ABC's Untrue Path -- "Docudramas" are the worst draft of history.

Opinion Journal ^ | Sept. 11, 2006 | John Fund

[oceanview]

so, what's your point? that the Japanese didn't really bomb Pearl Harbor on 12/7/1941?

[WoodstockCat]

and that can be hard to do and still be faithful to what actually happened.

Agree completely with you on that.

[newzjunkey]

Part 1 of the docudrama was good and did not portray the Clintonites as any worse than they really were. If anything they seemed less inept than the record would indicate. There's a reason it's called docudrama and not documentary (a term tortured by Michael Moore).

The only complaint I really have about the edits is that they used Clinton's finger-wagging incident instead of the grand jury testimony as originally cut into the film. That alteration changes that thread from focus on his self-inflicted legal trouble to the Democrat talking point that it was all about sex-obsessed Republicans and the uptight Ken Starr.

They dialed back on the Berger teleconference but not showing him literally leaving the call and the operation hanging. That's fine, it didn't change the thrust of the scene: buck-passing spiked another attempt to stop Bin Laden.

[dfwgator]

so, what's your point? that the Japanese didn't really bomb Pearl Harbor on 12/7/1941?

I thought that was the Germans.

(Forget it, he's on a roll)

[JimSEA]

OK! Now Oliver Stone proposed a movie "exploring the truth" of a 9/11 conspiracy involving the Bush Administration. Docudrama or sheer BS, I bet it is praised by the same people who are so upset about ABC's 9/11 venture.

[OldFriend]

What the heck is Fund whining about. Everything shown last night is well documented from many sources.

Can he point to a single instance that was incorrect?

[Beckwith]

Sandy Berger, who served as President Clinton's national security adviser, bitterly complained about a fictional scene in which he stopped CIA agents who were about to kill Osama bin Laden.

I still can't understand why Sandy Burglar is not in Leavenworth?

[CharlesWayneCT]

People portrayed poorly in docudramas are always complaining about how they are portrayed. Bambi Bembenek, Jeff MacDonald, Joey Buttafuoco, John Kerry, all have complained about how they were shown in movies which were dramatic portrayals of true stories.

I bet Black Hawk Down had people who were upset with how they were portrayed as well. In fact, I bet every docudrama has had some person portrayed who complained about how they were shown.

The question for a docudrama is whether the broad themes are accurate.

On the other hand, I'm all for removing the "docu" from docudramas, because a lot of people watch stuff like this and think they are watching actual conversations. "Based on a true story" would be sufficient.

The Clinton group knew they couldn't stop this movie. They found 3 places they could argue specific error, and used it to say the entire movie was a lie.

When someone pointed out 12 factual errors in Fahrenheit 9/11, the same democrats argued that the theme was accurate and you were bound to get a few details wrong.

[oceanview]

well sure, if the Clintonian definition of "incorrect" is used. Any factual error in the presentation, even for something tangential to the main point, makes the entire scene "fiction".

[oceanview]

that is the "magic bullet theory" question of this entire affair, and unfortunately, he was let off the hook by this administration.

[CharlesWayneCT]

I always think of them saying, in order:
Hear no evil,
Speak no evil,
see no evil,
wait, I think I've still got that one in my pants.

[the anti-liberal]

"...they realize that, no matter what the MSM may or may not say, that there are many, many people out there who will believe that what they saw or see in this program is actually what took place."

I sincerely hope critical thinking isn't that dead.

I hope the majority of people in our society still understand the concept of story telling, of reconstruction, of acting, etc... but then, given the condition of our education system, I suppose it's possible that critical thinking, and thinking for oneself, may very well be dead.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

I've always been amazed at this image. Is it for real? If so, what could they have been thinking?

[CharlesWayneCT]

I agree with your assessment, but would note that I wouldn't want to "teach the history" of Pearl Harbor by just showing "Pearl Harbor". You need to teach which parts are historically accurate, and which parts are just our best guess of what happened.

I think having this miniseries was important, having watched about half of the first half, because I realised that I needed to get a broad understanding of what was happening. But i didn't feel like I was learning history, just getting a feel for our failure in the 90s to take this seriously.

[Dixie Yooper]

I didn't recognize her. What a great actress. I loved the part she did recently in Grandma's Boy.

[weegee]

Something from PBS. It was intended as a "joke". Seems like all too knowing a joke.

[durasell]

so that means that every movie ever made, based on an actual event, is "fiction" simply because it may not represent EVERY SINGLE FACT that occurred that day. movies about the D Day invasion, Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, etc - are all no good, because they contain some blending of non-essential facts to make the presentation flow theatrically.




It means that they are "entertainments" and should be treated as such.

[uncbob]

I still can't understand why Sandy Burglar is not in Leavenworth?

Did you actually think Bush's DOJ or the GOP led congress would go after him like they should

Back when this happened I posted he would get off

You can ask the same thing about the Forged National Guard Documents

Both situations would have been used by the democrats for all they were worth if the shoe was on the other foot

[The Great RJ]

However Fahrenheit 911 was literally true and an absolute documentary of events.

[massgopguy]

I saw a guy in the Al Queda training camp scene with all his teeth.