JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass reiterates that the “System,” which comprises the legislature, executive, and the judiciary, is in itself a powerful cobweb. One has to become a part of the system to change the system. The assassination of John F. Kennedy was a perfect example of how things can go wrong if one doesn’t play his or her cards with a lot of circumspection.
The documentary directed by Oliver Stone provides insight into the declassified research work and documents of the Warren Committee that was set up to investigate the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The documentary is based on the book written by James DiEugenio, Destiny Betrayed: JFK, Cuba and the Garrison Case.
Looking Through The Glass
“Not merely peace in our time, but peace for all time,” said John F. Kennedy while calling out to all the nations to abandon their nuclear strategies for the cause of peace. The speech given by the President at the American University, Washington, didn’t go very well with the other branches of the administration. The CIA was trying to control the Cuban civil war situation and turn the events around in their favor. It meant going against the Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castor, who brought the first communist government into the west. At the same time, there was a cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Considering the political warfare and strife to stabilize their situation as a superpower, peace was the last thing that the power brokers would have wanted.
On the fateful day of 22nd November 1963, while traveling in a motorcade in Dallas, the President was shot. He was taken to Parkland hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The Warren Committee and Its Findings
A man named Lee Harvey Oswald was taken into custody as the prime suspect of the assassination. It was speculated that three shots were fired from a rifle owned by Oswald, but before he could be prosecuted, he was shot dead by a man named Jack Ruby.
Under the Chairmanship of Earl Warren, the Warren committee was established to investigate the missing links and whether or not Oswald was the main culprit. The documents and the findings were kept classified for the longest time. When the documents were made public, there was a big revelation. Most of the evidence and medical reports like the autopsy seemed improbable and phony. It felt like they had been carefully reworded to ensure that Oswald seemed like the murderer in all probability.
The chain of custody of the most important piece of evidence, i.e., the bullet, showed some anomaly that was enough to prove that someone was not saying the truth. The bullet was significantly in good shape, whereas when it was tested, the tip of the bullet always showed indentation. The exit wound that was shown in the autopsy of the President’s body was later examined to be the Entry wound.
The one bullet theory proposed by the Warren Committee, in which one single bullet entered inside the body of two people, was also later discredited. The doctors of the Parkland hospital kept changing their statements which led to a lot of discrepancies. Later it was also found that Oswald did have some association with government agencies like the CIA and was, in fact, working for them. The mystery around the assassination grew darker with every passing decade, and till now, there is no credible theory about the circumstances or the conspirators involved in the crime.
What does the ‘JFK Revisited’ Documentary Try to Say?
Documentary JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass is quite heavily decked up with facts, figures, and scientific analysis. All of them together point towards just one fact that the assassination was not one person’s doing. It was speculated that it was a conspiracy involving many highly placed officials and power brokers who didn’t want the “peace strategy” that was envisioned by the President. There could have been multiple other reasons, too, but nothing could be said for certain.
The evidence and facts prove how careless the planning of the conspirators had been, and yet they got away with it. Everything points to a hidden agenda that might have benefited many people in the position of power. What was more disheartening was the newspapers and big media houses credited the narrative put forward by the Warren Committee even once questioning the scientific relevance of the theories purported.
President Kennedy addressed the nation from the white house pertaining to the issue of civil rights and liberties of black Americans. It is said to be the most moving and impacting address of all time. He advocated for the rights for the equal rights of the citizens of his country and said that a hundred years of delay had passed since Lincoln freed the people from slavery. Despite all that effort, the successors of those who were oppressed are not fully free. The words sound true and relevant even today.
It is a thoroughly researched documentary that shouldn’t be missed.
JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass is a 2021 Documentary that investigates investigate the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It is directed by Oliver Stone.
