I do not pay money to have a bad time. I already know that evil men prosper. I do not need to buy tickets to witness it. During Presidon’t’s era, there has been a proliferation of documentaries about people who influenced him such as Roger Ailes or Steve Bannon. While I agree that they should be studied to insure that as a society, we spot them before they flourish, I have no interest in paying for the enterprise. For people like Bannon, any attention is what he desperately wants and just validates his delusion that he deserves to be considered important, listened to and obeyed. Where’s My Roy Cohn? may be the exception to my rule. At least this documentary is about a dead man who will not get a thrill for stoking outrage and cannot pretend that he is still holding court even if the press is negative.
Another reason why I could have seen Where’s My Roy Cohn? in the theater instead of at home is because there is never a moment of praise for the titular historical figure. This documentary feels like a wicked gossip as it trots out all his friends, family members and associates, and not a single one has something nice to say about Cohn. I get really frustrated with interviewees who have the benefit of hindsight, but still insist that someone clearly rotten was actually a delightful person, which is completely possible, but I find myself judging the interviewee for not caring.
Well even though I got what I wanted, a scathing, merciless ninety-seven minute take down of a real life villain, I still found a way to judge people, especially the ones who benefited from Cohn’s wickedness while he was alive and probably never dared to utter a word of disagreement or protest while he was alive. Barbara Walters, a childhood friend and potential beard, does not appear. I have no idea if that makes her a great friend or an awful person. I will let God decide. As someone whom people have made an effort to spend time with and acted as if they enjoyed doing so to only inadvertently discover that those same people cannot stand me and have nothing but disparaging comments to share, hate me while I am alive and do not waste my time. Maybe Cohn did not mind, but skip the mercenary civility with me. Y’all are hypocrites feeding at the trough until it runs dry if you did not read him to filth to his face. Jim Zirin, a lawyer/author, gave me the impression that he always openly reviled Cohn so we could have brunch. No revisionist history for him!
I actually found myself *gasp* feeling bad for Cohn while watching the documentary! Where’s My Roy Cohn? even manages to find a way to call his mama ugly! I saw the photos, and while she is not a looker, ugly seems harsh. Maybe she was compared to all her contemporaries. Honestly the documentary engages in plenty of armchair psychology, which I love, to make even Cohn’s conception sound foreboding as if he was Damien from The Omen. Fortunately Cohn did a lot of bad things so once the documentary stops trucking in lofty ya mama jokes and into his actual misdeeds, a viewer can relax a little and stop clutching those pearls.
Where’s My Roy Cohn? uses archival footage, Cohn’s private photograph collection, and interviews with journalists who covered him to analyze and chronicle Cohn’s rise and fall in D.C. then rinse and repeat in Manhattan. As a New Yorker familiar with this era, it was utterly engrossing to hear how Cohn managed to have his finger in every pie as a fixer like Olivia Pope, but firmly wearing a black hat. While completely not cosigning Cohn’s actions, when one person was horrified that Cohn thought the judge on the case was more important than the merits of the law, um, he is not wrong.
The best part of watching Where’s My Roy Cohn? at home was becoming conscious that Matt Tyrnauer directed it and watching the extra features, which I highly recommend that you make time to watch, which include an extensive interview with the director. I have apparently been faithfully, albeit unintentionally, following his work since the beginning of his filmmaking career: Valentino: The Last Emperor, Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood and Studio 54, which is only in my queue unwatched….for now. Other than all these films being documentaries, as a viewer, I would have never inferred solely by watching these documentaries that they were directed by the same person. Even though I am still working through his filmography, I believe that this documentary may be his best work to date. Tyrnauer struck me as incredibly erudite and beautifully naïve (he did not believe that Presidon’t would get elected…aw, you sweet summer child). I appreciated that he intended this film to be used to educate viewers about the political dangers of this era, and that if people had more information, they would be better. See, he is so idealistic that it is adorable. Someone check on him after election day this year. Also his interview reveals a lot of great details about the interviewees, especially the family members, that you cannot get from simply watching the documentary such as this documentary features Roger Stone’s last interview before the gag order! So if for whatever reason, you enjoy following Stone in the media, this documentary is a must see film.
I appreciate that Tyrnauer characterizes himself as Gore Vidal’s disciple and apparently has taken up his mantle to denounce demagoguery. (Full disclosure: I am not familiar with Vidal’s work.) He particularly seemed aggrieved by Cohn’s hypocrisy as a gay, Jewish man who enjoyed persecuting Jewish and gay people. Cohn is a superb example of toxic masculinity. Part of the appeal of being a lawyer is wearing the suit, cis heterosexual protestant male drag, literally and figuratively to cloak oneself in power, and Cohn took it another step too far by equating certain identity markers as weak and thus not who he was. By embracing the worst gender normative characteristics of masculinity, he made life difficult for himself and others. In many ways, Cohn’s story is the natural conclusion if we do not encourage people to live authentically and differently. Lives are literally lost to prove that he is not what he is. In many ways, he reminded me of Robert Mapplethorpe-drawn to a life that he disparaged and people that he refused to protect.
Where’s My Roy Cohn? is fun for the whole family. My mom and I have incredibly different tastes, but she completely enjoyed the documentary, especially learning about all the famous people whom he knew. Still he used drugs and solicited sex workers so if it gets a little risqué, do not be shocked. A must see documentary for anyone interested in Presidon’t’s mentors.