspect most people would.

@CynicalHistorian 7 ай бұрын

Hah, good catch. I'll make a note of it in errata

@tomjones8235 7 ай бұрын

You beat me to it.

@ergoat 7 ай бұрын

@@tomjones8235 haha, same.

@dwc1964 7 ай бұрын

I came to the comments for this

@jennifernicole106 7 ай бұрын

I was like wait…what?!? 😂😂😂

@nedludd7622 7 ай бұрын

As Mayor Daley famously said at the time, "The policeman isn't there to create disorder; the policeman is there to preserve disorder." Well the second half is right at least. I remember reading about events and seeing them on TV at the time. Before "Steal This Book", Abbie Hoffman earlier wrote "Revolution for the Hell of It" which is important to understanding the Yippies! -- which is short for Youth International Party.

@theflaggedyoutuberii4311 7 ай бұрын

13:30 Speaking of Inaccuracies you said that MLK spoke against the war in 1965 ; 4 years before his assassination. Well, MLK die in sixty eight, that's three years.

@loner1878 7 ай бұрын

4:24 I too would vote for William Wallace over Nixon, even if we know little of the historical figure.

@Arsebiscute65 5 ай бұрын

I'm more of a John Balliol man myself

@dwc1964 7 ай бұрын

I used to like Sorkin back in the day, but as time has passed, it seems that both I've gone further left, and Sorkin's gone further up his own ass - to the point where even when I look at his older, better stuff, I can see how that's where he was at the whole time (honestly, the way the music swells when someone gives one of his speeches is just him high-fiving himself for his own cleverness).

@beejls 7 ай бұрын

I've never much been a fan of his. I actually like this more than just about anything else I've seen of his. He can be overly preachy, to the point of nauseousness.

@09philj 7 ай бұрын

"I don’t know what went wrong here" Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin.

@GeorgeMerl 7 ай бұрын

Many such cases

@6thwilbury2331 7 ай бұрын

I liked it more than you did, but I also watch anything by Aaron Sorkin as if it's musical theater rather than a factually accurate depiction of, well, anything: the origins of Facebook, the White House West Wing, a military courtroom, etc, etc. This was no different. If the dialog pops and the performances are top-shelf, I'm satisfied. The weirdest twist for me was the catfish/honeypot undercover agent, though. Weird addition on the part of Sorkin. The Chicago 7 trial is one of the better examples of history where the truth is stranger than fiction, which means it's one of those occasions when you shouldn't need to embellish for dramatic effect. There is enough "did that really happen" events that actually happened to fill two hours of run time.

@TheJsmitty85 7 ай бұрын

Sadly I think we are about see a lot more of these type of trials

@jackthorton10 7 ай бұрын

If this is in regards to a certain Presidential Candidate, don’t make it obvious

@theshenpartei 7 ай бұрын

Steal this book has probably the best book title I ever heard

@cbrindle91 7 ай бұрын

😂😂 like "Steal this album."

@BradyPostma 7 ай бұрын

Wasn't there another book called "Burn This Book"?

@cbrindle91 7 ай бұрын

@@BradyPostma or was it "burn after reading"? Edit: wait. "Burn after reading" was a movie. "Burn this Book" is a book by Toni Morrison.

@GeorgeMerl 7 ай бұрын

The concept of "contempt of court" is such a fucked up charge. Why wouldnt someone have contempt for the people trying to imprison them?

@whm_w8833 7 ай бұрын

When you see Darren Wilson trial, then you will understand that penalty exist. Edit: not Darren Wilson, but Darrell brooks.

@cbrindle91 7 ай бұрын

Especially considering it was a 4 year sentence for that bs charge... Smdh.

@whm_w8833 7 ай бұрын

@@darklyripley6138 oh, I got the name wrong!! It is Darrell brookes.

@loner1878 7 ай бұрын

Look at the video of the woman who laughed during victim impact statements of during the trial for a woman her daughter killed and you might get a clue. You have to be an adult and behave in court.

@interestingman7458 7 ай бұрын

The court isn’t (at least in principle) the people trying to imprison you in a criminal case, that’s the prosecution. The court is a mediator/arbiter that either decides for or against punishment. So they are trying to administer justice, not trying to imprison you or trying to let you off

@oldgus01 7 ай бұрын

6:19 Hostile in the legal sense? In legal terms, a witness is only hostile if they are antagonistic to the party that called them, or if their testimony is contrary to the legal position of the party that called them. Not only is a witness allowed to provide testimony contrary to the legal position of the defense when the prosecutions calls them, they can be aggressive, irritated, or confrontational in general, and as long as it's not directed at the prosecution, the witness would not be considered "hostile" legally. I'm not a lawyer, just a guy who has a particular interest in SovCits, and this is something they misunderstand alllllll the time.

@SaintSteven67 7 ай бұрын

I'm glad you mentioned the 1987 HBO movie about the ordeal. I saw that one back in 1987 or 88 while college. It was my first exposure to this travesty of injustice. After that, I read at least five books on the subject to investigate it. I agree with you that Sorkin's version was not very good.

@MissionHomeowner 7 ай бұрын

I met Abby Hoffman in the early 80's. Quite a man.

@RevShifty 7 ай бұрын

He has been an inspiration of mine since I was a child. I remember reading about his attempt to levitate the Pentagon and excerpts from Steal This Book and was immediately a fan.

@GodBless423 7 ай бұрын

Awesome video!!

@milesgreb3537 7 ай бұрын

The "your phones hear you and proc ads based on what you say thing" that you mentioned in the ad - is a myth btw

@localblackman427 7 ай бұрын

Could you do 1999's vendetta vs the real 1891 new Orleans mass lynching of the Italians?

@bleanard 7 ай бұрын

I love the movie. It's well done, but I also recognize that they took a lot of "liberties" in telling the story.

@beejls 7 ай бұрын

I will say this: Sacha Baron Cohen was magnificent. Great actor.

@CynicalHistorian 7 ай бұрын

Use code cynicalhistorian at incogni.com/cynicalhistorian to get 60% off an annual Incogni plan. Thanks for sponsoring. Click "read more" for further info, corrections, and bibliography Thanks for watching! Please consider supporting the channel by buying merch: teespring.com/stores/the-cynical-historian Or by donating to my Patreon: www.patreon.com/CynicalHistorian *Errata* 4:23 that's supposed to be George Wallace, not William, LOL (thx @slade7490 ) *Related videos* Judas and the Black Messiah: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nN52otqHqceXZp8.html Based on a True Story playlist: kzfaq.info/sun/PLjnwpaclU4wVzPp-sQVV48cdfyeg9G5JJ *Bibliography* Hoffman Abbie, _Steal This Book,_ 50th anniversary ed. with new forward by Lisa Fithian (1971; New York: Hachette, 2021). amzn.to/3PZCTWC Julilly Kohler-Hausmann, _Getting Tough: Welfare and Imprisonment in 1970s America_ (Princeton, N.Jer.: Princeton University Press, 2017). amzn.to/2M2ol7j Mark L. Levine, George C. McNamee, Daniel Greenberg, eds., _The Trial of the Chicago 7: The Official Transcript,_ forward by Aaron Sorkin )Seattle: Audible, 2020). amzn.to/3F3825i Jon Wiener, _Conspiracy in the Streets: The Extraordinary Trial of the Chicago Seven_ (New York: New Press, 2006). amzn.to/3rz4Gnr Compilation of sources on trial: famous-trials.com/chicago8/1366-home

@veronicaharris8541 7 ай бұрын

George Wallace, not William Wallace

@palmercolson7037 7 ай бұрын

i noticed that too. Pretty spry for a man who had been dead for 663 years if it was William Wallace.

@beejls 7 ай бұрын

I'm wondering if if Sorkin would respond if you asked him about some of these changes.

@nehukybis 7 ай бұрын

I LOVED the 1987 movie! When I heard Netflix was doing a Chicago 7 movie I wondered why they would bother when the perfect C7 movie already existed.

@discdoggie 7 ай бұрын

i come for King Richard, and stay for His Royal Highness. Anything else is just a bonus

@nyuzotturunk 4 күн бұрын

I saying this with a lot of respect, because I usually really enjoy your videos: I've never disagreed with you more about a movie than I do it now. I consider this movie as one of Sorkin's best works, and the changes as dramaturgically correct decisions to strengthen the themes of the film. The only exception is the fictitious lady FBI agent, adding her was really over the top... but even she has a purpose: to make Rubin a character of the movie in his own right, and not just as a sidekick tp Hoffman. But there would certainly have been a better solution for this. Anyway, keep up the good work!

@KarlT1999 5 ай бұрын

Can you cover Hammarskjöld (2023)?

@markcarey67 7 ай бұрын

At least the movie was entertaining. My least favourite historical/biographical movie is still "A Beautiful Mind" - the real story of John Nash was way more interesting than the childish nonsense they put on screen - I really don't get why if the real story is profoundly and intrinsically interesting they don't just tell that - Aaron Sorkin also did this with the Facebook story where he made a bunch of shit up where it would have been better to just tell the actual story.

@jurtra9090 7 ай бұрын

Anyone here wants to see Cypher reviewing Bat 21?

@tomhalla426 7 ай бұрын

It was incitement to riot, but the rioters were largely the Chicago police. However, this was a cynical tactic by the defendants, who were operating on the slogan “Demand the Impossible”.

@emmisysquire9684 7 ай бұрын

additional note on friction between Tom and Abbie. It was an addition that makes perfect sense. You put two leftists in a room together, and they will start an argument about philosophy in 5 minutes, can confirm