I watched this documentary, directed and produced by Sam Green, yesterday. My husband and I both agreed that while we remembered the group–and in particular I remembered knowing that some of them had blown themselves up in Greenwich Village–we did not remember how active they had been in bombing various buildings. I suppose it’s a testament to my age–I was 13 when the Vietnam War ended in 1975–but also to the lack of widespread media in the 70s. The news just wasn’t as big a deal as it is now.
The PBS show Independent Lens has an extensive website devoted to the documentary. In an interview frm the site, Green says that he and his co-director, Bill Siegel, tried to give a fair and balanced account of the history. I guess I agree. They did interview a former FBI agent involved in the hunt for the Weathermen. They also included Todd Gitlin, former SDS president, who is clearly negative towards them for taking over his organization. And the members of the group themselves seemed to cover the various points of view. For instance, Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers seem to have little regret for what they did while Mark Rudd discusses feeling ashamed by their actions. I guess I just can’t imagine what it would be like to be them. They are close to 60 years old now, with jobs and families, one of them even went on Jeopardy and won some money. So, what do they tell their grandchildren? “When I was your age, I was at war with the government.”
