Good Night and Good Luck, which marked George Clooney's directorial debut (and for which he was nominated for an Academy Award that year), is an excellent film giving us a look inside the CBS newsroom at the time when Edward R. Murrow took on the controversial practices of Senator Joe McCarthy. Clooney told the story using actual footage of McCarthy in action--further emphasizing the truth of the entire situation.
Senator McCarthy made a name for himself by calling suspected members of the Communist Party in front of a special Senate subcommittee (not the House Committee on Un-American Activities, as many incorrectly believe). Some of these people had absolutely no ties to Communists, or they may have consisted of having a friend or distant family member in the party.
When Clooney's film was released in the fall of 2005, many reviewers at the time noted that the timing of the film was no coincidence. As Peter Travers wrote in his review of the film in Rolling Stone, "...Clooney has crafted a period piece that speaks potently to a here-and-now when constitutional rights are being threatened in the name of the Patriot Act, and the American media trade in truth for access." I would have to agree with his assessment.
In a twist of modern-day McCarthyism (simply replace the word "communist" with its 21st Century counterpart, "terrorist"), the Patriot Act restricts the privacy rights of Americans suspected of having terrorist ties. Warrantless wiretaps, access to personal records and more area all granted by this far-reaching piece of legislation that was gleefully signed into law by President Bush shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Releasing Good Night and Good Luck at this stage of the game was no accident--Clooney was making an important commentary on what he--and others--see as McCarthy reincarnated.
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