CBS Revises the Reagans

Media Research Center ^ | October 23, 2003 | L. Brent Bozell, III

[Calpernia]

If Ronald Reagan were still in his prime, presidential 1980s form, he’d be saying to Hollywood: "There you go again."

There are two kinds of films about presidents. There are documentaries which usually try to dwell in factual examination; and fictional movies which have a habit of wildly making things up to satisfy the demands of making either effective entertainment, or effective propaganda.

Now CBS is preparing a dramatic and quite fictional miniseries for November titled "The Reagans." CBS promised reporters it would be "meticulously researched." Researched fiction, that is. The last Reagan-fictionalizing offender was Showtime, whose 2001 film on "The Day Reagan Was Shot" was denounced by Dick Allen, Reagan’s first national security adviser, as a parade of invented "history" that never happened, like Reagan aides James Baker and Michael Deaver urging surgeons to lie about Reagan’s condition. Hollywood should never call its historical fiction "meticulously researched." Rather, they should be forced to carry a disclaimer at the bottom of the screen saying "We made some of this stuff up."

Half of our dismay at this messy crossroads of entertainment and propaganda should be directed at Hollywood, which should be greeted with a shaker of salt every time a movie is "Based On a True Story." The other half should be directed as history-challenged Americans, those who could watch hysterical "history" films like Oliver Stone’s "JFK" and actually swallow the nonsense. To those Americans who get their history from the movies (and their news from the late-night comedians), we can only plead: read a book, or a newspaper, or else please don’t bother to vote.

America needs to remember the lessons that the leadership of Ronald Reagan taught us, but no one should expect those lessons to come from leftist Hollywood. Jim Rutenberg at the New York Times got a preview of the script for "The Reagans" and noted the script mentions nothing about the historic economic recovery of the 1980s or America’s delivery from Jimmy Carter. It was somehow missed by those meticulous researchers.

What’s worse in this film are what the producers and writers are "adding" to the historical record. Rutenberg noted that the writer creates a conversation between Reagan and his agent during the Hollywood years about offering the names of communists to Congress, in which fake-Reagan declares "I've never called anybody a commie who wasn't a commie." In real life, Reagan denied doing that, although he did cooperate with FBI investigations. This is a good thing, even if Hollywood will never catch a glimpse of Reagan’s moral vision: an unemployed communist screenwriter is hardly a historical atrocity compared to communists starving millions in the Ukraine.

The Times also reported that the script accuses Reagan of not mere apathy in facing the outbreak of AIDS, but of "asserting that AIDS patients essentially deserved their disease." During a scene in which his wife pleads with him to help people battling AIDS, fake-Reagan says, "They that live in sin shall die in sin" and refuses to discuss the issue further. This is not only fake history, but terrible Christianity. We are all sinners, and we all die requiring the grace of a forgiving God.

This is where Rutenberg’s script scoop is a little short on context. Why would Reagan be portrayed as a death-wisher? The producers of "The Reagans" are Craig Zadan and Neal Meron, who’ve been instrumental in bringing TV revivals of classic musicals to television for Disney. They are also openly gay activists who will be honored in Hollywood next March with an award at the "Building Equality" dinner from the gay-left lobby called the Human Rights Campaign.

In 1995, Zadan and Meron produced another "historical" film for television with their pal Barbra Streisand called "Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story," with Glenn Close playing the lesbian military nurse who came out of the closet and defied the Pentagon’s "homophobia." This movie did not invent nasty doings or sayings to cast Cammermeyer in a negative light. On the contrary, this was uplifting propaganda. Amazon.com reminds us that the script "captures the sad irony of doing everything right – serving one's country, taking care of the people in one's life – yet still being treated like a pariah for entirely irrational reasons."

Inquiring minds should also remember that CBS chief Les Moonves won’t be making any Clinton-bashing TV movies. In fact, in 1996, Bill Clinton talked Moonves into making "A Child’s Wish," a heart-tugging propaganda film dramatizing the wonders of his Family and Medical Leave Act. Clinton even made an appearance in the movie as himself. Nobody said those fictional "history" movies can’t be very political. And very dishonest.

[weegee]

The left lies. That's how he can say that. At least someone in the audience will agree with Alan.

As I understand it, Alan is on 700AM KSEV because the program director (the conservative Dan Patrick) wanted to buy into some Fox radio programming so that he could also tap into Fox News for breaking events (like Gulf War II).

Dan has talked with Alan on the air before (on local broadcasts) and Alan resorts to throwing temper tantrums. I believe that they've come to the conclusion not to talk to each other on the air anymore. I don't know why this show gets broadcast; it does little to advance real thought. The entire show is spent shooting down Alan's arguments. It shows the vacancy of political thought on the left but we already knew that.

On 90.1FM KPFT (tax payer supported socialist/Pacifica radio) the logic even become more strained. Is it any wonder that I switched over to 950AM KPRC to hear Michael Savage? These are the "talk" options at that hour (other times I just listen to a CD when I'm in my car).

[dozer7]

"Actually, I hope it airs. If it gets pulled the lefties will bray about censorship, if it makes it on the air the ratings will be so low they'll want to pretend it never happened. We all know what the Gipper accomplished and no revisionism by a bunch of Hollywood cretins is going to change his place in history. "

we will watch and gripe. too titillating not to watch. Me I will be out of town. but watch and gripe

[Gil4]

Don't for get sex. And murder.

[Coleus]

Thanks, maybe someday Ron Maxwell will do a real,true and factual movie about Reagan.

[Osage Orange]

You wrote:

"Don't for get sex. And murder."

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

Yeah, and SEX & MURDER..!!!

Thanks for pointing that out..!!

FRegards,

[Osage Orange]

"O'Donnell replied: “You will never get that TV show. [crowd laughter] You'll never, ever going to get the Republican TV show. The Writers Guild of America, my union, is at a minimum, 99 percent leftist liberal and, like me, socialist. [crowd laughter] And we don't know how to write it. We don't." ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

I'm sure this O'Donnell character was just kidding..I mean hey...if this guy was serious and really, really said this we would have heard about it on the nightly news. Right?

Wink, wink, nod, nod.............

[BJungNan]

History channel? FoxNews? Bravo?

[Starboard]

Don't disagree with your point, and acknowledge there's a lot of room for exploration/expansion on this very issue. However, I was trying to keep on topic (hard to do sometimes!) in a response to a previous poster.

BTW, you may want to check out the book 'Useful Idiots' by Mona Charen. Subtitle is "How liberals got it wrong in the Cold War and still blame America first." Good read.

Regards.

[jimbo123]

CBS: JoAnn Ross
Advertising Sales Vice President
Phone: 212-975-2095
E-mail: jcross@cbs.com

[weegee]

Bravo is owned by NBC. Don't know/care who owns History channel...

[Nik Naym]

"We all know what the Gipper accomplished and no revisionism by a bunch of Hollywood cretins is going to change his place in history."

Reagan was president 1981-1989. January 1989 was nearly 14 years ago. An 18 year old today (old enough to vote) has NO memory of Reagan in office. 1981 was 22 years ago. that means that people in their 20s have NO recollection of just how bad things were before Reagan took over, or just what a great president he was.

Revisionism IS a very dangerous thing in regards to Reagan. We better understand that it is up to US to make sure the truth is known, lest the left succeed in painting Reagan as less than the great president he was.

Nik

[BJungNan]

Bravo is owned by NBC.

Does that mean I should not watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy?

[E.G.C.]

den72315, member since November 1st 2003.

Troll alert, Troll alert.

[mewzilla]

Did anyone catch Merv Griffin on Joe Scarborough's show on MSNBC last night? I wasn't quite awake, but they were talking about this subject and I thought that I heard Griffin say something to the affect that Streisand was on the set a lot. If true, that means she's up to her eyeballs in this, and that there weren't any slip ups, this was intentional. It also means that even if some of the worst stuff is cut, the rest still has to be awful. Scarborough also had a quote by Sreisand from a recent appearance on Oprah's show where Streisand said she didn't mind Brolin playing Reagan as long as the role was done right. Three guesses what that meant.

[MeekOneGOP]

Re #57 (removed by Moderator):

Free Thinking Patriot

This account has been banned or suspended

Well that didn't last long did it, Troll ?? ...

[dfwgator]

Buh-Bye Troll