The Post

So I finally found time to watch this epic movie and in one word- Im floored. 3 of the most reputed talents in the Hollywood- Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep came together for this Biopic and since the day of announcement I just knew this movie was going to give me severe goosebumps. And it delivered.

So its all about the Pentagon Paper leaks in 1970s in the President Richard Nixon regime which brought a massive truth in front of the American public as well as the world. So basically The United states was at war with North Vietnam for a period of 30 years to prevent a communist take over of South Vietnam by the North Vietnam. The American army lost billions and during Nixon period 300 army personal deaths were occuring each week while the several successive government kept assuring the media and people that they were making progress each day. The truth was that American army was not at all trained for densely canopied rainforests of Vietnam which the Vietnamese militants were using decisively, with guns, grenades and mines and throwing bricks/stones on soldiers from trees. And it was proving extremely effective for tiny poor country against the biggest Military power the planet has ever seen. The American government was not ready to bear the humiliation of losing to such an insignificant rival so it continued the war in hopes of winning it some day while lying to its own people- for over 30 years. 2 Million lives were lost. This was the historic Vietnam War, one of the only wars that USA ever lost.

Coming to the movie, the Ensemble of the cast is amazing. Streep and Hanks deliver mesmerizing performances. Streep is portraying the heiress that acquires The Washington Post after her husband dies, a new comer, lacking confidence and experience of the veterans that are working under her. Hanks is her chief publisher. When New York Times, there biggest rival runs with story and gets legally censored by the Nixon administration, for treason, Streep has to make the biggest decision of her life- whether to move forward with the story that will lead to censorship and ultimately Bankruptcy, or go ahead and fight for freedom of press against a government that tries to control and rule its media time and again and highlight The Washington Post as a new media leader in the face of The New York Times always taking the cherry. She has everything to lose but she stands by her ideals and moves forward with some nice legal trickery to avoid ban until The Supreme Court is summoned which uphelds the Freedom of Press in a Historic decision. After heavy backlash from the people, US finally ordered its troops to return back. President Nixon won the next election with a landslide but ultimately resigned in 1973 before an impending impeachment due to the 'Watergate Scandal'. That's another epic scandal in the American history. This movie is a must watch for any International history buffs like me.

Upon my research (basically googling stuff), I realized that President Nixon's dirty tricks and racist slurs/politics have been compared with Trump's -with exception of the fact that Overall Richard Nixon was a brilliant policy maker but a morally lacking politician, laid foundation for some of the most historic laws and international truces especially with China and USSR while Trump is yet to prove himself on any possible fronts.

Also now I have a profound understanding of Nixon Presidency references in Modern Family and VEEP. That's the bonus.