George Clooney's Good Night And Good Luck

George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) is a huge alert and warning to todays post terrorist attack (of the Twin Towers in 2001) society, in which civil liberties and human rights of each and any person can slip away as an effect of mass hysteria. The core of Clooney’s approach is the idea that sometimes journalists need to go beyond simple and exact reporting and offer some more in-depth interpretations on current affairs. He stresses the tensions caused by post-war paranoia and threats made against a country through his portrayal of the acting and characterisations, editing, sound, lighting and framing (Caulfield, 2007).

Good Night, and Good Luck cleverly displays and educates the audience of the era of McCarthyism. George Clooney …show more content…
In regards to the occurrence of the Twin Towers terrorist attack, the Americans have since become more tolerant of the suppression of civil liberties, with the majority of these citizens basically condoning the actions of their government with which they disagree or disapprove (M. Wood, 2002). This is very similar to the events that took place during the film and the McCarthyism era. The people of that time allowed McCarthy to act as he was as they were too scared to stand up for what was right, for the fear of being tied to communism. During the McCarthyism period, people’s civil liberties were essentially taken away. A crucial example of the idea of civil liberties being taken away or denied could include the trial of Annie Lee Moss, a woman working for the Pentagon and accused of having communist ties by McCarthy. First of all, the civil liberty, right and freedom of privacy and security had been broken – with the fact that the government and congress had Moss’s information about what lists she was on and what she received in her mail. The right for a fair trial had also been broken as McCarthy was very one-sided towards his beliefs when in the hearing room and wasn’t giving her a decent chance to answer the questions provided. This is relevant and much alike the second article as it states, “While Wheeler acknowledged the nature …show more content…
“That, to me, is the most frightening aspect of civil liberties since 9/11” (M. Wood, 2002). Clooney uses the history of McCarthy and Murrow as a way of encouraging, inspiring and teaching the people of America to not be afraid in standing up for themselves and questioning the efforts and possible outcomes behind government