The Boys in Red Hats

Now that this film is finally available to see on Peacock, instead of in some pay-per-view limbo where it's been for the past year, I'm hoping that it will be viewed by many more people. At the outset, I should say that my father's family is from Covington, KY and I've been there many times through the years. Dad did not go to Cov Cath because he wasn't Catholic, and likely wouldn't have been welcome there. But, he's been gone for 27 years, so I no longer have a dog in this fight. The Red Hats. THAT was the problem. But it seemed that the boys from Covington didn't see it that way because free speech and all that. Their upper middle-class privilege mattered too, in that they never gave a second thought to wearing them in the middle of Washington DC, a notoriously Democratic city. I don't put the word "white" in the middle of the privilege argument because this is not racial. It's PURE politics, although race does play a part, but as I see it, it's not the main part. To say more here would be to give away the arc of this documentary, which turns in several places. It's well done in that it shows both sides, and objectively speaking, one side comes off worse than the other. It's really a matter of turning on the camera, and letting people speak, which the director frequently does, but it's not a talking head doc. It's people telling "their" truth in an effort to get to the real story. Some things are glossed over, I assume, to prevent any sort of litigation from participants that seem very litigious to this point. As one observer says, it's only one family bringing lawsuits. Out of all those boys in Washington, it's only one family. This doc is well balanced between the two sides, although as I said, I found one side to be less than forthcoming, and more than a little defensive. But "your mileage may vary," as they say. What I saw may have also been colored by my own political bias. Rated as 8/10. Everyone who is interested in this event should watch. Even the side that seems defensive is eye-opening because they don't seem to see what they're saying, which is always fascinating. There were several I wanted to have a coffee with and say, "So..."

Now that this film is finally available to see on Peacock, instead of in some pay-per-view limbo where it's been for the past year, I'm hoping that it will be viewed by many more people. At the outset, I should say that my father's family is from Covington, KY and I've been there many times through the years. Dad did not go to Cov Cath because he wasn't Catholic, and likely wouldn't have been welcome there. But, he's been gone for 27 years, so I no longer have a dog in this fight. The Red Hats. THAT was the problem. But it seemed that the boys from Covington didn't see it that way because free speech and all that. Their upper middle-class privilege mattered too, in that they never gave a second thought to wearing them in the middle of Washington DC, a notoriously Democratic city. I don't put the word "white" in the middle of the privilege argument because this is not racial. It's PURE politics, although race does play a part, but as I see it, it's not the main part. To say more here would be to give away the arc of this documentary, which turns in several places. It's well done in that it shows both sides, and objectively speaking, one side comes off worse than the other. It's really a matter of turning on the camera, and letting people speak, which the director frequently does, but it's not a talking head doc. It's people telling "their" truth in an effort to get to the real story. Some things are glossed over, I assume, to prevent any sort of litigation from participants that seem very litigious to this point. As one observer says, it's only one family bringing lawsuits. Out of all those boys in Washington, it's only one family. This doc is well balanced between the two sides, although as I said, I found one side to be less than forthcoming, and more than a little defensive. But "your mileage may vary," as they say. What I saw may have also been colored by my own political bias. Rated as 8/10. Everyone who is interested in this event should watch. Even the side that seems defensive is eye-opening because they don't seem to see what they're saying, which is always fascinating. There were several I wanted to have a coffee with and say, "So..."