Watergate series takes new perspective on scandal

Fifty years after Watergate, a new limited series is revisiting the scandal that birthed “a lot of this widespread conspiracy theorist sentiment in the country,” its showrunner said in a panel discussion Tuesday.  

Based on the first season of Slate’s “Slow Burn” podcast, “Gaslit” centers the perspective of Martha Mitchell (Julia Roberts), the wife of former U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell (Sean Penn) who leaked the details of her husband’s dealings with former President Nixon. 

She was among the first people to publicly accuse Nixon of his involvement in Watergate, but members of the press and public alike were quick to dismiss her as a hysterical woman and alcoholic, said creator Robbie Pickering. 

“I’m very interested in the hot messes of history,” Pickering said Tuesday at a Washington Post Live roundtable. 

Premiering April 24 on Starz, “Gaslit” blurs the lines between good and bad characters, focusing on the social and political pressures of the time period. The historical drama explores the clashing motivations of the Mitchell couple — one an outspoken socialite with a keen ear for gossip, and the other the president’s loyal confidant. 

“This was a woman who was marginalized, complex yet complicit, but she evolved, and that evolution was not fully embraced,” said Mignon Clyburn, Lionsgate board member and former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. “The powers that be did everything they could to minimize, to vilify, to ensure that she was just a footnote in history.” 

Clyburn said journalists share some of the blame for “demonizing” Mitchell in the public eye and amplifying misogynistic narratives. 

As the news media continues to shape public perception of today’s lawmakers and their families, Clyburn said she hopes “Gaslit” will motivate viewers to learn more before making judgments. 

Washington Post reporter Sally Quinn, who moderated the panel, compared Mitchell to another outspoken spouse in modern politics: George Conway, husband of senior counselor to former President Trump Kellyanne Conway. George Conway emerged as a vocal Trump critic in 2018 despite his wife’s high profile within the administration.  

“Kellyanne Conway worked for Donald Trump, and George Conway spoke out against Trump almost from the beginning and really way out there,” Quinn said. “No one ever once said he was hysterical or crazy.” 

Pickering drew several comparisons between the aftermath of Watergate and the political climate under Trump. He said he thinks the Watergate period spawned the nation’s enthrallment with conspiracy theories, as Nixon’s downfall affirmed some people’s suspicions about American government. 

“I see a conspiracy theory movement in this country that’s pretty alarming,” Pickering said. “But we didn’t really dwell on that aspect of the scandal.” 

He instead focused on the relationships of those caught up in the controversy.  

Mitchell’s story, he said, inspired a psychology term called “the Martha Mitchell effect,” in which a person’s accurate perception of reality is deemed delusional, leading to a misdiagnosis. When a producer made the point to Pickering that this phenomenon was a synonym for “gaslighting,” the project title was born. 

“Martha is a woman who is easy to dismiss, because she was kind of known for being silly and being larger than life and being this socialite,” said actress Allison Tolman, who plays journalist Winnie McLendon. “She was in a unique position to be gaslit.”