Posted by Doug Haaland at 3:39 pm on Sep 04, 2018 Comments Off on American Exceptionalism Lands on the Cutting Room Floor
“For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon
and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see
it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of
freedom and peace.”
President John F. Kennedy – Rice
University September 1962
The soon to be released biopic titled, “First Man,” has produced
widespread controversy with the decision by filmmakers to eliminate
the scene of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planting the
American flag on the surface of the moon. One of the central
questions surrounding this controversy is why would anyone be
surprised that Hollywood needs to leave the concept of American
exceptionalism on the cutting room floor?
The landing of Armstrong and Aldrin in the Sea of Tranquility
was set in motion by the vision expressed by President John F.
Kennedy in his “Urgent National Needs” speech in May 1961,
before a Joint Session of Congress. President Kennedy chose to
focus the nation on this monumental task during the Cold War, in
part, as a response to the Soviet Union’s perceived lead in the
“Space Race.”
In fact, just… Read More