If you wanted to single out one single event of the twentieth century which kick started the popularization of "conspiracy theories" in the popular imagination, look no further than the JFK assassination. While the official history and mainstream narrative insists that Lee Harvey Oswald acted as a "lone gunman", theories have persisted in the decades since pointing to a much larger conspiracy. Oliver Stone's JFK tackles the conspiracy theories as seen through the eyes of New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner), while also drawing extensively on the book Crossfire by Jim Marrs. The complexity of the evidence and its relevance often overwhelms the audience, but many of the questions it raises about what really happened at Dealy Plaza in 1963 should give you plenty of food for thought. An interesting little-known fact about the aftermath of the JFK assassination and the questions surrounding it is that this is when the use of the term "conspiracy theory" as an insult first became popularized. Who was responsible for this? It was none other than the CIA.
