While there have been several notable moments throughout U.S. history, many believe November 22nd, 1963 to be one of its most infamous days. For those who don’t know the significance of this date, it's the day that John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president in our country's history, was assassinated in very public fashion during a Presidential motorcade in Dallas. Now, you might be asking yourself: 'Why is Austin blogging about this particular topic on a random June afternoon?' Well, I'll tell you exactly why.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that most of us are still in quarantine right now due to COVID-19 and that binge watching has reached an all-time high over these past few months. In case you've run out of new content to watch and are looking to kick back and enjoy something with some loose historical implications, I'd like to do you all a favor and recommend the series 11.22.63 for your viewing pleasure. See, all the pieces are starting to come together! This limited series, which originally dropped back in 2016, stars James Franco and is based on the 2011 Stephen King novel of the same name.
To provide a brief synopsis while also not spoiling much for you, 11.22.63 is centered around James Franco's character, a recently divorced English teacher named Jake Epping. Jake is given the opportunity by a close friend to travel back in time to the 1960's in an attempt to prevent JFK's assassination; however, as is often the case in stories with this type of theme, Eppling becomes rather attached to the life he's made for himself in the past, which complicates things for him. Jake is forced to try and find a way to discreetly carry out his mission to prevent JFK's murder in the days and weeks leading up to it, while also not blowing his cover as a time traveler and manipulator. Like most shows or movies, there's also a romantic element involved in the story line, which you'll just have to tune in to see.
By no means is this your typical show and that might be what I like about it most; 11.22.63 takes real life events and twists them to create a new reality, while also showing what life could have been like if JFK had never been shot. Would the dreaded 'Kennedy Curse' still have materialized, or would we have seen Bobby and Jack grow old together after they both served as President? We'll obviously never know because of the horrid events on and around November 22nd, 1963, but through this series, which came and went without much fanfare when it originally dropped, we can imagine just a little bit.
You can watch this exclusive 8 part miniseries on Hulu - it's a really quick, exciting and easy watch, so be sure to check it out and let me know what you think.
- Austin