Thursday, April 02, 2015

All the President's Men wins Washingtonian's bracket; SOC professor has some choice words

In February, we reported on the Washingtonian's bracket to determine the most "DC" movie of all time. Much to our sadness, the Mr. T-starring DC Cab did not win, but top honors went to the classic Watergate drama All the President's Men. AtPM beat out lobbyist ode Thank You for Smoking for the top prize, also knocking out presidential dramas Lincoln and The American President along the way.

Not everyone is happy with the top choice though, especially not SOC professor W. Joseph Campbell. Professor Campbell's objects that the film glossed over the many other forces in Washington that contributed to the unraveling of Nixon's presidency, including criminal investigators and the courts. Dubious mythmaking aside, we love the movie (sorry Professor), but we agree that in the spirit of the competition, it doesn't do service to the other institutions in DC.

Professor Campbell suggests the Nixon parody comedy Dick as an alternative winner, but of the other choices on the bracket. We might have also gone for Burn After Reading, if only for actually shooting at Constitution Gardens.

1 comment:

Chris Lewis said...

Also quoted in the Washingtonian article about AtPM is AU emeritus professor Frank Turaj from a review of the movie when it was released in 1976.