Andrew Payne
Virtual JFK portrays a leader less ordinary
How will they prevent John F. Kennedy’s death? Jam the assassin’s gun? Make absolutely everyone in the U.S. non-violent? Or, perhaps, Kennedy simply decides that convertibles are much too much of a threat to well-groomed presidential hair.
Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived suggests that scenes like this are inevitable. But they aren’t. The film that was actually made is very different than the one the title alludes to.
Instead of focusing on a fantastical what-if scenario, the majority of Virtual JFK focuses on a reality-based what-happened scenario. The documentary does briefly speculate about a world if Kennedy were still alive, but mostly lays a solid foundation for the audience to fill in the blanks.
Watching the film is like attending a captivating multimedia lecture led by Watson Institute professor James G. Blight. Viewers get to see Blight’s face throughout the film as he reminds us he’s not just an opinionless, disembodied narrator. At one point he states, “It makes a big difference who we elect as president in matters of war and peace.”
Charmingly deteriorated archival footage and sound recordings are pieced together to show how Kennedy resisted escalating conflict six times, despite peer pressure to go to war. In both press conferences and private meetings with advisors he repeatedly deflects allegations he’s a weak leader for withdrawing from conflict.
“[Kennedy] cared about what his allies thought,” says director Koji Masutani. “He tried
to manage relationships instead of trying to win or lose wars. He liked to explain his policies and international problems rather than push them away into dark clouds.”
Virtual JFK shows how lives and cultures can be spared by the diplomatic personality of just one person.
Shortly before he was assassinated, Kennedy had decided to begin withdrawing the 16,000 military advisors stationed in Vietnam. His successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, reversed the decision, deployed 500,000 troops and created most of the infamous mess that we know today.
And even though Kennedy ends up looking quite witty and likable by the end of the film, Masutani insists that JFK did that all by himself. “I didn’t necessarily approach the production of this documentary trying to glorify him or vilify him,” he says.
However, if a politically apathetic viewer happens to wander into the theatre for some unknown reason, their idea that all politicians are the same will be severely challenged.
Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived
@ Mayfair Theatre
Feb. 27 to March 2