Bobby

I was going to write about those two movies I mentioned in #6 of my previous post, but I went to a screening of Bobby tonight and I want to write about that.

I'm not going to bore you with a full blown review of the movie... because I don't know how for write a review. [minor spoilers] I will say that some of the acted story lines leading up to the tragedy didn't do it for me but the way Estevez intergrated the news footage into his movie was amazing and heart-wrenching. The end was truly powerful. And the speech over the ending was well-chosen and even more pertinent today. [end spoilers]

But there is another story to tell - one that made the movie even more special to me. As most of you know, I grew up in Calgary, Alberta (that's in Canada)... far, far away from Camelot and anything Kennedy. You may also know, I had a privileged upbringing until it all went to shit when I was twelve. We lived in an area called Mount Royal (how pretentious does that sound?) and our house was across the street from the family that owned the newspaper.

My hometown also had a little thing every summer called the Stampede. I loved the Stampede. It meant summer was officially in full swing. And it had a midway. And a rodeo with chuckwagon races. Last but not least... a parade to open the 10-day event. And there was always somebody famous to kick it off.

Since we lived across the street from the most powerful man in the city, we were invited to his house to meet the many dignitaries that passed through town. And one summer, that dignitary was Robert F. Kennedy and his family. He was in town to open the Stampede. And we were invited to a small luncheon in his honor. I wasn't all that excited to go. I knew we were only invited because they wanted someone to play with the Kennedy kids. Plus, I was young and Canadian and couldn't have cared less about politics... American or Canadian. Although, I had heard about the assassination of JFK and maybe I was curious to meet the brother of a slain president.

So, I put one foot in front of the other and followed my brothers and sisters to the manse across the street. Upon our arrival, we were ushered to the backyard patio. There were several adults hanging about, cocktails in hand. It was an intimate setting with no kids in sight. Boring. But we were told to be on our best behavior. And then it happened. I was introduced to the Senator. I looked in his eyes as he smiled and shook my hand. Robert F. Kennedy's charisma was like a jolt of high voltage electricity. I was immediately rendered immobile and speechless. I was only a kid, but somehow I was deeply affected by his presence.

After meeting him, we were sent to the recreation room to play with the Kennedy kids. They were all bigger than me. And a couple of them were acting like spoiled jerks. I got pissed off and pounded one of the boys on his back. So much for my best behavior. And probably not the best idea, considering their stature. But I lived to tell about it and, thankfully, I was not stampeded by the Secret Service with guns blazing. A quick apology and all was forgiven.

Anyway, go see Bobby. Especially for the real footage and the opportunity to hear RFK speak. He was a special person. Sadly, we can only imagine where this country might be today had he become president.