What a perfect time in American history to look back and remember (if you're old enough; no I'm not) or imagine when two intelligent, but diametrically opposed speakers and their viewpoints would be a national major network's idea of prime time entertainment. Why watch The Big Bang Theory when you can watch two effete, middle-aged men (one gay, one straight-ish) discuss conservatism and liberalism on camera in front of millions.
Best of Enemies a 2015 documentary feature about the ten televised debates that took place on the ABC network in the summer of 1968, both during the milquetoast Republican National Convention in Miami and the riot-strewn, contentious Democratic National Convention in Chicago, all featuring conservative National Review magazine founder William F. Buckley Jr. versus liberal author and historian Gore Vidal.
Pontificating American white men spouting ten-dollar words in faux British accents sounds dry, huh? Give it a try. This is the birthplace of pundit TV political commentary. Watch the atheist vs. right wing Catholic, the gay disaffected aesthete vs. the belligerent, wealthy straight snob in an intellectual boxing match. Sitting in swivel chairs, throwing out verbal darts; it's snotty, eye-rolling fun...if that's your sort of thing.
It's not all just five-syllable words and comparing Ivy League credentials though. The heat of the debates climaxes with Vidal calling Buckley a "crypto-Nazi" and Buckley calling Vidal a "queer" in return and threatening to sock Vidal "in the goddamn face." For 1968 prime time TV programs, it was quite racy. I can't imagine what the equivalent words would be in this day and age.
That's what makes this more than some quaint time capsule doc. With TV political news poured over every hour as I write this in February 2017, I'm saddened to note that intellectual debates (minus the name-calling) still are not placed back on prime time TV for the masses, but relegated to cable channels with small viewerships. Can you imagine debates on prime time TV (outside of the Presidential debates) that interrupt CSI or The Celebrity Apprentice for actual real-life discussions about American society and politics and where we're headed?
As our current unstable climate matches that of America in the summer of 1968, threatening to surpass it even in the protests and outrage over Trump's flailing, scandal-riddled administration, isn't it about time for this sort of program again?
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