Chappaquiddick Film Takes New Look at Well-Known Story

Vineyard Gazette ^ | Feb 22 2018 | Sara. Brown

[WilliamIII]

A few years ago director John Curran and actor Jason Clarke made a late night trip to the Dike Bridge on Chappaquiddick. The bridge has been rebuilt, but the dirt road, Poucha Pond, and rural landscape haven’t changed much in 49 years since Sen. Ted Kennedy drove his car off the bridge in a late night accident that killed a young woman, Mary Jo Kopechne.

[goldstategop]

Swimmer Kennedy got off with his family connections.

Any one else would have done hard time.

[Eddie01]

“Audiences who have seen the film so far were almost split down the middle between those who thought the movie was too sympathetic to Mr. Kennedy and those who thought it wasn’t sympathetic enough, he said. “It’s amazing how a group of people can see a film like this and have wildly different interpretations.””

puke

[Bobalu]

I think he was likely drunk, scared, and fled the scene.

I can forgive him for that, I cannot forgive him for denying what he was.

He should have fessed up to the act, and removed himself from political life....he was unfit for such duty!

[Jim Noble]

“removed himself from political life....he was unfit for such duty!”

Haven’t met many of these birds, eh?

[silverleaf]

Poor poor Teddy
He was grieving and all... and it was really dark
And terrifying

Now, about whatsername..

[WilliamIII]

I lean toward the theory he was with a married woman, they both escaped the car, and they didn’t know Mary Joe was in the back seat sleeping. That would explain why Ted was rested and happily chatting with residents the next morning, before Mary ajoes body was discovered. He wouldn’t have been so relaxed and normal if he knew a dead girl was about to be found in his car

[neverevergiveup]

“Swimmer Kennedy got off with his family connections. Any one else would have done hard time.”

Not only the family connections, but because he was a Democrat. If it had been a Republican, the media would never have let him survive.

[Vaquero]

Any one else would have stayed and tried to rescue the girl.

He mistakenly thought that he could dummy it up enough to put the blame 100% on her as if he wasn’t even in the car and thus save his presidential ambitions. He was obviously boffing this young woman and had probably impregnated her. So many questions.

[yarddog]

The definitive story of Chappaquiddick has already been written.

“Senatorial Privilege” tells it in detail and it does not look good for Teddy. There were several pictures if the “boiler room girls” and there was only one pretty one, Mary Jo Kopechne. There were a couple of others who were not awful looking but it is obvious why Teddy was with her.

[DugwayDuke]

Bobalu wrote: “I think he was likely drunk, scared, and fled the scene.”

There is a theory Teddy wasn’t even in the car. According to this theory, he and the lady had parked up the road. A local policeman passed by and appeared to be turning around to investigate. Teddy didn’t want to be found with a young woman so Teddy got out off the car and told Mary Joe to drive to town. Teddy walked back to the cabin to get another car. Mary Joe, unfamiliar with the area, drove off the bridge. Teddy didn’t stop at any of the houses, because he didn’t know Mary Joe was in the water.

[Oratam]

Scott Adams’ “one screen, two movies” analogy come to life!

[TexasGator]

“I think he was likely drunk, scared, and fled the scene.

I can forgive him for that”

Are you serious?

[TexasGator]

What is this thread? Teddy apologists abound ...

[WilliamIII]

Some variation of that theory sounds reasonable to me. Why else would he have been nicely dressed and relaxed the next morning, happily chatting with residents, before his car and her body were discovered? He was definitely not acting like someone who knew that his car had a dead girl in it

[Bernard Marx]

“The thing that struck both of us was how incredibly dark it is. There’s no ambient light out there, and you really could imagine late at night, a car going into a pond and being disoriented."

Especially when you're as drunk as Teddy was.

[onedoug]

Too bad he wasn’t the Lion of the Pond.

[sphinx]

“The writers had done a really well-researched job of constructing the narrative based on the facts on hand,” he said. “Obviously we’re creating dialogue and some hybrid characters, but what I didn’t want to do was inject it with our own sensationalistic ideas about what actually went down. The part between him and Mary Jo, nobody knows except those two people. I felt it was important to try to try to tell the most truthful story possible and leave other ideas open to interpretation, if not borne out of fact.”

Let the viewers decide? What could be fairer? Does the film establish the basic parameters of a group of middle aged, married men, sans their wives, gathering for a "reunion" with an equivalent number of single, 20-something young ladies for a booze heavy beach party? A campaign reunion? Funny how none of the young men who toiled on the campaign were invited. Nor were any of the older people on the campaign. Nor did any of the wives come along. That would have been distracting. Clearly this was a "mentoring" session, not a reunion, with a lot of one-on-one mentoring on the agenda.

How much of this does the film give to the viewers?

[sphinx]

I think he was likely drunk, scared, and fled the scene.

He wasn't too drunk to spend the rest of the night with his crew trying to arrange a cover story.

[Radix]

Back around 1964 or so, I actually shook the hand of that Slime. It was during a parade in South Boston. I was very young.

I cannot to this day believe that Ted Kennedy remained in office until the day that he died. It is mind boggling.