Oswald's Ghost (review)

As we draw nearer to the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, one can easily see that the event still haunts American life. Our collective experience with this event, shaped for nearly four decades in film, media, written work, etc., has managed to pull generations now into this narrative, one that continues to shape us in numerous ways. PBS's American Experience attempts to capture this event's lasting ripples of influence on the United States and the world, through one of the many specters associated with it: Lee Harvey Oswald.

Making significant use of historical footage, audio recordings, contemporary footage of Dealey Plaza, and interviews, the film explores not only the effects of the Kennedy assassination on the nation at the time but also the lasting political and cultural effects on American society, from the shooting and media coverage, through its immediate social and political fallout, to its lasting ramifications, including conspiracy theories, the Jim Garrison debacle, and an extended examination of Oswald.

The film makes its strongest contribution through the on-screen interviews, becoming a wonderful addition to the comprehensive work done on the Kennedy assassination. Included in the film are key cultural figures such as Norman Mailer, Dan Rather, Robert Dallek, Tom Hayden, Todd Gitlin, Gary Hart, and numerous conspiracists, along with others who knew those involved in the story. Their words guide the viewer through the footage with which we are so familiar, along with the myriad interpretations and thoughts on the legacy of the killing, and the killer.

Debate abounds and the voices are many. Stone allows space and a respectful tone for many of the theories put forward. Links to the Mafia, Vietnam, the CIA, Cuba, along with other popular conspiracy theories such as multiple gunmen in the Plaza are all given due time and consideration, showcasing the investments and search for meaning in the horrific events of that November day in 1963, and illustrating that, in the popular consciousness, such an act demands something more than the simplicity of one man's intentions. Yet the specter of Oswald reigns over the proceedings.

In the end, the multitudes of voices are quieted by the matter-of-fact ruminations of Norman Mailer. Mailer, though having sought out a more meaningful answer to the assassination, seemed to have come to a "rational" understanding of Oswald: "That there were conspiracies being contemplated, attempted, even attempted on that day, I am perfectly willing to accept. The conclusions I came to were for me rational ones: because he had a motive for doing it, because he was capable of doing it, because he wanted to do it." Mailer describes Oswald as a man desperate for attention, for a voice, and for a place in history. For Mailer, the ghost of Oswald is part of American life, a maddening force that offers no answers itself.

Whatever the case, though, with no shortage of filmmakers, scholars, and laymen alike adding to the vast library, Robert Stone's Oswald's Ghost provides a concise and masterfully narrated discussion of the legacy of the killing of President Kennedy. Though the voices are far from unified or even close at all to any kind of agreement, a significant narrative is created that seeks to make sense of the myth and the continued search for meaning in the alleged actions of one man, whose voice, though silenced, has indeed found a place in history.