My adult life coincided with Jerry Brown’s political career, so I was interested in the PBS American Masters documentary that aired last night. Some reactions: 1) A politician is an unusual inclusion in Masters, as opposed to the American Experience show. I wonder what explains this.* 2) This documentary, at 90 minutes, has less drag than the customary 120 minutes, at Experience. 3) For that or other reasons, two significant omissions occur. First, in describing Brown’s decline in popularity during his “first second term” as California governor (1979-1983) the filmmakers do not mention the reaction to “Jerry’s judges” and their leftward bent on criminal and other cases. This was symbolized by Rose Bird, whom he appointed state chief justice. She and two associates justices ultimately were removed from the bench in an extraordinary election in 1986, part of a popular revolt that gripped California during that decade. Second, in stressing his maverick (or “Moonbeam”) tendencies, the film overlooks his alliance with public-employee unions, particularly during his latter terms as governor (2011-19) and including, most notably, the prison guards. This concession to a key element in the recent one-party Democrat dominance in the state is a notable part of the Jerry Brown saga. (I noted that a labor group helped fund the production.) “TV” documentaries lack a real-time feedback function, which would have been useful here. –Sept. 16, 2023
* Subsequently, I read in the LA Times that Masters is devoting this season to “thought leaders.”
Tim W. Ferguson 