This past weekend my wife and I thought about going to go see Chappaquiddick, the new release that documents Ted Kennedy's responsibility for the death of a young woman named Mary Jo Kopechne in 1969. Kopechne was a passenger in a car Kennedy drove off a bridge into a shallow pond near the town of Chappaquiddick.
He escaped and could have rescued her but chose not to. She was trapped in the car for several hours until all the air was used up and she asphyxiated. It must've been a horrible, terrifying death and Kennedy did nothing to help her.
I changed my mind about going, however, when I heard a promo for the movie on the radio that warned viewers that the film had "disturbing images, strong language, and ... historical smoking." Historical smoking?
Well, I was completely triggered by the thought of seeing people smoking, even historical people, and fearing that I might freak out in the movie theater when somebody lit up a cigarette on screen, I thought I better not go. Watching someone from 1969 smoke would be an emotionally wrenching experience, and the very thought of it induced something of a panic attack. I wanted to retreat to a safe space somewhere with my emotional support parrot to soothe my anxieties.
Now that I think about it, I wonder how much historical drinking there is in the film - and historical dope-smoking. Being that the movie's about the Kennedys I'll bet it's a lot, but apparently the people who wrote the promo weren't worried that drinking and dope-smoking, even historical drinking and dope-smoking, would freak anybody out since the promo doesn't mention it.
So we didn't go. Besides, I know how the story ends. The creep who lets a girl drown because he's either a coward or worried about his political career, or both, goes on to become the "Lion of the Senate" and one of the Democratic party's all-time most beloved heroes. Pretty nauseating.
I wonder how the media, which did all they could to cover up for Kennedy after the death of Kopechne, would've reacted had Donald Trump run Stormy Daniels off a bridge after having downed a few historical drinks. Do you think they'd do their best to ignore the story? Me neither, especially if they found out that he'd been smoking tobacco while driving the car.