While watching the loop of JFK's assassination, I felt like the room got increasingly uncomfortable with the film. There was something about the silence in the room as everyone watched the film that seemed eerie. Everyone expected the shot every single loop and knew exactly when it would happen.
This was actually my first time ever seeing footage of the assassination of JFK. I'd never looked it up before nor been showed it by a teacher or friend. I found it pretty graphic for a cheaply taken film, you could see parts of JFK's head and brain flying around after he had been shot. Watching Kennedy's head get blown open over and over with the film zooming in more and more was very uncomfortable to watch. I don't understand why JFK junkies would want to watch the film over and over to dissect it. I could feel the people around me get uncomfortable with the film as well. They knew what was coming as the vehicle came over the hill and nothing could change it.
I understand the controversy over the shooting of JFK as it did seem like the bullet was coming from a different angle than it should. I even read comments on the video that said the shot might've even came from the car itself, but that's highly doubtful. Overall, I just thought the video being looped over and over was uncomfortable and unnecessary.
I definitely had qualms about showing it, but it really is the necessary touchstone for the entire novel, not just the "22 November" chapter. If the vibe in the classroom was strange, imagine the scene at the party DeLillo describes in that excerpt from _Underworld_--where it's being shown at different speeds on different walls throughout a loft simultaneously, to an audience who's never seen it before (at this point, it's a very rare bootleg film).
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