Of Martyrs and Men: Brecht's Galileo and the Shaping of Historical Myth
Of Martyrs and Men: Brecht’s Galileo and the Shaping of Historical Myth In the Academy Award-nominated film The Trial of the Chicago 7, the character based on real-life activist/war protestor Abbie Hoffman has been arrested for conspiracy to incite violence at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. When asked by the Prosecutor, Richard Schultz, if he intended to have a confrontation with the police when he came to Chicago, Hoffman pauses to consider the question. Incredulous, the prosecutor expresses dismay that he needs to think about it. Hoffman responds, “Give me a moment, would you friend? I’ve never been on trial for my thoughts before.” Chicago 7 writer and director Aaron Sorkin synthesized hours of testimony into a single line that any one of the witness could have said, had it occurred to him in the moment, while also expressing a primary thesis of his film: these men were on trial for who they were, not what they...

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