One does not need to be interested in world politics in order to know the word “Watergate.” It is enough to be a viewer of American films and series to be aware of most of the details of this famous political scandal that stuck to the name of former President of the United States Richard Nixon, which occurred when a group of his men Under his supervision, he spied on the activities of the rival Democratic Party, which eventually led to his ouster.
There have been many works that dealt with this event between cinema and television despite the fact that 50 years have passed since its occurrence, and here we are now in 2022, and during one television season, two series are shown in which this scandal was a major event, namely “The First Lady” and “The First Lady” Gaslit, the question is why Hollywood doesn't get tired of retelling the same story over and over from every possible angle?
Stories of the women in the Watergate scandal
Hollywood is still researching the Watergate scandal, drawing on new perspectives even as many of its central figures died long ago, many of the infamous aspects of Watergate fade from memory, and many other events emerge during which Washington, D.C. witnessed further abuse of power. It can be said that it has much greater consequences, for example, the war launched by the former president, George Bush Jr., on Iraq, which, in addition to its bloody crimes, resulted in the killing of many American soldiers, which the people have not yet forgiven, but we do not find it representative on The screen has the same momentum and intensity.
Perhaps one of the most important advantages of this story and the reason behind its renewal on the screen is that it is a source of optimism for people who doubt that those in power will escape punishment time and time again. His loss of office brought him all these advantages, and he was the first American president ever to resign in this way.
Likewise, every new work is not only a testament to the era in which its events revolve, i.e. the seventies of the last century, but also to the present in which the work was produced. For example, previous works that dealt with this era focused mainly on men’s participation in this political drama, But in the series "Gassellet" and with the great changes that Hollywood has undergone after the "Me Too" campaign and against the exclusion of women in Hollywood, we find that the story this time starring a woman (Martha Mitchell) in the role of the wife of a veteran politician who decided that she is not just a number in the records of the Republican Party, Rather, she has a voice that must be used to serve her ideas, and she has contributed to changing the history of her country.
Also in the series "The First Lady", the main character affected by this political scandal is Mrs. (Betty Ford), who wanted her husband to retire from politics more than anything else in life, and she was about to achieve this after her husband's term as Vice President ended Nixon, but because of this political crisis and the latter's resignation, without any warning, she becomes the first lady, and instead of the quiet life she wished for herself, she becomes the focus of attention and review from various political and social parties as well.
Focus from outside the Oval Office
What these new film and television projects have in common around the Watergate scandal is their focus on beyond the Oval Office and Nixon personally, as Universal Studios is currently developing a film version of Rachel Maddow's Bag Man podcast that will tell the story of a chapter Another of that era was the scandal that engulfed Vice President Spiro Agnew, who was forced to resign in 1973 after he called for a no-challenging tax evasion charge, which was resolved amid a bribery investigation that took place as the Watergate scandal was unfolding.
The Netflix documentary "The Martha Mitchell Effect" focuses on the wife of the attorney general, later Nixon's campaign chairman, John Mitchell.
She is the same main character in the series "Gassellet / Slow Burn", played by the famous actress Julia Roberts, where in a close period we will see two works about Ms. Mitchell, one of which is fiction and the other is documentary, which indicates the great changes that occurred because of this woman, which he did not meet. light before.
The series presents the relationship of the Mitchell spouses, in which politics enters as a third element that cannot be overlooked. In 1972, Martha gained wide fame, due to her love of gossip with the press, and her multiple appearances on talk shows until she was called “The Mouth of the South,” but she also suffered from psychological problems and addiction. Alcohol, and this character with many contradictions, was a clear threat to the American presidency, because of her closeness to her and her extreme frankness that made her part of the process of revealing the game in the end.
Many had previously looked at Martha's history as contemptuous or pathetic, but this woman told the truth in front of everyone, but being a woman with alcoholism and so much turmoil no one believed her, until she contributed to the bombing, and here is called the question of why Martha was forgotten in Historical narratives that dealt with the Watergate scandal until today?
Or why Hollywood, which has a very patriarchal history, has forgotten about its choice of stories and angles.
"Gaslett" and "The First Lady" - which are currently running - prove that there are more angles that haven't yet invested in the old story, that can catch the attention of even non-American Arab viewers who may know a lot about the political drama. This American scandal is more than political facts that took place in neighboring countries geographically.