The Martha Mitchell Effect

Here's The 4K Lowedown on "The Martha Mitchell Effect" (PG - 2022 - Netflix) Genre: Documentary/Biography

My Score: 6.3 Cast=6 Acting=6 Plot=7 Ending=6 Story=7 Interest=7 Cinema=4 Direct=6 History=10 Pace=4

The Cabinet wife who spoke out during Watergate and the Nixon administration's campaign to gaslight her into silence.

I knew about the Watergate scandal, but I didn't know about Martha Mitchell or her involvement. This intrigued me right off the bat and it did drop some knowledge on me that I didn't already have. The problem I had with this was the documentary was so dry that I had to wipe the dust off my TV twice in the 40 minutes it took to see it. If you are interested in Politics or Watergate specifically, I think this is worth a watch.

At only about 40 minutes running time this was a well done documentary which really told everything you need to know about the heroic loose cannon known as Martha Mitchell.

Lots of quality archival footage, interview segments and photos. If you've seen the film "All The Presidents Men" The Martha Mitchell Effect is a perfect dessert.

There are no spoilers to give since this is more of an historical documentary and we all know what happened with The Watergate scandal. At the time this was all going down, Martha became somewhat of a celebrity and too hot a pistol for Nixon or even her own husband, Attorney General and campaign manager John Mitchell. With Martha making the rounds on the talk show circuit and spilling whatever she had, Martha couldn't shut up and it was great!

Sometimes Hollywood incorrectly stereotypes the 1970's as a "fun" or "easy" period of time.

Those who lived it or truly study it, however, know that the fun was always mixed with an undercurrent of change and the fight of honor versus dishonor.

It was a very political time.

---

Martha Mitchell Effect is the term when a psychiatrist misdiagnoses someone as delusional when the story they tell--though improbable--is true. And so it was with Martha herself.

She was the first Cassandra voice of corruption at the top. The first to question the impact Nixon would have historically.

People who dismiss the time period lightly would do well to respect that many of the roots of political division we have now began in 1972.

Depicts the political life in Washington DC during Nixon era from the perspective of a wife of a prominent political figure close to Nixon. As expected for that time she was not taken seriously when she told everyone including the press about the political maneuvers made during the Watergate by the president any the ones close to him and that includes her husband. After Nixon's resignation the press recognizes her as person who spoke the truth to power and later from the Watergate tapes we can find that Nixon feared her and tried to silence her multiple times.

It's a shame this documentary wasn't a full-length one that looked at Martha Mitchell's entire life. Instead, it was a very short look at her life in Washington and Watergate. Richard Nixon is seen in an interview saying if not for Martha Mitchell, there would have been no Watergate. The crimes would have not been exposed.

Martha Mitchell was the Mouth of the South. She was not like any of the other Republican wives. She did not censor her comments about anything, but still was much the Republican, except where the Vietnam War was concerned. It wasn't the war, however, that made the Nixon administration try to silence her. It was Watergate.

Not only did they try to silence her, they tried to make her out to be mentally ill. Her own husband, who she had always ferociously protected and supported, is heard on White House tapes saying she needed to be seen by the media as unstable. This wasn't gaslighting, because Martha Mitchell was way too smart to be gaslighted.

It was a campaign to discredit her in the eyes of the world. How it all ends is sad. Sad for everyone, including Martha Mitchell, the one person who would not be silenced. Too bad Martha Mitchell wasn't around to take on Donald Trump. She would not have supported his crimes, stupidity and incompetence for a second.