Chappaquiddick

Ted Kennedy and his memory even today is idolized by various women's groups. This movie shows the truth for those of us who remember his abandonment of Mary Jo and let her die a slow, agonizing death in the car he crashed. And then his contradictory stories in the cover up. The powerful family even reached into the court system to block exhumation of Mary Jo's body, thus helping the extensive coverup. This is a real story about real people and until this movie, the media protected Teddy and his powerful family. More people should see this, the truth should be out there. And Ted Kennedy should not be idolized. He should have faced a jury on manslaughter charges.

The movie is well made, moves a little slowly but is compelling due to it's subject. The actors do a superb job. Even Ed Helms and Jim Gaffigan manage to make you forget who they are.

Kennedy and his handlers do not come off well, of course. It's a not a documentary and I do not trust Hollywood or the media to portray anyone historical character completely accurately.

For me, there are 2 take aways from the movie:

1. This was a sincere young lady whose life was cut much too short. It was difficult for me to watch her on screen knowing what was about to happen to her. She deserved better. Sadly, she is a footnote in history. We should refer to it as the Mary Jo Kopechne scandal, not Chappaquidick.

2. The end of the film featured "person on the street" interviews from 1969. It was amazing to listen to the ones who dismissed his short-comings and continued to support him. Seeing those interviews in the Trump era makes for an interesting perspective. Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton or Donald Trump, the American voter on both sides of the aisle will look past a man's sins if they think that person will advance their political agenda. The opposite is also true: People will mercilessly and unflinchingly condemn a person for his shortcomings if they don't agree politically. This was true during the 2016 election cycle. It was never about Hillary or Trump's demons, it was always politics. Until that is understood, people will never get why Trump has support.

The biggest unanswered question for me is: how did Kennedy get out of the car. If the doors were jammed shut and the windows unbroken, which kept anyone from getting Mary Jo out of the car, then how did he get out?

I really cant say much for the movie. but there is a very good pod cast with the sherif that showed up on the seen..what really bothers me is if you look into the whole story... if you or i would have done something like this we would be in jail...just sad that the power and elites get away with it all the time..

For those that grew up with the Kennedys, and anyone that didn't (ie, everyone) this story needs to be told. I think the movie was done well - acting and production - but that is not the purpose of the movie.

I knew a lot of what happened from reading over the years. But - this was an amazing portrayal, and accessible to the story for those less interested in politics.

The bottom line? At least Ted, (and if you know the history - his father) were very compromised people. They would, in the end, do anything for power no matter who got in their way. (And as the movie shows, there were always people that would work for them, or vote for them, and dismiss the truth that they knew about them.) From all things that have come out - John and Bobby had great similarities (especially with women).

I hope younger people look at this. Ted's faults were his own demons to a great degree - and these were portrayed very well. I would say what we have seen in the last few years is even more damaging to us, and more corrupt. And - if it takes a movie just to say - that people in politics ARE that dirty and DO lie that much - it will be useful for our country.

Nuff said.

Growing up in the 60's, and a fan of JFK, I recall reading about this event as an unfortunate driving accident involving Kennedy's younger brother Ted and his secretary Mary Jo, who had been drinking at a party, and were probably having an affair. Seeing this movie, I can't help but think it should have been made a long time ago, as so much is revealed about what really happened. But, I still think this is an important film for my generation and younger people who tend to hero worship without uncovering the tragic flaws. It's also a dramatic eye-opener about the political machinations used to retain power. The actors are good, the story is compelling, but more time spent on Ted before and after would have made it better. And I came away sad about Mary Jo and her family in view of her dedication to a worthy cause.