New HBO Series Presents Not-So-Angelic Agenda

Crosswalk ^ | December 10, 2003 | Cal Thomas

[YankeeGirl]

Seems like he despised the gay culture, because he felt (at that time of the mid 80's) it was powerless and ineffective, the very antithesis of how he perceived himself. Is that what you mean by homophobic?

[YankeeGirl]

I LOVE Ronald Reagan. I'm developing a great affection and respect for Nancy as she cares for him in his sunset days. But the kids were pretty "out there" and they were not, at least in the 80's, one big happy family. That IS historically accurate. Young Ronnie's career in the ballet and the arts had many people wondering if he was gay. I don't know (and don't care) if that was or is true, his father was (and is) the important figure.

How surprising is it that a blended hollywood family would have somewhat dysfunctional kids?

[highlander_UW]

Personally, I don't go to movies looking for accurate history. Generally, that's not the purpose.

That is your choice. My opinion is, if it's a historically based movie, then the elements that are historical need to be accurate...otherwise, it's just fiction and should be presented as such. If they want to make historical fiction, change the name from The Reagans or whatever else their topic is and chose a title that allows one to realize it's not a historically accurate film.

[ohioman]

Heart Disease has nothing to do with butt pirates who average over 50 bath-house partners a year. You swim with the homo sharks and you just might get bitten.

[ohioman]

Heart Disease has nothing to do with butt pirates who average over 50 bath-house partners a year. You swim with the homo sharks and you just might get bitten.

[.45MAN]

I don't get HBO or any of the movie channels. Haven't seen a movie for about 5 years.. Just waiting for one to open in Feb..

[scripter]

One more reason NOT to go the extra bucks each month for extended cable. Anyone catch the program?

We don't and won't subscribe to HBO for this and other reasons.

From the article: Gays and lesbians are portrayed as victims....

They are victims of sorts. Victims of:

the politically correct
not enough information
those who don't discourage a behavior that results in a deadly and contagious virus
those who try to denigrate the facts of homosexuality

We need to discourage homosexual behavior.

[talleyman]

Haven't had HBO in years - don't miss it a bit.

[kegler4]

I didn't say that movies don't have power -- they do. But they are rarely accurate history. Of course, almost nothing is accurate history. Historians -- liberal, conservative or in between -- always have to make decisions about what to include and what to leave out and some material is always open to intepretation.

[YankeeGirl]

I don't think I'm disagreeing with you, ohioman, but I'm not happy that I am more judgemental about homosexuals with aids than anyone else who brings an unfortunate fate upon themselves. Christopher Reeve was injured while doing some recreational activity. He now champions spinal cord research looking for both public and private dollars. Is a skier or drunk driver who crippled himself less deserving of compassion and resources than a hit and run victim?

Humans are weak. More than half of all heart disease would be immediately eliminated if people would watch their blood pressure and lose weight. I am just observing that we consider homosexual behavior more scornful than overeating, overdrinking, sloth, or other selfish habits that put us at risk.

Just playing devil's advocate. I am just as guilty of judging people's weaknesses, and just as blind to my own. Lord knows there is enough self-destructive behavior going on, why does homosexuality (which I would agree is mostly promiscuous) bother us more?

[RobbyS]

I think he despied its artsy-fartsy image as opposed to the image he wanted to project, which was more in line with that of Roehm and the Nazi perverts.

[kegler4]

"That is your choice."

It's not a "choice." It's the way life is. Any time you see "based on a true story," or "based on the book," or based on a historical event," suspend belief. The best you can hope for is that they got the core of the story more or less accurate. The side characters, the sequence of events, and even the outcome of some of the events will be changed either to fit a bias or to make it more "dramatic."

Face it, even documentaries are colored by what the maker decides to include or leave out. Every single thing in the movie might be absolutely and completely true, but the documentary is still slanted one way or another.

[republicofdavis]

I'm surprised that you're bothering to engage in reasonable discussion on the merits of this production. You're sure to find nothing but scorn since by definition, because of the subject matter, the film is bad.

I myself found it quite compelling drama. I don't agree with all the points made, but then I rarely do with anything. The acting and writing are outstanding.

[RobbyS]

It is the homosexual agenda that is the problem. It is fanatical and like socialism it is basically antithetical to
traditional Western Christianity. Be simply as something that is against the public good, it apologizes for patterns of behavior that are just plain unhealthy. It is as though drunks were to organize and demand the abolition of all drunk driving penalties.

[YankeeGirl]

I think it has been the most interesting thing on TV the last few nights. I don't watch too many things (not enough time, fall asleep in front of TV, etc), but this is holding my attention on many different levels. I love the role of "Harper" and the actress playing it. I can only take so many Law & Order re-runs in one week!

My dear friend and next door neighbor in the 80's was spending time with a college friend of ours. I only knew him in passing, but she was closer to him. He was dying of AIDS in the hospital, abandoned by his family. I had just found out I was expecting my first child. I hated when she came to visit me after being with him in the hospital. I don't know if I was being paranoid or not, but I was definitely angry on some level thinking that she might be putting my child at risk! The show is bringing back many of the feelings I had at that time. And showing me the things I didn't want to think about, that my friend was brave enough and kind enough to deal with. I think its very well done.

[Hat-Trick]

The reality is that there IS a natural repulsiveness toward turning a biological exit into a sexual input. And whenever a man proclaims himself "gay", that's exactly what I think of, because they themselves have reduced their identity and definition of themselves to a perverted sexual act.

Thanks for posting this. It is nice to have others affirm exactly what I've thought for many years, yet haven't been able to verbalize quite so effectively as this.

[RobbyS]

You may know that the new "Alamo"picture has not been released because of controversy over the story it tells. An article in The Texas Monthly about the new movies brings up an interesting point made by John Waye (who knew a bit about movie-making and of course made one of his own about the Alamo): movies have more in common with folk-lore than history.

[NYer]

*I would never subscribe to HBO even if they paid me!!*

Yeah ... like THAT would ever happen!

TimeWarner, here in upstate NY, is pushing digital cable ... for an additional $45 per month. AND, for an additional charge, subscribers can receive RAI - Italian tv. Cable fees are outrageous.

[YankeeGirl]

My last excursion into this strange thread...

"The reality is that there IS a natural repulsiveness toward turning a biological exit into a sexual input. And whenever a man proclaims himself "gay", that's exactly what I think of, because they themselves have reduced their identity and definition of themselves to a perverted sexual act."

Is it because I'm a woman that lesbian homosexuality seems... well weirder? I've always picked up a hint of "male-hating" as part of that, while I don't attribute an anti-female attitude to male homosexuality. Maybe I'm enjoying the show as much as I am because I'm not being subjected to lesbian sex scenes. (In fairness to the show, the "sex" scenes have not been graphic. Not suitable for kids, but not distracting from the storyline.)

[highlander_UW]

It's not a "choice." It's the way life is.

The low threshold of truth that you expect from a historical documentary IS your choice. I will grant you that Hollywood generally holds a similarly low threshold of truth as most recently evidenced by The Reagans movie. Even CBS was embarrassed by it and sent it off to their Siberia of Showtime. If I were a Showtime subscriber that would tell me something of what they thought of my intelligence and business.

Any time you see "based on a true story," or "based on the book," or based on a historical event," suspend belief.

I agree that since Hollywood has so devalued any reference to "based on" in relation to their projects one must suspend belief. The problem is that is only the case because the meanings of the words have been corrupted so far as to mean nothing.

The best you can hope for is that they got the core of the story more or less accurate. The side characters, the sequence of events, and even the outcome of some of the events will be changed either to fit a bias or to make it more "dramatic."

I agree with you, but it's sad and a perversion of what the phrase "based on" should mean. All it means now is they've borrowed a few names and perhaps twisted a historical event. They might as well have created an entirely unrelated name so as not to confuse people.

Face it, even documentaries are colored by what the maker decides to include or leave out. Every single thing in the movie might be absolutely and completely true, but the documentary is still slanted one way or another.

I agree that everyone approaches information with their own world view preset and therefore they will see everything with their own "tint" to it. That does not relieve what should be the responsibility of the documentary director to make every effort to step beyond their own narrow views and present as accurate a picture as possible. Not that it was billed as a documentary, but the movie The Longest Day comes to mind. The perspective moved from the American soldiers on the beaches, the American paratroopers, The generals in the headquarters for both sides, to the Germans soldiers in the bunkers on the beaches. If a documentarian would make the effort to show an event from that many perspectives it would be possible to get closer to the real situation. This is clearly a perspective that Michael Moore has no interest in.