Bobby Seale was only in Chicago for four hours. He barely had time for lunch. He certainly didn’t stick around to see any riot he might have incited. And yet, those four hours cost months out of his life, for he was packaged by Nixon’s AG in a radical goody bag with the All Stars of LW rhetoric and presented nice-and-neat and ready for court [read: jail], the pre-determined outcome of The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Aside from the facts that Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) wasn’t really there for the DNC and had no plans to do anything other than deliver a speech and leave, his inclusion among the group didn’t even conform in the courtroom – Seale’s lawyer, Charles Garry, wasn’t present as the latter was recovering from gall bladder surgery in Oakland. Judge Julius Hoffman (Frank Langella) refused to listen to Seale’s claim of having no lawyer and made him go without. In addition, Seale –indicted on murder charges in Connecticut shortly beforehand (he was innocent, btw)- was the only member of the “7” to spend his non-courtroom time in jail. It is somehow fitting that even in this kangaroo court, this pointed railroading, this mockery of American justice, the powers that be still found ways to make it worse for the black guy. Welcome to America, where we write about equality and we pretend racism isn’t a thing, but it always is.
In 1968, the United States was still involved in an ugly war in Vietnam. I suppose it’s not like there are “pretty wars,” but this one was particularly unseemly as Shirley you know. One of the details that often gets missed is that this was America’s first televised war. Americans would eat dinner while watching the highlights of the day. The program would end with running credits of the soldiers who lost their lives. I present this as contrary Exhibit A to anyone who tells me (modern) “Reality TV is the worst.” The 1960s gave rise to a number of left-leaning movements in the United States; most wanted an end to the war. Several of the groups were summoned by the spectacle of the DNC in Chicago in August of that year. The groups correctly reasoned that neither party was interested in ending the war in Vietnam, but many millions of Americans, nonetheless, were and these group sought to exploit this feeling at the doorstep of Democrats, who held the presidency at the time.
Disparate doesn’t being to describe the difference between progressive anti-war author/activist Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) and walking acid trip Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), and yet, these two, Bobby Seale, and five others: Rennie Davis (Alex Sharp), Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong), David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch), and two also-rans, John Froines (Danny Flaherty), Lee Weiner (Noah Robbins) “this is like the Oscars of protests. It’s just nice to be nominated” all found themselves as collective co-defendants when AG John Mitchell (John Doman) decided to paint every lefty with the same prison issue.
And right-leaning doesn’t begin to describe Judge Hoffman (no relation; don’t worry, the film makes a big joke of it), who could barely hide his disdain for the defendants or their lawyers. Hoffman issued –if my math is correct –177 counts of criminal contempt of court during the proceedings. Look, if a defendant complains that he’s not being represented and you proceed with the case anyway and then cite him for contempt of court, that’s not only a dick move – that’s an unconstitutional dick move … I assume writer/director Aaron Sorkin drew the contempt of court moments heavily from the actual court transcript (wouldn’t you?)
Like the film says, this is a trial … a political trial, and one cannot help comparing it to Donald Trump’s second impeachment, which I have done here:
The central conflict in the film is not actually between eight men and a bullshit judge, nor between the defendants and the AG’s hand-picked wunderkind prosecutor, Richard Schulz (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), it is between the straight-laced progressivism offered by Tom Hayden v. the f***-the-establishment offered by Abbie Hoffman. This remains the central conflict within all left-of-center voters today: does change come from within or without? Most of us are drawn to Tom Hayden; he’s the rebellious son defying his conservative parents. If the film errs in any form, it is the moment when Hayden attacks Hoffman while predicting –quite correctly- that the easily ridiculed hippie stoner will be the face of lefty politics for the next fifty years. Yes, Hayden was right, but this seemed clearly a screenplay invention like when Billy Zane in Titanic predicts these Picasso doodlings won’t amount to anything.
It is easy to reduce Abbie Hoffman to being a churlish impudent pothead – it’s why this role is critical for the film … and Sacha Baron Cohen nailed it. For all the pointless defiance and free love within Abbie Hoffman, there is a genuinely superior mind capable of understanding and succinctly articulating the plight of powerless. Authoritarians, of course, would much rather deal with Tom the “docile” progressive than Abbie the rabble-rouser, and why not? Tom will listen and forcefully–yet-reverently object while Abbie will both ignore and insult you. Here’s the thing, though, to authoritarians, to white supremacists, to fascists, there is no difference in the overall value between the house slave and the one on the
whipping block. [See: Kaepernick, Colin] Abbie Hoffman understands this perfectly, and whomever portrays him needed to understand it as well.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a classic Aaron Sorkin script – big on politics and personalities. Several standout performances include the understated (Eddie Redmayne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mark Rylance as defense attorney William Kunstler), the depraved (Frank Langella and John Doman), but the performance that sold me was Sacha Baron Cohen as Abbie Hoffman. I would love to see Cohen use this to take meatier roles like Dr. Frank-N-Furter or Joker; I think he’d ace both.
In the 21st century, the GOP has been masterful in skewing the courts to the right. Mitch McConnell blocked all Obama’s nominees and then fast-tracked the Right’s cavalcade of neocons; he even engineered a 6-3 dominant Supreme Court, which is a neat trick as the Court should have gone blue with the death of Antonin Scalia. And, of course, it’s not just a little right of center … the vast majority of judges assigned since W believe corporations should have a political voice. What is the cost? I’ll show you the cost. Watch The Trail of the Chicago 7 – Julius Hoffman would be considered mainstream by today’s American standards. Not rich? Not white? Not male? Politics left-of-fascism? Good luck getting justice; no wonder Trump wanted to push the Big Lie; he had good reason to believe his judges would buy into it, heartless and soulless.
When you get tried for inciting a fury
Here’s a trick to make outcomes blurry
Take it from Trump’s illicit
There’s no secret to acquit
Just make co-conspirators part of the jury
Rated R, 129 Minutes
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
Genre: Sad history
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: SJWs
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: MAGA
