Well,
here we go with another edition of the Tuesday Timeline! This time
around, we're going back to a year that we already visited not that
long ago. I normally try to add a little bit of variety to the mix
when it comes to featuring specific years, but in this case, the
topic that I ended up selecting was just too good to pass up. I'm
sure you'll understand as you read on.
This
is the twentieth day of November, and as it so happens, a lot
happened on this date. Take a look at the celebrity birthdays for
today which include the following famous faces; Nadine Gordimer, Kaye
Ballard, Estelle Parsons, Don DeLillo, Dick Smothers, Bob “Super
Dave Osborne” Einstein, Joe Biden, Norman Greenbaum, Meredith Monk,
Veronica Hamel, Louie Dampier, Rick Monday, Nanette Workman, Greg
Cook, Joe Walsh, Richard Masur, Rodger Bumpass, Steve Dahl, Bo Derek,
Mark Gastineau, Sean Young, Tim Harvey, Mike Diamond (Beastie Boys),
Jimmy Vasser, Callie Thorne, Delia Gonzalez, Geoffrey Keezer, Sabrina
Lloyd, Joe Zaso, Phife Dawg (A Tribe Called Quest), Joel McHale,
Angelica Bridges, Dierks Bentley, Davey Havok (AFI), Joshua Gomez,
Josh Turner, Kimberley Walsh (Girls Aloud), Margo Stilley, Carly Rae
Jepsen, Rhys Wakefield, and Cody Linley.
I'm
exhausted just typing all that out!
As
it turns out, a lot of events took place on November 20 throughout
history. Here's just a sampling.
1739
– The beginning of the Battle of Porto Bello between Britain and
Spain during the War of Jenkins' Ear
1789
– The state of New Jersey becomes the first state to ratify the
U.S. Bill of Rights
1820
– An 80-ton sperm whale attacks The
Essex
off the coast of South America...this event later serves as the
inspiration behind the classic story “Moby Dick”
1861
– Secession ordinance is filed by Kentucky's Confederate Government
during the American Civil War
1917
– Ukraine is declared a republic
1923
– Rentenmark replaces the Papiermark as the official currency of
Germany
1936
– The founder of the Falange, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, is
killed by a republican execution squad
1940
– Hungary officially joins the Axis Powers during World War II,
becoming a signatory of the Tripartite Pact
1945
– Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals begin at the Palace of
Justice at Nuremberg
1947
– Princess Elizabeth marries Lieutenant Phillip Mountbatten at
Westminster Abbey in London
1962
– President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of Cuba in response
to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove all missiles from Cuba,
effectively putting an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis
1969
– The Plain
Dealer
publishes photographs of slain villagers taken from the My Lai
massacre in Vietnam
1974
– The U.S. Department of Justice files final anti-trust suit
against AT&T, which leads to the breakup of AT&T and its Bell
System
1977
– Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to
visit Israel
1980
– Lake Peigneur drains into an underlying salt deposit due to a
misplaced Texaco oil probe being drilled into the Crystal Salt Mine
1985
– Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released
1992
– A fire causes millions in damages at Windsor Castle in England
1998
– The first module of International Space Station, Zarya, is
launched
2001
– George W. Bush dedicates the U.S. Department of Justice
headquarters building as the Robert F. Kennedy Justice building, on
what would have been his 76th
birthday
2006
– American film director Robert Altman passes away at the age of 81
due to complications from leukemia
2008
– The Dow Jones Industrial Average dips to its lowest level since
1997, kicking off the 2008 recession
So,
what date are we flashing back to this week?
November
20, 1983.
And,
what was so special about this date? Well, it was the day that a
television movie aired on ABC. The movie itself did quite well in
the ratings, with over one hundred MILLION people tuning in to watch
it, making it one of the most successful made for television movies
ever made.
Even
if the movie did cause some tension, panic, and controversy.
You
know, I have such fond memories of the 1980s. It was the decade that
I was born in, and it was the decade that I associate with some of my
fondest childhood memories. This is clearly subjective, but I think
the 1980s had some of the best cartoons, the best music videos, the
best movies, and the best toys. Being a kid in the 1980s was
something very special and magical, and although I was only eight
years old when the 1980s ended, I still have a lot of fond memories
of that time.
I
was so caught up in having as much fun as I could during the 1980s as
a young boy that I didn't quite comprehend just how dire the world
was during that time. Yes, the 1980s were a fun decade to
experience, but it was also a very scary decade if you were an adult.
You witnessed the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981,
you witnessed a huge stock market crash in 1987, and in 1986, the
world watched in horror as a nuclear accident in Chernobyl devastated
the city of Pripyat.
That
last event was one that weighed heavily on the minds of a lot of
people, particularly since the threat of nuclear disaster was a huge
possibility. Ever since the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan in 1945, the
threat of nuclear weapons became a huge possibility. And seeing the
images of the devastation coming from the aftereffects of the bombing
likely made millions all over the world wonder “what if it happened
here”?
Now,
the Cold War officially ended in the early 1990s, but I imagine that
many people are still worried about the threat of nuclear war
possibly occurring during our lifetimes. What would happen if
conflict arose between two nations and one nation decided to
counterattack with nuclear weapons? How would it affect life in the
affected areas? Would there be any chance of survival? Would there
be any hope?
On
November 20, 1983, one movie attempted to paint a rather dire and
frightening picture of what life would be like if a nuclear bomb went
off in a heavily populated area. And being only two years old at the
time of this movie, I'm actually kind of glad that I was too young to
remember watching it. I watched the whole movie in preparation for
writing this entry, and I admit that I was a little bit frightened
myself.
This
blog is all about the movie “The Day After”.
This
movie featured the acting talents of John Lithgow, JoBeth Williams,
Jason Robards, Steve Guttenberg, John Cullum, and Amy Madigan, and
was directed by Nicholas Meyer.
The
idea for the movie came right around the time that the film “The
China Syndrome” was released. ABC Motion Picture Division
president Brandon Stoddard was so impressed by the film that he
decided to come up with the idea to do a movie that explored the
effects of a nuclear attack on American soil. He came up with the
title “The Day After” because he never meant for the attack to be
the main focus...his main goal was to show the aftermath of the
attack, as well as the quest for survival.
The
original setting for the film was the city of Kansas City, Missouri,
but was changed to Lawrence, Kansas instead (though the film did make
references to Kansas City). The reason for the change was due to the
fact that Lawrence had some decent shooting locations, such as a
hospital, university campus, sporting event stadiums, as well as
farms and beautiful countryside. In fact, many of the extras in the
film were college students from the university campus. The support
for the film was definitely evident in Lawrence, Kansas.
In
Hollywood, on the other hand, the project was extremely
controversial, and many people were opposed to the idea of making the
movie in the first place. Initially, Robert Butler was hired on to
direct the film, but had to leave due to contractual obligations for
another project. And when Nicholas Meyer was offered the project, he
was quite apprehensive about the project, believing that there was no
way that network censors would allow a project to be greenlit without
massive cuts. Once he read the script, he immediately jumped on
board with the idea to make the film less about a Hollywood disaster,
and more about illustrating the facts about the effects on nuclear
war. He also wanted to cast the movie with relative unknows, but
knew that he needed at least one Hollywood star to get people to tune
in to the movie, and to attract the European audience. As luck would
have it, Meyer was seated next to Jason Robards on a flight to New
York, and Robards was talked into joining the cast.
The
film opens up with a series of news reports depicting a fictional war
between the United States and the Soviet Union. The conflict kicks
off with the Soviet Union commencing a military buildup in East
Germany in hopes of getting the United States to withdraw from West
Berlin. When the United States refuses to back down, the conflict
escalates. Tensions soon mount on both sides, and the United States
issues an ultimatum to the Soviet Union. Stand down from the
blockade they have set up by six o'clock the following morning, or it
will be interpreted as an act of war.
Soon
after, the city of Moscow issues a mandatory evacuation, and various
American cities followed suit, as unconfirmed reports of nuclear
weapons being detonated are broadcast over radio and television.
In
the community of Lawrence, Kansas, pandemonium and hysteria seems to
be the general mood. People crowd supermarkets and food stores
trying to prepare for the worst, and thousands of people try
desperately to get out of town before something terrible happens.
Unfortunately,
for those people who are still in Lawrence, Kansas, it's a futile
effort, as word gets out that the Soviet Union launched a massive
attack against thirty-two different targets with ten projected impact
points, while reporting that they had suffered catastrophic loss
themselves. In fact, the film purposely makes it unknown as to which
side launched the nuclear missiles first.
Whatever
the case, here's the end result.
Now,
I realize that the special effects are somewhat dated for 2012
standards. The film was made almost thirty years ago, after all.
Back in 1983, I can only imagine just how frightening the scenes
were. To add to the general mood, after the attack scene, the rest
of the movie was broadcast without commercial breaks on its original
airing.
And,
not to spoil the plot too much, but here's some of the stories that
people witnessed after the attack on Lawrence, Kansas.
- Dr. Russell Oakes (Robards) is on his way to do a lecture at the University of Kansas as the attacks take place, and he ends up treating several patients at the university hospital with Dr. Sam Hachiya (Calvin Jung) and Nurse Bauer (Williams)
- Science professor Joe Huxley (Lithgow) and his students construct a Geiger counter to monitor the levels of nuclear fallout outside while trying to use a radio to locate survivors outside of the impact area
- Billy McCoy (William Allen Young), an Airman First Class in the U.S. Air Force, is the first to witness the initial missile launches, and tries to head back home in order to be with his family. When he ends up stranded, he has to fight to stay alive
- The Dahlberg family, headed by Jim (Cullum) are located in Harrisonville, Missouri (just outside of Kansas City) where they are preparing for the wedding of eldest daughter, Denise. When the blast occurs, the Dahlberg's young son, Danny is blinded, and much of the family begins suffering from radiation poisoning
- University student Stephen Klein (Guttenberg) is hitchhiking to Joplin, Missouri, but when the attacks occur, he is taken in by the Dahlberg family.
The
whole movie definitely did what it set out to do...painted a
realistic portrait of the despair and devastation that could come
from a nuclear attack...but let's make one thing clear. There were
no happy endings. Almost all the characters in the film ended up
suffering from the aftermath of the movie.
The
night the movie aired, several 1-800 hotlines were opened up with
counselors standing by to help people deal with what they had just
seen. Ted Koppel hosted a live debate immediately after the
conclusion of the movie, which had several experts (both pro and con)
arguing about the arms race and the use of nuclear weapons in
conflict.
Peace
vigils were held all over the United States in the days after the
movie aired, and Lawrence, Kansas reported a record number of
tourists visiting the city the year after the film aired, with many
people wanting to visit the locations of those that were destroyed in
the movie.
Even
Fred Rogers devoted four episodes of the popular series “Mister
Rogers Neighbourhood” to comfort and talk to young children who may
have watched the movie on television. The film was even shown in the
Soviet Union in 1987.
“The
Day After” was a realistic, yet fictionalized account of what might
happen if the United States became the target of a nuclear war.
And
it aired for the first time on November 20, 1983.
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