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The Reagans
townhall.com ^ | 12/02/03 | Matt Towery

Posted on 12/01/2003 9:40:47 PM PST by kattracks

The controversial TV program "The Reagans" finally aired on Showtime this past weekend. CBS had been scheduled to broadcast it, but declined to go forward with the docudrama after a chorus of mostly conservatives protested the production's alleged liberal, anti-Reagan bias. Having viewed it on Showtime, I am more convinced than ever that these friends of Reagan should have kept their mouths shut and allowed the program the wider audience it would have had with CBS.

I know, I know. President Reagan consistently polls near the top of surveys that ask Americans to name our greatest president. I also know the made-for-TV movie presented a twisted and negatively biased take on Reagan's eight years in office. But unlike those who howled at CBS for originally picking up this show, I believe these are the exact reasons it should have aired.

Forget politics and historical accuracy. "The Reagans" was so amateurish and unrealistic that it would have been perfect as a comedy skit on "Saturday Night Live," instead of as the docudrama it so pitifully impersonated. Those who vocally fought the airing of the program did the nation a great disservice in depriving millions of the opportunity to finally see Hollywood make a total and unapologetic ass of itself. They also may have ignored a more serious threat to the Reagan legacy, as I'll explain.

Actor James Brolin tried gamely to bring the Reagan character to life, and the inept performance of this husband of Barbara Streisand and sidekick to the long-ago TV doctor Marcus Welby was entertaining enough in itself to deserve a broader viewership for the show. And given how out of touch with the rest of America that Hollywood is, it is doubly entertaining to imagine Streisand adoringly toasting her husband at some industry party in celebration of his "triumphant" new work, while at the same time CBS switchboards are set ablaze by callers wanting to know the name of the local high school that produced this wretched melodrama.

But CBS chose to exercise its rights as a company to not broadcast "The Reagans," again prompting some to confuse government censorship with the business judgment of a corporation as it reacts to the concerns of its viewers. The two are not the same.

The early and vocal critics of CBS, who responded in force when early leaks of the show's contents indicated a hatchet job on Reagan, should now turn their attention to what is potentially a more subtle, sophisticated and long-lasting disinformation and misinformation campaign to belittle the Reagan presidency. I'm talking about those who teach history to our young people, and the textbooks they rely on for their view of the past.

Sure, schools and their teaching materials vary. And, yes, teachers should be given significant freedom in the classroom. I'm not advocating the burning of books or a mass uprising against classroom teachers. But it might be interesting for some of those who were so up in arms over "The Reagans" TV show to commence a thorough examination of the history books and other references used to describe the Reagan era.

Remember, young people believe history books -- not television docudramas -- contain an objective and straightforward account of bygone days. But a review of these materials might betray the same tendency as the entertainment industry to depict the Reagan administration as responsible for a period of unbridled greed and class warfare. That's certainly the (mistaken) perception of many, particularly those who weren't around or weren't paying attention during his years in office.

And one can't help but wonder if Reagan's leadership in the economic recovery, expansion of jobs and strong brinkmanship that led to the end of the Cold War might be overshadowed in contemporary historical discourse by talk of the Iran-Contra affair. To this day, I am convinced that most Americans in a tizzy about Iran-Contra don't even know what happened.

Surely the Reagan tax cuts will be mentioned in any version of history, but how will they be represented? As statements of "fact" about the alleged pitfalls of so-called "trickle down" economics, so often used to discredit Reagan? Would those same texts note that liberal icon John F. Kennedy subscribed to the same school of economic thought?

Don't get me wrong; I was just as outraged as anyone at last week's TV debacle. It portrayed Nancy Reagan as a wicked witch so omnipresent in her control of the White House as to make Hillary Clinton look like a shrinking violet. This was nothing shy of cruel, given her current struggles in caring for her ailing husband.

But TV -- really bad TV -- has become standard fare. Had "The Reagans" aired on CBS, few young people would have even bothered to watch it. But these same young folks have no control over their school reading assignments. Given our cultural climate, one wonders if the time spent protesting "The Reagans" might have been more wisely used to review the potentially bad show that can't be turned off by a TV switch -- the local classroom.

©2003 Creators Syndicate

Contact Matt Towery | Read Towery's biography



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: thereagans

1 posted on 12/01/2003 9:40:47 PM PST by kattracks
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To: kattracks
Those who vocally fought the airing of the program did the nation a great disservice in depriving millions of the opportunity to finally see Hollywood make a total and unapologetic ass of itself.

No, getting this lying hit piece off of CBS was the best thing one could have done for protecting Reagan's legacy from a smear job. People who have seen the movie "JFK" think that movie was factual, when in fact, its just a pack of made up nonsense.

2 posted on 12/01/2003 9:47:33 PM PST by KC_Conspirator (This space for rent)
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To: kattracks
Forget politics and historical accuracy. "The Reagans" was so amateurish and unrealistic that it would have been perfect as a comedy skit on "Saturday Night Live,"

-------------------------------

Hitler started out amateurish sounding. However, if a lie is repeated long enough with enthusiasm, it will be believed. There must be some editing to preserve sanity. That presentation did not belong anywhere on ant broadcast system.

3 posted on 12/01/2003 9:50:58 PM PST by RLK
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To: kattracks
I'm curious......did anyone actually watch this hit piece on the greatest President of the 20th century?

I would have, but I was watching a football game.
4 posted on 12/01/2003 9:58:22 PM PST by Howie66 (Lead, follow or git the hell out of the way!)
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To: kattracks
I have no doubt that the poor quality of this movie made it easy to dump it from Network. I think that after the outcry started the powers that be realized it would be widely watched by all the best folks, not just the old duffers plopped on the couch that evening. Realizing it s*cked, and its totaly s*ckiness would be the dominant theme of post-viewing discussion, they did what any producer worth their salt does, they let it "close in New Haven".

5 posted on 12/01/2003 10:01:02 PM PST by jocon307 (The Dems don't get it, the American people do.)
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To: Howie66
Sorry, I hadn't listened to my CD of fingernails on a chalkboard for a while. Maybe next time.

I've had my fill of leftist media spin on Reagan. I wouldn't waste my time watching this trash. Life is too short.
6 posted on 12/01/2003 10:26:10 PM PST by DoughtyOne
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To: StarFan; Dutchy; alisasny; Black Agnes; BobFromNJ; BUNNY2003; Cacique; Clemenza; Coleus; DKNY; ...
ping!

Did anyone see this? (I didn't... don't have Showtime)

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

7 posted on 12/01/2003 10:30:33 PM PST by nutmeg (Is the DemocRATic party extinct yet?)
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To: nutmeg
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1031259/posts

It was ridiculously over the top... Even campy!
8 posted on 12/01/2003 10:34:05 PM PST by LurkerNoMore!
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To: DoughtyOne
I'll drink to that!

9 posted on 12/01/2003 11:03:59 PM PST by Howie66 (Lead, follow or git the hell out of the way!)
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To: kattracks
*BUMP*!
10 posted on 12/01/2003 11:12:32 PM PST by ex-Texan (CBS [SeeBS] Deserves a Long Double Flush . . . Pull the Chain!)
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To: kattracks
While I agree with Matt that the Classroom is ultimate venue for truth; that is the fight of our history.

Goebbels, Nazi exponent of Hitler’s “Big Lie,” averred that if a lie were repeated often enough and long enough, it would come to be perceived as truth.

We must confront the lies at every maneuver possible.
11 posted on 12/01/2003 11:14:06 PM PST by CyberCowboy777 (He wore his gun outside his pants for all the honest world to feel.)
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To: Howie66
Low and behold, it's on right now. I watched about ten minutes of it and Reagan was portrayed as a totering old man manipulated by Nancy like a sock puppet. All the cliches about the children were played up. In an interview by his son Ron, Reagan was raked over the coals as if he was an axe murderer. Environment and other sticky issues predominated. The flap about Regan's comments regarding some trees contributing to polution was used.

This screenplay had to have eminated from the darkest vaults of the DNC. It's garbage.

The left never fully grasped what Reagan was all about. They never saw his strengths and to this day think Carter was a better president. Martin Sheen comes in a close second for them. Revulsion as I type...
12 posted on 12/01/2003 11:30:00 PM PST by DoughtyOne
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To: CyberCowboy777
From TimesWatch:

As MRC's Brent Baker notes, while even liberal critics like the Washington Post's Tom Shales find the movie "unseemly and hugely inappropriate," Stanley doesn't see what all the fuss is about: "There is no reason Showtime's version of 'The Reagans' could not have been broadcast on CBS earlier this month....Anyone eagerly anticipating or dreading a hatchet job on the 40th President is bound to feel confounded. James Brolin's portrayal of Ronald Reagan is uncannily convincing and respectful." Though not exactly gung-ho about the movie, she's relatively kind, even vouching for its historical accuracy: "'The Reagans' is reasonably accurate, at times engrossing, at other times silly and sometimes even dull."

In a Monday story on the turmoil Bush's surprise trip to Baghdad visited upon the media, Stanley maintains: "Boycotted by conservatives, canceled by CBS and finally broadcast last night on Showtime, the film, 'The Reagans,' turned out to be milder and more balanced than both its critics and its supporters had suggested."

13 posted on 12/01/2003 11:37:43 PM PST by At _War_With_Liberals
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To: kattracks
I will boycott CBS and its sponsors, they created this defamation and they should bear the consequences!
14 posted on 12/02/2003 4:49:16 AM PST by leprechaun9
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