Conclusion

Conclusion:

Upon watching Good Night, and Good Luck, and doing thorough research on the characters depicted, as well as the events that took place, it is plain that the production got the facts right, and did a fantastic job of portraying the characters as they actually were. This does not mean however, that the movie was completely free of framing. Nothing truly is. Murrow and associates were framed as the lone wolves, standing up against tyranny, the sole voice in the night crying out in the defense of liberty. This is not true. Many others were sick of McCarthy and his methods, and had said so, years before Murrow did. In addition, CBS news is framed in such a way that they are firmly in the bad guy role. In reality however, CBS was considered extremely liberal in its time, and letting Murrow broadcast against McCarthy at all was a very big deal, as it would have been very easy to just say no. CBS should be applauded for allowing the broadcasts at all, as without their support, it would not have occurred.

In the end however, the verdict must be reached that Good Night and Good Luck is an extremely informative movie that does an excellent job portraying the time period in which it is set. Murrow and company worked together to forever change the face of American television, and through it, American culture. They were heroes, and richly deserving of the accolades they were given. To see them portrayed so accurately is all that they themselves would have asked for. It is a shame that television has become the morass of moral and intellectual decay it is, and I side with Murrow in his belief that it could become so much more. However, I would be unable to put it as eloquently as he did, and so will let him say the closing words.