“Good Night and Good Morning” helped in my understanding of American society during the McCarthy era by visually demonstrating how something as basic as a loosely constructed claim could ruin a life of a person. The film also demonstrated how people such as McCarthy could use the fear of the Soviet Union as a tool to achieve their own goals, as he did when he slandered Edward with having communist ties. The film demonstrates how slander and claims of ties to the Soviet Union could so easily be created, but so difficult to defend. The power of claims also illustrated the fears that were created within American society. The use of historical footage in the film helped remind me that this film was more that just a work of fiction, the real footage
