Question 1
The movie “J. Edgar” follows former FBI director John Edgar Hoover as he retells a memoir to younger agents about his life. Throughout this, there are flashbacks to the historical events that are mentioned, such as the Lindbergh case, the Palmer Raids, and numerous scandals with various well known people. Many of these events events are depicted accurately, but some are not. I think the most well depicted and accurate, while still entertaining, parts of the movie are the series of events leading up to the Palmer Raids and how Hoover’s obsession with increasing the quality of forensics are depicted.
At the opening of the film, a bomb explodes, which is the first major historical event that is depicted. This bomb was at the home of the Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, who was Hoover’s boss at the time. The movie addresses that this bomb was placed by a Bolshevik communist and that is one in a series of eight bombings that all happened at the same time. The bombers name was Carlo Valdinoci (archives.fbi.gov), he was killed in the bombing when the bomb exploded prematurely. The movie moves on to depict that Palmer appointed Hoover to the head position of a new group that he formed to fight these radicals (archives.fbi.gov). This group became part of the Department of Justice and Hoover began creating secret files on suspected criminals (archives.fbi.gov). As a result of this, the “Palmer Raids” ensue (archives.fbi.gov), which are also depicted in the movie. The Palmer Raids were a series of different and simultaneous raids that were meant to ensure the capture of many radicals that were on Hoover’s list of suspects (archives.fbi.gov). Because these raids were poorly planned, they got a lot of backlash and ultimately Palmer took the fallback for the whole situation (archives.fbi.gov). The movie depicts this series of events accurately while also making them entertaining to the viewer. This event is important to the history because it was the beginning of Hoover’s rise to power. After the Palmer Raids scandal, Palmer was fired and Hoover was promoted to be the assistant director of the BOI and eventually the director (fbi.gov). The history of this rise to power is important to understand where Hoover’s obsession with anti-radicalism manifested from and why he was caught up in so many secrets throughout his career with the FBI.
Another part of the movie that was depicted well was Hoover’s obsession with science and improving the quality of the FBI’s crime fighting skills. Throughout the movie Hoover mentions scientific achievements such as fingerprinting technology or handwriting comparison and even opens a lab in the FBI building for forensics. The importance of these accomplishments are shown throughout the Lindbergh trial, where Hoover explains that there were professional witnesses and actual forensic evidence available that helped convict Bruno Hauptmann. Part of Hoover’s lasting legacy at the FBI today is how he improved science and forensics while he was in power. These accomplishments are something that could have easily been left of the movie but were not, which is good because they are important to the history of Hoover and the FBI.
Question 2
One of the most confusing parts of the film is the series of events that happen regarding Hoover’s relations with Martin Luther King Jr. In real life, Hoover’s relationship with Dr. King is a major reason why many people dislike him, and therefore it is important that it is portrayed accurately to people who are only watching the movie and not doing their own individual research. During one scene in the movie, Hoover listens to an audio tape that is a recording of Dr. King having sexual relations with a woman that wasn’t his wife. It is depicted in the movie that Hoover ordered the wiretaps on Dr. King’s hotel room which caught the audio recording. The important part of history that is left out of the film is that the White House was interested in Dr. King before Hoover was, this was because Dr. King had close relations with a known communist (theatlantic.com). When told to cut off ties with this man, Dr. King secretly continued to meet with him and it was caught on wiretaps (theatlantic.com). As this progressed, Attorney General Kennedy ordered Hoover to wiretap Dr. King’s hotel rooms to try and catch him committing communist acts, not to gather blackmail of his sexual affairs (theatlantic.com). The movie depicts this important scene inaccurately and leaves out the part of history where the president was also interested in Dr. King because of the communists around him, and depicts that Hoover wished to gather blackmail on him because of racist motives.
Another important part of the history behind J. Edgar Hoover are the rumors that he was gay and a crossdresser. While there is no historical evidence to suggest that this is true, the movie depicts Hoover in such a way regardless. Many FBI agents who were consulted for the movie or watched the movie were offended and rehemently responded by saying that Hoover and Tolson were not lovers (washingtonpost.com). The addition of this plot line makes the movie more entertaining to the viewer, but less historical accurate because none of the scenes of their relationship can be said to be true. This is misleading to the viewer and the time that these scenes took up could have been better used to expand on other history that was briefly mentioned but not very elaborated on. For example, while the movie mentions that Hoover is secretly following the moves of some groups, it never elaborates on some of the most well known ones, such as the Black Panthers, the Socialist Workers Party, or the KKK (history.com). The film could have also dove more in depth into the different cases that Hoover worked, instead of mainly focussing on the Lindbergh kidnapping and murder case. While this case is interesting to watch on screen and displayed accurately, the film name drops other criminals such as Bugs Moran and Al Capone, without ever really diving in what role the FBI played in their downfall, if any. The time spent on blatantly inaccurate events could have been spent on scenes depicting more historically accurate events that were important to the actual history of Hoover and not just a movie’s plot line.
Question 3
I would suggest that the filmmaker add smaller scenes of Hoover following well known groups such as the Black Panthers or the KKK and also to add an ending where the viewer sees the legacy that Hoover left behind. Similarly to the scenes of the Palmer Raids and the Lindbergh case or the scene where Hoover listens to the wiretap of Dr. King, I think that additional short scenes of FBI agents tracking and listening in to the Black Panthers and/or the Klu Klux Klan would be effective because they are other well known historical groups that were affected by Hoover’s actions. Since these are well known, it will be easier for the viewer to understand what is being depicted and I think since both of these groups are very opposite to each other, they would bring variety into the movie and cause interest to go up while also improving the educational value of the film as a whole.
As for the end scene, the movie currently ends with Mrs. Gandy shredding all of Hoover’s secret files before President Nixon comes for them and Tolson crying over Hoover’s death. While I think that this is an interesting ending and it leaves a kind of uncertainty about the outcome afterwards, I would have liked to see more of what Hoover left behind in terms of the FBI rather than just his personal relations and files. I would have especially liked to see a scene where it flashes forward to the modern day FBI and I would have liked to see that lasting effects of Hoover’s work. I think this scene could show how Hoover’s original scientific ideas have developed and improved into much more sophisticated technology. I also think that this scene could have shown former FBI director James Comey working at his desk. I would want this desk scene because Comey kept a copy of the Dr. King wiretapped audio tape on his desk as a reminder of the low points of the bureau and what the power of his job could lead to is used improperly (nytimes.com). I think ending on a scene like that would bring the movie full circle and complete its theme of not depicting Hoover as an absolutely monstrous guy while also not depicting his as a great guy who’s life was full of magnificent accomplishments. Adding this scene would also increase the educational value because it will show the lasting effects of Hoover’s reign rather than how the film actually is which is just the current effects of his reign during the time period of the movie.
