While the focus of this site is primarily on HUAC and exploring how the threat, and fear, of the blacklist still remained even when the organization was losing credibility it would be unfair not to mention the counter film Operation Correction, which was also put on the homepage for viewing. After all, if the Hollywood ten would have never fought to testify like they did, who knows where civil liberty fights against HUAC would have gone.
Success can breed imitation, sort of. Shortly after Operation Abolition came Operation Correction, it was the same news footage in the same sequence, however, it’s commentary slant was on the opposite end of the spectrum. While Abolition was an attempt to rally support by showing what communist tactics could do to our students, Correction was the counter strike that showed what HUAC was doing, and what they had become, was the un-American activity and that the students were on the side of civil liberty. Abolition’s commentary is HUAC favored while Correction’s commentary is sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The film’s commentary comes from Ernest Besig, executive director of the ACLU of Northern California. Throughout the film Besig points out the fallacies, inaccuracies, and misrepresentations that are present in Abolition. Besig urges us to remember that “the truth lies not in the picture but in the words of the narrator.” The narrator, of course, being himself, thus asking the audience to lean towards the argument Correction is presenting. The film takes an unveiling approach to go about its argument. By dissecting each part of Abolition this film is trying to influence the perception of truth.
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