Réduite au silence: L'effet Martha Mitchell

A forty minute mini doc. John mitchell was nixon's attorney general, and his most trusted advisor. But mitchell's wife martha was loud and outspoken, to both her own husband, as well as to nixon's policies. She actually was a nixon supporter, but also believed in a strong, free press and transparency. Unfortunately, those were not nixon's strong suits. Discussion of how martha was detained and beaten, by "someone" in nixon's camp, because of her public, vocal opinions. A well done production. Lots of recordings presented, even by nixon himself. As a student of history, I was aware of the watergate hearings, but had not been aware of martha's role in having it exposed. Interesting stuff. Directed by anne alvergue, debra mcclutchy. Martha died of myeloma at age 57. Just two years after nixon resigned. More details at wikipedia dot org. This was nominated for best short documentary.

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.

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.

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.

Depicts the political life in Washington DC during Nixon era from the perspective of a wife of a prominent political figure close to Nixon. As expected for that time she was not taken seriously when she told everyone including the press about the political maneuvers made during the Watergate by the president any the ones close to him and that includes her husband. After Nixon's resignation the press recognizes her as person who spoke the truth to power and later from the Watergate tapes we can find that Nixon feared her and tried to silence her multiple times.