The Zapruder film was very shocking and graphic I had never seen it before nor did I know that a film of the Kennedy assassination even existed. The most graphic and heart wrenching event in the film is not the president himself being shot, but when the first lady leaps onto the back of the car reaching for a piece of his heading that has been blown off from the gunshot. Seeing this and her desperation was very sad. It was almost as if in that moment she thought that putting that piece of him back would save him, would keep him alive. This makes you want to cry and you have such sympathy for her in her desperate act.
I would also like to say that in seeing the film it does appear that the president was shot from behind and not from in front of him. The bullet appears to enter the back of his head rather than the front and it is difficult to see in which direction it actually exists.
Also interesting to see the number of shots. Before reading Libra and seeing the video I had always assumed that JFK had been killed with one direct shot to the head. But seeing the video you can see that he was shot 2 or 3 times. He leans over the first time he is shot and you can see concern on the face of the first lady, and some pain is somewhat visible on his face.
The film was shocking over all, and the fact that people could be more concerned about the conspiracy around the shooting and not the emotions and sadness is disturbing. You would really have to be an emotionless person to sit and watch and study that video over and over for hours upon hours.
Well, if it had been released to the public the day after the assassination, the response would no doubt have been emotional. (If an event like this happened today, there'd be cell-phone footage looping on CNN within five minutes.) But keep in mind that the existence of this footage was rumored for years, only the official investigators had access to it, the questions had been raised about the possibility of a wider conspiracy--so when people finally were able to view it for themselves, the emotional response to the assassination (which was enormous) had largely dissipated, and instead it entered American popular discourse in the midst of doubts and questions and deep suspicion of the official narrative.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree--it's both compelling and beguiling as a historical artifact AND a deeply disturbing and even grotesque series of images.