Posted on 04/10/2018 8:54:29 AM PDT by nikos1121
Me: Ted. Thank you for coming back from the dead for this interview. I had the opportunity to see a premiere showing of Chappaquiddick last week. Let me say that the guy who played you did a great job. He looked really marvelous, even though we got to see a rather snarly side of you. Bruce Dern played your Dad, Joe and frankly scared the heebie jeebies out of the audience with his cataplectic stare. But I digress. Again, thank you for coming out for the interview.
Ted Kennedy: Actually, the pleasure is all mine. I was glad to finally get out of my coffin and stretch my legs a bit.
Me: My first question is kinda of obvious. Why did you leave the party with Mary Jo?
TK: Well, like I’ve said many times. Mary Jo wanted to get back to her hotel, and I agreed to drive her. The last ferry leaves at 12 midnight.
Me: What time did you leave the party?
TK: Around 11:30.
Me: So, you were cutting it rather close?
TK: Not really. Takes about 5 minutes to get to the ferry from the house we were at. Anyway, instead of turning left to the ferry, I turns right down the road that leads to Dyke’s bridge, and I missed the little angle to the left before you get on the bridge, and I went heeve ho over the right side into the brink.
Me: Now come on, Man. You can tell the truth now, esp after this movie came out. I’m giving you a chance to set the record straight. In fact, I could never understand why you didn’t tell the truth in the first place.
TK: I’m telling you the truth now.
Me: Aw Come ON, Man! First off, how about the fact that Deputy Sheriff Look says he saw your car parked around 12:40AM. He thought you were in trouble so he gets out of his car and walks towards you, and you speed off, I mean you burn rubber. He remembers seeing an “L7 at the beginning of your license plate, and a “7” at the end. Since he was getting off work, he went home.
TK: I think he was mistaking my car with a white Valiant. My cousin Joe "the Gofer" Gargan and Paul Markham, were driving back to the bridge with me to try and save Mary Jo.
Me: Aw COME ON, Man! He said he could tell the difference between a black and a white car. Ok, let’s move on. You’re familiar with the island, especially that bridge, right? You even drove to the beach earlier that day, right?
TK: Yeah, I’m familiar.
Me: So, how in the heck did you go right instead of left?
TK: (sarcastically) I wanted to show Mary Jo the beach before I took her home. Don’t know why, I just did it.
Me: By the way, Mary Jo left her purse and hotel keys at the house party. If she were going back to the hotel with you, why would she leave those things?
TK: Don’t know.
Me: Aww, come on, Man.
Interview Over
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chappaquiddick/
I welcome to hear any comments from those on this forum who have seen the movie.
Saw it in ‘Dead’ Kennedy country, metro-west MA.
Overheard comment at the end: “... well, obviously the Republicans had a hand in making this movie.”
‘Dead’ wasn’t in the car once it was in the vicinity of the bridge. I suspect the movie folks believe this as well - they never show him inside the car after it speeds to the bridge area.
I noticed that too. You have no idea how he got out. The doors to the Olds are locked from the inside and Gargon and Markham, if they were actually there, couldn’t open the doors.
Brian Allen who was involved with the production of the movie, I think is an independent. I can’t believe, even in MA, that there are people who believe the Kennedy version.
What did you think of Dern’s portrayal?
Kennedy, is dead. I lived through the Kennedys, I lived through Chappaquiddick, and I’m sick of the Kennedys. Then along comes this movie and the gushing adulation begins anew by the libs.
They were all crooks.
I saw the movie last Friday. Very riveting and extremely well done. And fair. The story was mostly based on known facts. Brought back lots of memories from the Apollo 11 lunar mission.
Did you see the movie?
I couldn’t care less about seeing the movie.
I agree. You get the impression that Kennedy agonized about it, and wanted to do the right thing, esp with Joe Gargon trying to help him. Then he gets steam rolled by his father and the Democratic machine with McNamara and Sorenson etc all brought in by his Dad.
Did not know that little detail...
Ted... “How’s the water down there Mary-Joe?”
Yep, the way the movie depicted, multiple times across various scenes, feeble attempts to open the car door - all the while NOT showing how the diver eventually did get in, makes it clear in my mind that the makers wanted to convey, not explicitly, but implicitly, that Dead was not in the car at the end. Did not previously know about the doors possibly being locked from the inside - just presumed that water pressure and/or twisted door jambs prevented doors from opening.
Do not know enough about the dad, to think much one way or another about Dern’s role playing Joe. Seemed good to me, how about you? Nice slap! I noticed they only showed Dead’s face, and not how a struggling crippled man could do it with such force. Very poignant.
“Teddy, I think I’m pregnant”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, Mary Jo”
Dern is great. I think he says “Alibi” twice. Then the slap.
I’ve read a couple books and watched several Doc and interviews of the diver and other investigators.
The passenger side window was shattered, so suspect that’s how the diver got in. I’ve read that all the doors were locked. That’s scary. Would the electrical system still be working underwater, if so, maybe Mary Jo tried to open the doors and couldn’t. Pitch black. Scary esp if she were down there for more than an hour.
The trunk was completely empty, and full of air when the car was brought out.
The one investigator from a rather lengthy documentary was convincing regarding how very difficult it is to get out of submerged car, in daylight when it’s right side up.
He said, turned over and in the dark would be virtually impossible for anyone other than someone in scuba and seasoned.
He also said in investigating countless crashes into water, the passenger would bare the brunt of injuries. Mary Joe had not a scratch on her, not a bruise, no broken nails. She was .09% alcohol, so she was pretty buzzed.
In short, a lot of investigators have said Kennedy was not driving. So, if true why would he say he was driving?
1. He had passed out drunk, and the last thing he remembered he was driving.
2. He decided that it was better to say he was driving to avoid a lot of questions.
I think he took a dingy back to the hotel, just like it’s depicted in the movie.
Did he go back to the party and solicit help of Joe Gargon and Markham? I don’t know. Those two are convincing in the movie. It’s almost impossible to get three people to lie. Gargon was basically disowned by the Kennedy’s and never spoken to again, so I suspect Kennedy did go back to the party, smashed on his butt. I think he probably had no recollection of anything.
Who knows?
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