Change. Is it good or bad? How is comprehension change key to success? Quotes about change abound. John F. Kennedy observed, "Everything changes but change itself." Johann von Goethe pointed out that "Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for change." according to Charles Darwin, "Change is inevitable, growth is optional." So clearly, the issue seems to be not so much what we think of change but rather how we react to it. And truth be told, there are probably few words that can throw up such a kaleidoscope of emotions and differing interpretations for us. On the one hand, change is exciting. We all want our lives to be 'different' in some way, after all there is no advance without change. We are all customary with the words "Today is the tomorrow you dreamed of yesterday." However, the word 'Change' also holds some very negative connotations.
The Oxford dictionary describes change as 'to make or come to be different'. And nobody likes to feel different. If you look up synonyms for changeable you will find words such as: 'volatile', 'uncertain', 'unsettled', 'unstable'. These words throw up emotions for us that make us feel 'insecure', 'vulnerable', 'unsure'. There is a small corner in all of us that likes to feel procure and safe And change clearly goes against that. However, once change has occurred we very often call it 'Progress', 'evolution', 'expansion', 'growth', 'advancement'. And this throws up a far more positive set of emotions. Suddenly we think, 'spontaneity', 'unconstrained', 'free'.
John F Kennedy Quotes
And so it appears it is not change itself that scares us so much as the transition process, that first step into the unknown. We like the stability of things as they are 'now'. Now is somehow comforting because of its familiarity. Yet our 'now' is changing every day. We probably all loved our bedroom as a kid, or had a favourite pair of shoes. My personal favourite was a pair of over-the-knee stripey socks. Great aged 10, not so great when I look back at the photos now! "To live is to change, and to be excellent is to change often" said John Henry Cardinal Newman. Reassuring to know that at least my fashion sense now fits the definition of 'perfect'!
Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived Best
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Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived Feature
- VIRTUAL JFK (DVD MOVIE)
Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived Overview
In the era of nuclear confrontation, John F. Kennedy attempted to prevent war six times during his short tenure as president. He didn't live to face a seventh. Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived takes up one of America's controversial what-if scenarios, examining the question: Would the U.S. have escalated the war in Vietnam if Kennedy was not assassinated in 1963? With insight and erudition, the film traces JFK's presidency a 1,000-day term plagued with tense political stand-offs through rare and previously-unseen archival footage, offering nuanced accounts of the former president's political decisions and, by extension, his probable response to the escalating conflict in Vietnam.Featuring unprecedented access into the leadership style of one of the nation's most important leaders, Virtual JFK sheds new light on the man who helped avoid war in six crises and did not live to save America from the devastating war in Vietnam.
Q&A with Virtual JFK director Koji Masutani
What do you think virtual history can teach us that the more traditional study of history can't?
We identify our film as a work of "virtual history," a term coined by the Harvard historian Niall Ferguson. Virtual history, Ferguson explains, involves the study of "what if" questions: the investigation of how the past would have unfolded had precipitating events or the underlying conditions been different. In the case of Virtual JFK, we ask what if Kennedy had not died in 1963? Would he have chartered a less-disastrous course in Vietnam than his successor, Lyndon Johnson? The approach is controversial. The Cambridge historian of Soviet Russia, E.H. Carr, described counterfactual narratives as a "parlor game." History, he insisted, is "a record of what people did, not what they failed to do." Yet, historical analysis, by its nature, presupposes consideration of roads not taken. We believe that virtual history can teach us (or remind us) about the contingent aspects of history that more traditional history does not emphasize.
What drew you to JFK's presidency as a subject?
My formal background in International Relations attracted my attention to JFK's presidency—particularly within the framework of foreign policy issues. Virtual JFK represents the synthesis of more than forty years of debate, much of it acrimonious, over what Kennedy would have done in Vietnam had he not been assassinated. Although I grew up outside the United States, I have always been keenly aware of the enduring debates over what JFK would have done, and the parallel debate over who or what was behind JFK's murder. Oliver Stone's 1991 film, JFK, integrated these two issues into a single and conspiratorial hypothesis. In Virtual JFK, we deal decisively with what JFK would have done, and leave it to others to debate whether, as Stone believes, Kennedy was killed because he had decided to withdraw the U.S. from Vietnam. However the debate about the motives behind JFK’s assassination may evolve in the future, we believe, on the basis of considerable evidence, that if JFK had lived, he would have withdrawn the U.S. from Vietnam.
Can you discuss your collaboration with producer Peter Almond, who produced Thirteen Days, the Kevin Costner film on the Cuban Missile Crisis?
As a young filmmaker who is constantly setting foot on new terrain (by default), I require--without exception--a highly experienced producer. As in any industry with more than one member, when newcomers arrive they are bound to encounter an infinite array of personalities, conduct, and intellect. So being able to find and connect with a producer who demonstrates first-rate efficiency, responsibility, and perceptiveness has been critical to my learning curve. The task of delivering the film to an audience would have been a wildly different and impossible operation without a producer like Peter Almond.
How did your collaboration with the authors of Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived: Virtual JFK (Rowman and Littlefield) come about? Was the origin of the project the book, or the film? How do you think the two complement each other?
I was fortunate to cross paths with two dynamic professors/authors from the Watson Institute for International Studies (at Brown University) almost immediately before graduating from college in 2005. I kept up a rigorous correspondence with them over email the summer after I graduated and, very quickly, we discovered that we had a team to be able to simultaneously produce a book, film, and a teacher's guide. The book and film—in particular—were produced side by side, and they complement each other in that one strengthens and enhances the other. There is only so much information that can be conveyed in an 80-minute documentary, and there is only so much that a reader can do to participate vicariously reading a book.
The project as a whole was not necessarily conceived within a narrow disciplinary framework, because the question of what JFK would have done in Vietnam long ago overspread disciplinary boundaries. Many people, from diverse backgrounds and professional allegiances, believe they have a stake in this question: government servicemen, journalists, archival researchers, historians, political scientists, economists, psychologists, novelists, poets, filmmakers, and songwriters. However, the specific origins of the Virtual JFK project lay at the intersection of three disciplines: Cold War history, diplomatic history, and the various branches of political science that deal with decision-making.
The Kennedy family continues to make news and capture our imagination as a nation. What do you think it is about the family and JFK in particular that we find so compelling?
To his admirers, JFK represented a presidential era of glamour, intelligence, wit and possibility. In my mind, this combination of assured traits plays well to the American attitude toward history, one where "personalities have always been more interesting than facts" (to quote Kennedy himself). This attitude toward history (and politics) possibly explains the receptivity to and appetite for all things Kennedy. To those interested in U.S. foreign policy history, of course, JFK and his assassination fuel interest for another reason: November 22, 1963, was the single most significant day in the history of the Vietnam War.
The film includes some incredible footage and audio recordings that were recently declassified and never seen or hear before. How did you go about tracking down these recordings?
For three years, we researched every possible source for footage and secretly recorded audio tapes revealing internal deliberations from the Kennedy administration. We conducted rigorous research via the National Archives, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, and the Miller Center of Public Affairs (particularly with help from Professor Marc Selverstone and his team). We conducted research for 36 months (uninterrupted) and we even tracked down JFK's family friends who--to this day--have been in possession of rare footage.
In addition to footage that would have otherwise been locked in vaults for decades longer, and in addition to recently declassified materials in the form of documents and audio tapes, Virtual JFK proudly features 30 entire minutes of Kennedy's press conferences--revealing moments of dismay, suspense, and outrage. Half a century after his abbreviated presidency, Americans are still trying to figure out who Jack Kennedy really was, and we invite viewers to get to know Kennedy directly--without talking heads or experts speaking on behalf of Kennedy.
Customer Reviews
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Mar 06, 2012 21:23:04
Maybe it is not change that we fear so much as the loss of control that we connect with change. Change, on anyone level, always carries an element of risk. Sometimes that fear, that perceived risk, is so big that it keeps us where we are now despite the current discomforts. 'Better the devil you know' - even if he is prodding rather too hard with his three pronged fork.
At the other end of the scale, there are times when we have probably all been guilty of change for change' sake: We change our hair colour, we change the layout of the living room furniture. We may even change jobs. Why? We do it to avoid development the changes that absolutely matter in our lives. Deep down it may be our choice of career that is development us unhappy, but we will change our hair colour 'just to cheer ourselves up', because that is an 'easy change'.
I used to change jobs every 4 months. No job I ever found was the 'right job'. At some level, I believed that if I found the 'right job' I would be happy. Once, as I was preparing to move from Switzerland to Australia, a 'much more captivating job' my boss rather easily pointed out to me: "You can move to Australia if you want but nothing will change because you are still taking 'You' with you." Ouch. At that point I finally woke up to what I was doing. I was avoiding development the changes that I absolutely needed to be making, and my excuse was because I was too busy caught up in the 'now'.
My life was not going according to plan because I had never created a plan for my life. I had no devotee key to success. I liked the spontaneity of life. And it was favorable to be able to blame 'circumstance' and 'personal changes' when things were not going right. So where did all that get us? Is change good or bad? Can we now see how is change is key to success?
I guess, taking all things into account, the write back to that is: looking as change is inevitable, why not embrace it and analyse it and use it. Use change as an opportunity to portion what is going right or wrong, and procedure correct. Seize change as your devotee key to success. How else are we going to grow? I will leave you with one last quote by Charles Darwin: "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."
change - The devotee Key to Success
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