Last Sunday evening, “60 Minutes”, the most successful American television broadcast in history, featured a segment with an interview of George Clooney. The show, which began in 1968 on the CBS network, is still a huge favourite with television viewers with its interviews, profiles of people in the news, feature segments, and hard-hitting investigative reports – much to the dislike of many politicians and large corporations. Clooney, one of Hollywood’s leading actors and filmmakers made his Broadway debut this month, in a stage version of the Oscar nominated historical drama “Good Night, and Good Luck”, which was released in 2005.
The film, which was directed by Clooney (who also co-wrote the script with Grant Heslov) portrayed the historic CBS television showdown on “See It Now” between veteran journalist Edward R Murrow and Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy, focusing on the anti-communist Sena-tor’s actions with the Senate Permanent Subcom-mittee on Investigations. In the film, which is set in the mid-1950s, Clooney played the role of Fred Friendly, who was the co-producer of “See It Now”. On stage, amidst the humming of typewriters and plumes of cigarette smoke – yes, everyone smoked in the office back in those days – Clooney portrays Murrow. When questioned by the CBS moderator Jon Wertheim as to why he didn’t play the protagonist in the film, Clooney replied, “Murrow had a gravitas to him that at 42 years old I didn’t – I wasn’t able to pull off.”
Edward Murrow had earned his gravitas during World War II with eyewitness radio dispatches from London amidst the Blitz. After the war, Murrow, along with Friendly, had created “See It Now”, a newsmagazine and documentary series, with the signature signoff ‘Good Night and Good Luck.’ The four-time Emmy Award winning show, which ran from 1951 to 1958, was known for its investigative journalism and in-depth analysis.
Gravitas, a word which originates from Latin means “weight” or “seriousness”. According to the Oxford English dictionary, gravitas is a noun meaning dignity, seriousness, or solemnity of manner. The word is not often bandied around in daily parlance, and in fact, one might deem it almost extinct in its application today, as genuine cases are rare and out of the glare of the public eye.
However, in the politics and business of the modern world, where personal imagery leans towards superseding integrity and substance, it’s a highly sought after ‘learned trait’. In this artificial bubble, the word gravitas has been construed as referring to one’s ability to project an aura of authority, credibility, and wisdom. This pseudo meaning goes beyond just having knowledge or expertise — it is a summation of qualities like poise, emotional intelligence, and decisiveness, which in turn present an image of trustworthiness and the capacity to perform in high pressure environments.
This current adaptation of the word has created an industry of courses, seminars, coaches and experts, creating the impression that this coveted attribute can be achieved, giving its seekers the ability to inspire others, maintain their composure at all times whilst making swift decisions in difficult circumstances. These programmes include topics such mastering emotional intelligence, where one is taught to demonstrate empathy – note demonstrate – respond thoughtfully, and develop strong communication skills, i.e. it’s not what one says – content and substance are irrelevant – but how one says it. The emphasis here is to communicate with confidence – very important projection – and to be concise – keep it short, don’t confuse oneself on subjects one is not entirely au fait with. Other areas addressed include cultivating calmness under pressure, focus on mastering the usage of the pause, to be decisive and accountable – developing an uncanny ability to pass the buck along might be more appropriate, and building expertise and knowledge – acquiring the lost art of reading.
Clooney and Heslov conceived the story of “Good Night, and Good Luck” when the US went to war in Iraq in the early 2000s and Clooney thought, “… it was a good time to talk about when the press held government to account.” At the height of the McCarthy-led crusade to weed out the supposed communist infiltration of the US Government, Murrow and his team overcame the climate of fear and intimidation to expose and dismantle McCarthy’s witch hunt with measured and fact-based editorials. As Heslov observed on 60 Minutes, “Originally it wasn’t for today, today. But it’s–this is a story that stands the test of time. I think it’s a story that you can keep telling over and over. I don’t think it will ever, thematically get old.” The CBS interview quickly evoked the expected foul tweet from the White House, having struck home at the heart of the matter.
The reality is gravitas is an inherent quality. One can attempt to acquire it by attending seminars and pretending to portray charisma, but over the course of time, one’s disguise will be unmasked when confronted with harsh truths, such as the agony and bitterness of defeat when one’s true colours are revealed. For now, it remains a rare attribute.
