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October 31, 2003
The RNC wants to be involved in mini-series
From Atrios comes word that the RNC wants to fact check an upcoming miniseries.
The Republican National Committee Friday asked CBS to allow a team of historians and friends of former President Ronald Reagan and his wife to review a miniseries about the couple before it airs.Oddly, the RNC showed no such concern over the historical accuracy of the recent "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis" movie made by Showtime, which portrayed George Bush as being much more decisive and "heroic" than reports have indicated. As Mark Jerkowitz noted in his Boston Globe review of the film:Republicans have expressed concern that the miniseries, titled "The Reagans," may inaccurately portray the couple.
[...] [RNC Chairman Ed] Gillespie said that if CBS denies the request, he will ask the network to run a note across the bottom of the screen every 10 minutes during the program's presentation informing viewers that the miniseries is not accurate.
[...] Gillespie said that if CBS rejects both requests, the RNC would to sell tapes and DVDs on its Web site that would present "the real Reagan record."
If "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis" could ever be cut down to a bite-size portion, it would make the best presidential reelection ad ever conceived, one that would force every Democratic challenger to abandon the chase for the White House.One of the complaints about the Reagan miniseries is that one scene in it shows Reagan talking to his wife Nancy about AIDS and saying "They that live in sin shall die in sin". Gillespie objects to the line because there's no evidence that Reagan ever said it. Yet the Washington Post reports that "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis" likewise attributes words to Bush - "If some tinhorn terrorist wants me, tell him to come and get me! I'll be at home, waiting for the bastard!" - that he never said.[...] This Showtime "docudrama" promises to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the administration's machinations and deliberations in the days right after 9/11. Instead, it proves a slick piece of propaganda that deifies the president and portrays the wheels of government as turning with well-oiled precision in the face of the gravest crisis to confront the country in a generation.
So, Mr. Gillespie, would you care to explain why you are so insistent on making sure that Reagan is portrayed accurately, but showed no concern whatsoever about accuracy of a movie about Bush?
Docudramas always take liberties - that's to be expected. Its one reason you can't take them as an accurate reflection of the truth. I also don't have a problem with trying to make a movie as accurate as possible. What I do object to is an organization wanting to review a movie to ensure "historical accuracy" when they didn't give a flying fig about accuracy when it was making their guy look better than he actually is. I'm not surprised, though - this kind of double standard is about par for the course.
Posted by thorswitch at October 31, 2003 09:56 PM
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