The Martha Mitchell Effect

What a great documentary about one of the more colorful historical figures of our time. I grew up during this era and heard of MM on the news all the time. I heard what the news was fed to report. Seeing interviews with this woman is very refreshing to see just how colorful she really was. She called it from the hip and didn't mince words. She was one of the first if not "the first" to put the Watergate blame where it belonged. The film deals directly with the Watergate incident rather than go into the historicals of MM life.

The documentary is a lot of things: fun, controversial, at times, confounding. One thing it is not: boring. This is a fast 40 minute watch. Make time for it on your schedule.

Nixon said it himself, if it hadn't been for Martha there wouldn't been a Watergate scandal.

She was not an alcoholic. She was not crazy. She simply told the truth.

This could have easily been a full length documentary. It should have been. Would have loved to have known about Martha's childhood. Also, her and her husband's relationship with their child. What was the Mitchell's life like before they went to Washington DC? How did they meet? I have so many questions that weren't addressed. This brief documentary is very well done and a perfectly adequate thumbnail sketch of this pivotal moment in history.

Sometimes Hollywood incorrectly stereotypes the 1970's as a "fun" or "easy" period of time.

Those who lived it or truly study it, however, know that the fun was always mixed with an undercurrent of change and the fight of honor versus dishonor.

It was a very political time.

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Martha Mitchell Effect is the term when a psychiatrist misdiagnoses someone as delusional when the story they tell--though improbable--is true. And so it was with Martha herself.

She was the first Cassandra voice of corruption at the top. The first to question the impact Nixon would have historically.

People who dismiss the time period lightly would do well to respect that many of the roots of political division we have now began in 1972.

At only about 40 minutes running time this was a well done documentary which really told everything you need to know about the heroic loose cannon known as Martha Mitchell.

Lots of quality archival footage, interview segments and photos. If you've seen the film "All The Presidents Men" The Martha Mitchell Effect is a perfect dessert.

There are no spoilers to give since this is more of an historical documentary and we all know what happened with The Watergate scandal. At the time this was all going down, Martha became somewhat of a celebrity and too hot a pistol for Nixon or even her own husband, Attorney General and campaign manager John Mitchell. With Martha making the rounds on the talk show circuit and spilling whatever she had, Martha couldn't shut up and it was great!

It's a shame this documentary wasn't a full-length one that looked at Martha Mitchell's entire life. Instead, it was a very short look at her life in Washington and Watergate. Richard Nixon is seen in an interview saying if not for Martha Mitchell, there would have been no Watergate. The crimes would have not been exposed.

Martha Mitchell was the Mouth of the South. She was not like any of the other Republican wives. She did not censor her comments about anything, but still was much the Republican, except where the Vietnam War was concerned. It wasn't the war, however, that made the Nixon administration try to silence her. It was Watergate.

Not only did they try to silence her, they tried to make her out to be mentally ill. Her own husband, who she had always ferociously protected and supported, is heard on White House tapes saying she needed to be seen by the media as unstable. This wasn't gaslighting, because Martha Mitchell was way too smart to be gaslighted.

It was a campaign to discredit her in the eyes of the world. How it all ends is sad. Sad for everyone, including Martha Mitchell, the one person who would not be silenced. Too bad Martha Mitchell wasn't around to take on Donald Trump. She would not have supported his crimes, stupidity and incompetence for a second.