[Sample B: Approval/Signature Sheet] - George Mason University

In the early scenes of the film, Stone shows how Garrison begins to probe the
assassination, and ties together the activities of Oswald, Ferrie, Bannister, and ultimately
Shaw to the plot. In the first scene with Garrison, the camera shows photos of him as,
according to the screenplay, “a young, Lincolnesque lawyer.” 687 This will connect later
to a scene in which “X” and Garrison meet at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington –
connecting the protagonists trying to find the killers of Kennedy with a saintly figure of
America’s history. Garrison is told the assassination, and goes to a bar to watch
television coverage, in which he and an aide learn that the president is dead.
Also watching the television at the bar is Guy Bannister and his detective agency
employee Jack Bannister. Bannister condemns Kennedy as “A Bullshit President” who is
friends with the Communists. “That’s what happens when you let the niggers vote. They
got together with the Jews and the Catholics and elect an Irish bleeding heart.” 688 This
introduces a theme throughout the movie in which Kennedy is shown as a friend to
African-Americans and a leader on civil rights while his enemies are racists. Garrison’s
maid often voices this theme by deploring Kennedy’s death, expressing her belief in a
conspiracy, and supporting her boss’s efforts to bring the conspirators to trial. In
contrast, Garrison’s wife suffers from her husband’s absence as he launches his
investigation and expresses doubt about his ideas of a conspiracy. Garrison’s wife –
played by Sissy Spacek – decides finally to stand by her husband and attend the trial near
the close of the film, as Garrison’s personal and professional life becomes reconciled.
687 Sklar and Stone, 10.
688 Sklar and Stone, 13.
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