HIGHLY recommended

[Highway61]

Yesterday afternoon it was snowing and we all hankered down for an afternoon movie. We watched 'The U.S. vs. John Lennon'. It is about the U.S. government’s persecution of Lennon.
For the following two hours we watched and were mesmerized. It seemed like a lifetime ago and yet it felt like it all happened just yesterday. We laughed, we were horrified and we cried.
It truly is an eye opener to see how the media has deteriorated in such a very short period of time.
Back then, they covered everything.... good and bad. Certainly not cherry picked as it is today.

Lennon was an activist right down to his very soul. His only agenda...peace and love. (Horrors...we can't have that!)

As Gore Vidal stated “Lennon singing ‘Give Peace a Chance’ is a frightening voice for people who want to hear ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’ over and over again.”

The documentary will take you on a roller coaster ride through a very rocky time in history. I lived through it all and didn't recall how Strom Thurmond (the old bastard) was the one person responsible for attempting to get Lennon deported.
Of course, after a long battle Lennon won his right to stay. When asked if he could forgive the political wing nuts that put him in this position
he stated, "Time wounds all heels"...classic Lennon.

We found ourselves high fiving each other when Gore Vidal said that Lennon sang about love and peace and “represented life, and that is admirable.” “And Mr. Nixon, and Mr. Bush, represent death. And that is a bad thing.”

Change CAN happen through peace and nonviolent methods and we must never lose that vision. Lennon may be gone but his voice is still with us through his music... 'War Is Over' is just a popular as 'White Christmas' during the holidays.
I urge anyone who hasn't seen this movie to go and rent it.
It will make you proud, I promise.

[H2O Man]

1. Nominated!

Oh, it's a great movie. It's fun to watch, and it's extremely important for today.

[Highway61]

3. Thanks

especially for younger DUer's who can see what the media was like then and now.

[mdmc]

2. r

thanks for posting

[Highway61]

4. your welcome...n/t

[mmonk]

5. I went to a Rain concert this weekend.(Rain is a major Beatles tribute band)

Everybody was on their feet during the singing of Give Peace a Chance swaying, singing, and holding up the peace sign. It was deja vu and chills.

[Highway61]

6. Wow

where was that playing if I may ask and do they tour different cities?

[mmonk]

7. Raleigh, NC. Yes, they tour.

Here is their website:
http://www.rainthebeatlesexperience.com/

[Highway61]

8. Thanks n/t

[mmonk]

9. Video about them from CBS's Sunday Morning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VSiQ9TawX4

[RFKJrNews]

10. The U.S. vs. John Lennon

...is a WONDERFUL film about a subject that should make us all shake our heads in wonder and even disgust at what our country did to a man who brought so much love and happiness to our shores.

But that's what America does. We build up our heroes and knock `em down.

The whole Lennon deportation affair was so reminiscent of what we did to Charlie Chaplin back in the 1950s (probably not coincidentally, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI was behind that witch-hunt, too)...the man who was once this country's most beloved entertainer and the world's most famous man was accused of being a communist and a moral degenerate. We thumbed our noses at the little tramp and sent him packing.

The case in point being titled "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" says it all. Because "the PEOPLE vs. John Lennon" won't hunt...the PEOPLE would never have tried to kick Lennon out of the country!

[Highway61]

13. whoa

I remember my parents speaking of the charlie Chaplin incident as well as Burl Ives, Arthur Miller, Orson Welles, Lucille Ball and Pete Seeger. The unsubstantiated allegations.... UNAMERICAN behavior and the McCarthy Hearings.

[RufusTFirefly]

11. "It truly is an eye opener to see how the media has deteriorated..."

"...in such a very short period of time."

Yes indeed. One thing I'd forgotten is that Lennon was actually a guest co-host for a week on the Mike Douglas Show and was able to influence the choice of some of the other guests while he was.

Such a setup would be utterly unthinkable today.

Another plus in the movie is the way in which Yoko comes off. For numerous reasons, she's been unfairly demonized in the past. She's excellent in this film, and you can appreciate a great deal of what John must have seen in her.

(Reminds me, oddly enough, of how smart, funny, and likeable the disgraced former California Governor Gray Davis was in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.)


Both are striking illustrations of just how much the media form our perceptions, even for those of us who think we're savvy enough to see through their propaganda.

[Highway61]

15. I have to admit

I was on the band wagon of not liking Ono....however, this movie did open my eyes to seeing a caring/warm side of her. Also, I did NOT know that Sean was born on John's birthday.

[underpants]

12. "How dare he come into OUR COUNTRY and says these things"

that is a loose quote that was said once and seemed to be the emphasis for all of the created public support against Lennon. As per usual it was attack-the-messenger and nothing else.

Yes this is a really fine documentary. I was struck by how Lennon smartly (he discusses this) didn't just get a high profile lawyer to lead up his team (and cost him more money) but went directly to the top immigration guy.

[Highway61]

14. You said it

Lennon indeed was smart...genius of an artist

[intheflow]

16. One of my great joys when I lived in Mississippi was

buying this movie and the Dixie Chicks' "Shut Up And Sing" at the local Barnes and Noble. Made me feel like I was skewing the viewing tastes of the Deep South, so B&N would send down ever more copies.
:evilgrin:

[mmonk]

17. Good work.

[mdmc]

18. kick

:kick:

[rAVES]

19. Great movie alright :)