As with any historically based drama, the new Netflix film from screenwriter and director
Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7, has audiences asking how accurate it is, and
how much was cooked up for entertainment purposes. The film follows the 1969 trial of a group
of anti-war activists known as the Chicago 7, originally the Chicago 8, charged with
conspiracy and inciting to riot, among other charges, for protests held outside the 1968
Democratic National Convention in Chicago. That eighth man was Bobby Seale, co-founder
of the Black Panther Party. His trial was severed from the original one during the proceedings,
dropping the number of defendants to seven. Luckily for Sorkin, the real trial was such
a circus that he didn't have to stretch his imagination too far to produce some truly
crowd-pleasing on-screen antics. In fact, the contentious and dramatic trial was so
full of spectacular details that Sorkin had to pick and choose what to put in his screenplay,
and he ended up leaving out some of the wackiest things that Abbie Hoffman and the other activists
did during their defense.
If you're wondering whether or not Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin wore judge's robes in court
one day, the answer is yes, they definitely did. But they did not sport police uniforms
underneath them as the movie portrays. And when it comes to Hoffman's behavior, the film
left out one of his most audacious acts during the trial.
Hoffman never passed up a chance to mock what he viewed as unjust authority. As Slate pointed
out, his behavior during the trial was so contemptuous of the process that he saw as
a farce that some of his most outrageous behavior in the courtroom didn't even make it into
the movie. He taunted the judge — also a Jewish man named Hoffman — in Yiddish, calling
him a term defined by eJewish Philanthropy as, quote, "describing embarrassing behavior
by a Jew where a non-Jew can witness it."
"And the record should reflect that defendant Hoffman and I are not related." "Father, no!"
According to Time magazine, Abbie also called the judge a, quote, "stinker, fronting for
the gentiles." When the judge got fed up with Hoffman's mouth, the irreverent activist told
him he'd have to cut the tongue out of it in order to shut him up.
"Mr. Hoffman, are you familiar with contempt of court?" "It's practically a religion for
me, sir."
However, in what ranks as one of his wildest tactics during the trial, Hoffman got up on
the defense table and did a headstand in order to distract media attention away from the
testimony of a witness brought by the prosecution. He asked defense attorney Leonard Weinglass
if the Chicago police officer's testimony would hurt their defense, and the answer was
yes it would. "Well," Abbie said, "I'll make it disappear." He hopped up on the table,
did a quick yogic inversion, and the spectacle, rather than the officer's testimony, was what
made the evening news.
Although Sorkin has a bit of thing for scripting idealistic monologues, he seems to have passed
on the chance to do so in The Trial of the Chicago 7, even though the real trial actually
featured a rather stirring speech from Weinglass' fellow defense attorney William Kunstler.
In a climax no less moving, Sorkin opted to focus on flashbacks to scenes of police ruthlessly
attacking protestors at the 1968 demonstrations. As recorded in the official court transcripts,
Kunstler told the court that he was "outraged" that certain witnesses the defense had wanted
to call were not allowed to take the stand, as supporters of the accused shouted, "Right
on!"
The attorney went on to say that he was prepared to go to jail and even forfeit his license
to practice law for his forceful admonishment of how judge Julius Hoffman handled the trial.
He concluded,
"I am going to turn back to my seat with the realization that everything I have learned
throughout my life has come to naught, that there is not meaning in this Court, and there
is no law in this Court."
Kunstler's speech wrapped up a trial full of antics, spectacle, and, indeed, outrage
for anyone who strives for a society based on justice, equality, and basic human values.
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