Media Reviews

 

            The professional historical journals sometimes review films that are regarded as "educational," but they seldom review motion pictures that are intended for general release. An exception was made in the case of Oliver Stone's movie, JFK, which was the subject of a "Forum" in the Journal of American History 79 (December 1992): 1262-68. The June 1993 issue of JAH carried letters to the editor in response to the forum.

Use the JSTOR (http://www.sjlibrary.org/research/databases/index.htm) database to locate the articles cited above.

 

 

            For this exercise, I would like you to read the material in the Journal of American History, and then I would like you to find at least three reviews of the film in the popular press. Write a two-page essay in which you compare the professional historians' reviews of the film with those of the reviewers of the popular magazines. Also, answer this question: Did the reviewers in the popular magazines agree with the historians' reviews in the December issue, or with the critics whose letters appeared the following June?

 

            If you have seen the motion picture, you may express your own opinions on the movie.