1. Speaking of Sacha Baron Cohen, I'll confess that I was partly wrong in anticipating the worst from Sorkin's Chicago 7 movie (where Cohen plays Abbie Hoffman). I thought Sorkin's earnest liberalism would completely miss the anarchic spirit of 1960s.
2. Sorkin is the most 1990s sensibility imaginable, a real distillation of a kind of Clintonian politics that idealizes elite comity. The Chicago 7 trial was the most 1960s event possible -- a moment where the revolt against racism & imperialism destroyed comity.
3. But it's that tension between Sorkin's politics and the politics of the Chicago 7 defendants (not to mention Bobby Seale) that makes the movie worth watching. It's interesting to see how Sorking grapples with the gap & tries to do justice to people who give him the willies
4. Having said that, the main way Sorkin deals with 1960s radicals is to sanitize and Sorkinism them. The Yippies come off as scruffy Democratic operatives with long hair and everyone talks with that blustery Sorkin voice.
5. As I've said before, the most striking thing is the actual court transcripts of Chicgo 7 trial are much, much funnier than Sorkin's script. Actual trial was close to Marx Brothers, Sorkin turned it into 12 Angry men. Here's a sample.
https://twitter.com/DilettanteryPod/status/1318792997643808770
6. In real life, Abbie Hoffman did a lot of trolling by attacking his namesake Judge Julius Hoffman. Abbie said the judge was “Shande fur de Goyim" which he hilariously translated as “front man for the WASP power elite.” Imagine not using that.
7. Some more thoughts on The Trial of the Chicago 7, which is pretty decent as entertainment but not good history. thenation.com/article/cultur…
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