It was the summer of 1971 when the leak of top-secret US government documents occurred, sending the President of the United States and the rest of the nation into two different types of outrage. A Washington insider had decided the horrific truth was too much to hide before finally blowing the whistle and feeding The New York Times and other well-known newspapers classified information detailing a massive government cover-up that spanned three presidencies. The commander-in-chief refused to let such damaging information be released on his watch without a fight. After publishing just three articles, President Nixon silenced the nation’s leading news organization using a federal injunction through the attorney general. The Times was banned from writing about the papers again until they first faced the Supreme Court. The New York Times may have been beaten, but what about the rest of the nation’s free press? How could they still write about the truth in the face of such a large and relentless opponent?
This is the inciting incident of Steven Spielberg’s latest movie, The Post. The historical drama follows the staff behind the then small up and coming newspaper, The Washington Post, as it wrestles with whether or not to publish the truth revealed about Vietnam in the documents leaked by Daniel Ellsberg(Matthew Rhys) that would eventually become known as the Pentagon Papers. When the documents arrive at The Washington Post, the newspaper’s executive editor, Ben Bradlee(Tom Hanks) must persuade his Publisher, Kay Grahm(Meryl Streep), to run the stories in order to inform the nation and hold the president accountable to preserve the freedom of the press. Armed with a team of all-star reporters (and the who’s who of primetime television stars) including Ben Bagdikian(Bob Odenkirk), Meg Greenfield(Carrie Coon), and Howard Simons (David Cross) among others, Bradlee must make a case to publish the story before the courts rule against the right of newspapers to publish government documents.
The Post may be set more than four decades ago, but the story, issues, and conversations the film is dealing with feel like they’ve been ripped straight from the 2017 newswire.
Steven Speilberg is one of the most iconic directors of our time and I’m happy to report that his work on The Post demonstrates that he’s as powerful as he’s ever been in his post-2000 career. In a film that could have become obsessed with its cause or bogged down in the timely message, Speilberg uses his cast and writer/producer Liz Hannah‘s script to humanize the day-to-day challenges of publishing such a risky story accurately.
This isn’t just a film with strong convictions about the role of the press in America, but also a story demonstrating the critical role women have played in shaping the course of recent history. Meryl Streep brings a silent strength to Kay Grahm, the paper’s publisher who is often overlooked or talked down to. She sits on a team of men who often overlook or disregard her opinions, but when she’s given the opportunity, she makes the decisions that fearful men would not in order to live up to her convictions that would change the country. Other outstanding actresses include television superstars Carrie Coon and Alison Brie who play smaller key roles.
The film has fewer Spielbergisms than something like War Horse, but several of his signature quirks including long gaping stares at the camera and heavy-handed delivery of the film’s themes are present. Normally, the hamfisted messaging would be a detractor, but in a year when subtlety seems to be a lost art form and the pointed message is so timely, the straightforward delivery plays more like a razor-sharp critique of the current administration’s relationship with news organizations.
The Post may not be the best movie of 2017 and it isn’t even my favorite, but in the year of 2017 where we have witnessed repeated direct attacks on news publications and an erosion of truth in the public right before our eyes, this film is absolutely the most important studio film of 2017 and a must-see for audiences everywhere.
The Post opens in limited release on December 22 and will go wide on January 12, 2018.
RECOMMENDATION: Watch the movie at full price.
PAIR WITH: Spotlight. Munich. Bridge of Spies. Good Night, and Good Luck.
Read my spoiler-filled analysis below
The Post declares vigilant journalism and news reporting as society’s keepers of truth in the face of “fake news”
In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government’s power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.
– JUSTICE HUGO BLACK
In one of his Hollywood Reporter interviews discussing The Post, Steven Spielberg claims he would only make this movie if he could make it this year in fear that the message would lose impact if he waited longer. The Post was put together almost instantly as film production goes. Spielberg didn’t read the script until at least February of 2017 and principal photography started on May 30th. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the filmmaking process, nine months is a nearly unheard of turnaround time. With the movie being almost completely put together in 2017, it could be considered one of the first true Trump-era films. In The Post, Spielberg believes that underneath the media noise, the political scandals, and the online echo chambers, there is a truth worth standing up for. He also believes the institutions tasked with protecting and upholding the truth are under attack and being delegitimized by “fake news.”
Spielberg argues that truth-seeking journalism is one of the pillars of free society that should never be silenced no matter the opinions of those in power. Between over-sensationalized headlines, a President who instinctually changes his story as easily as breathing, and social media algorithms that only perpetuate the news that reinforces the users’ existing worldviews, it seems like the truth is under assaulted by a megaton wrecking-ball from all sides.
Honest formally trained journalism and reporting have been replaced by “fake news” peddled by bloggers, political commentators, and yes, even Youtubers who pander to a specific type of audience in order to generate clicks and easy ad-revenue. Oftentimes, this means these personalities or websites create or sensationalize unverified or incomplete reports in order to get a story that will drive buzz and interest in their monetized content. There is little to no vetting, sourcing or research done on many of these stories beyond getting the basic details straight enough to discuss with three other floating heads on the internet or most popular 24-hour news network. That’s is not journalism. That’s capitalism.
The Post portrays journalists as truth-seekers working together around the clock to find the important stories under every rock. Newspapers are not monolithic entities fueled purely by self-interests to create propaganda, but rather they are organizations made up of public servants who work vigilantly to see that the facts are reported. Journalists mine for the true stories we all need every single day. Whether it’s Bob Odenkirk’s Ben Bagdikian, the reporter investigating a private source, Carrie Coon’s Meg Greenfield, an editorial writer confirming facts with verified reports, or Tom Hanks’ Ben Bradlee, the editor-in-chief who fights with the bureaucrats on the board to publish the most important stories–The Washington Post is made up of people who live to see truth reported as soundly as possible every single day.
Somewhere in the shift into the post-2000 information age, this respect for truth-seekers has been lost in favor of something more jaded and scandalous. If we don’t like the verified news reported by the journalists, we can choose to actively ignore it in favor of an alternate truth that more closely aligns with our own worldviews somewhere else, even if that news is not reported by professionally trained journalists or sourced through strict processes. And in 2017, it seems the differing narratives residing in this country due to different types of news we consume has come to a head as the nation wrestles with what reality to choose.
Steven Spielberg uses the history of the 1971 leak of the Pentagon Papers to reveal that the real truth isn’t always easy, but in order to stand strong and free in the face of tyranny, it is imperative if we want to live in a democracy built on truths, not conspiracy theories or the President’s PR team.
