For Kerry, some memories worth forgetting

George Butler has an eye for talent. In 1975 he filmed a young Arnold Schwarzenegger’s preparations for the Mr. Universe competition, solidifying his reputation as a documentary filmmaker and rocketing Schwarzenegger onto the national radar. Perhaps it was this same instinct that inspired Butler to document his 40-year friendship with presidential candidate John Kerry. In 2002, when Kerry began his campaign for the Democratic nomination, Butler revisited his archival footage and photographs as he contemplated making a film about the Massachusetts senator. Despite having set out to make a film about Kerry’s present candidacy, however, Butler found himself drawn to the past. "The most interesting material was his time in Vietnam and the peace movement," he said in a statement.

Drawn into the time warp that would later shape so much of the presidential race, Butler began to make a movie about the heroism he saw in Kerry’s Vietnam-era actions. The result, a 90-minute documentary entitled Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry, is set to hit theaters on Friday. But for the Kerry campaign, something much bigger might be hitting the fan.

Although the campaign has consistently emphasized Kerry’s service and decoration in Vietnam, it has been much slower to speak of Kerry’s high-profile criticism of the war upon his return. Michael Munger, chair of Duke’s political science department, explained that it’s all too easy for the opposing camp to paint any "criticism of America, [even] as a loyal American," as unpatriotic. Many Democrats view Kerry’s antiwar activism as a goldmine for the other side—an unsightly blemish on an otherwise clean record.

At the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival back in April, however, Butler spoke with optimism about his film’s potential to positively influence voters. Although he warned that making a film with the intention of changing minds is usually a doomed prospect, he maintained that a filmmaker can get his message accross simply by making a good movie. Explaining the film’s planned October release date, Butler asserted that if the world saw John Kerry as Butler himself knew him, they were bound to understand his leadership potential.

Munger, on the other hand, predicted that the buzz around the film is more likely to consist of "arguments over the veracity" and "micro-fact checking" than the substance of Kerry’s character. Essentially, Munger said, the film retells the damaging story the Swift Boat ads have been pushing, "with somebody else doing the voiceover." Although the film won’t have the negative spin the ads placed on Kerry’s extensive protests of the war, the images themsleves could potentially invoke the same sentiments. According to Munger, "Karl Rove couldn’t have asked for anything better."

Surprisingly, despite the potentially damaging nature of the film and the heavy involvement of many prominent Democrats in its production (such as narrator Ben Affleck), the release date was never pushed back. Think Films picked up the movie over the summer and finalized its slated September premiere at the Toronto film festival.

When asked whether the Kerry campaign has played any role in shaping the documentary, Butler responded in a statement, "There has not been any contact with the campaign or Kerry regarding the making of this film…I’ve never talked to Mary Beth Cahill or any of the top campaign people." Nonetheless, Butler has consistently emphasized his strong loyalty to Kerry, saying that the two "raised our kids together."

But if the Kerry documentary is anywhere near as harmful as analysts like Munger predict, perhaps George Butler will come out looking more nonpartisan than even he could have hoped.