Why Hollywood Can’t Get Enough Of Watergate

Watergate is a scandal that has been resonating with Hollywood studios and journalists.

Deception! Intrigue! The White House is in crisis mode

It’s no wonder Hollywood created memorable films tied to the scandal over the years, notably “All the President’s Men,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Nixon,” Even better! “Forrest Gump.” How could this industry resist?

Except Hollywood can’t quit Watergate, even if audiences may be tiring of the subject. Last year, we saw a star-studded recreation of the GOP crisis, and we’ll soon see another high-profile series based on Nixon’s downfall.

It’s hardly a secret why Hollywood keeps cranking out Watergate-related stories. The media loves taking shots at Republicans.

Watergate It is too scandalous to be left in the past.

This era is a reminder of a time when journalists pursued truth relentlessly and held the powerful accountable. Unfortunately, this is not possible if a Republican is elected to the Oval Office at the 21st Century.

And let’s not forget how Hollywood liberals lionize reporters any chance they get.

Watergate refers both to the D.C. hotel where Nixon’s minions broke into the Democrat National Committee’s headquarters and the machinations behind it and the cover up.

The last few years have seen major films tied to President Richard M. Nixon’s undoing. The 2017 drama featured Liam Neeson as Deep Throat. “Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House.”

The film was released in the midst of the awards season but was quickly ignored by Hollywood voters. The film received little respect from critics and the masses.

In the same year, Tom Hanks & Meryl Streep joined forces for “The Post.” The film took a loving look at both The Washington Post and its reporters’ efforts to publish the Pentagon Papers. President Nixon anchors the film’s waning moments as The Post investigated a curious burglary at the Watergate hotel.

Watergate was also a popular topic for documentarians.

The 2022 film “The Martha Mitchell Effect” (40 minutes) The wife of the U.S. Attorney General tried to warn the public about the nefarious acts within the Nixon White House. Some within Nixon’s inner circle tried to dismiss the charges by alleging Martha Mitchell suffered from mental health woes, but the facts eventually proved her right.

Paramount+ and CBS teamed up last year to bring you Last Year’s Special. “Watergate: High Crimes in the White House.” The documentary, released 50 years after the initial burglary, looked at how a seemingly minor crime ballooned into a crisis that ended Nixon’s presidency.

CNN also produced a docuseries titled “Anniversary” in response to the occasion. “Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal,” John Dean, an ex-White House counsel to Nixon, is the narrator.

However, not all Watergate-themed projects attract a crowd. “Mark Felt” Earned $768,946 in U.S. theaters and Starz series “Gaslit” Pop culture zeitgeist almost ignored them.

That 2022 series boasted two Oscar winners – Sean Penn and Julia Roberts – plus stories that allegedly got less attention during the 1970s. Martha Mitchell (Roberts), and her efforts to expose White House malfeasance were part of the limited series.

This year, Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux team for HBO’s “White House Plumbers,” Partly based upon the book “Integrity” by Egil “Bud” Krogh and Matthew Krogh “Plumbers” explore how Nixon’s saboteur dream team — Harrelson as E. Howard Hunt and Theroux as G. Gordon Liddy — ended up doing more damage to the cause than good.

Frank Rich, liberal writer, co-produced the project. The film focuses on both the humor and the technical details of the initial theft.

The drip-drip-drip Hollywood projects are based on Watergate? The industry knows the soft power of storytelling and applies it to all aspects of its creative work. It’s why we see a similar onslaught of stories based on the 1950s blacklist era.

That historical chapter showed the GOP’s cartoonish overreach, plus it paints Hollywood figures like screenwriter Dalton Trumbo in heroic fashion. 

Hollywood isn’t done with the Blacklist era, either.

This year, we’ll see “McCarthy,” Michael Shannon has written a feature-length biography about the senator who was hardworking.

Additionally, artists can use these films and TV programs to not only explore history but also use it as a tool against their ideologies. The film’s direcTor, Václav Marhoul, made “McCarthy” to draw parallels between the senator and modern politicians.

“These people are very dangerous. And I realized this when I watched the news in January and saw Donald Trump and his call for the Capitol attack. But it’s not just about Trump. Over the past decade in Europe and all over the world, there are so many Joe McCarthys. For instance in Brazil it’s Bolsonaro, in England, it’s Johnson. It’s about populism,” Marhoul stated.

Journalists will encourage stars to make statements that support one party or another.

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