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Should you watch Best of Enemies?

Who it’s good for, who it isn’t, and what’s in it. No ratings, no scores.

Best of Enemies

Documentary · 2015

A documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two great public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. Best of Enemies delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers, and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, "What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?"

The sides of Best of Enemies

  • Gore Vidal against William F. Buckley Jr.
  • Televised debates during the 1968 conventions
  • A night when the insults went live

Best of Enemies is good for you if…

  • you love two brilliant speakers trading cutting lines.
  • you like politics as a duel, the liberal Vidal against the conservative Buckley.
  • you're drawn to 1968 America, Miami and Chicago.

Best of Enemies is bad for you if…

  • you need something to look at, not archive footage of two men seated in a TV studio.
  • you find grainy sixties TV footage dated.

About: politics · television · rivalry

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