Posted on 04/22/2016 6:07:56 AM PDT by Kaslin
*Co-authored with Tim Graham
HBO should stand for History Bungling Office. Over and over again, they have abused their disclaimer that certain films are "fact-based dramatizations." They re-litigated Al Gore's 2000 "victory" in "Recount." They viciously cartooned Sarah Palin's vice-presidential candidacy in "Game Change" without putting up any such disclaimer. Now, they're smearing Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as a pervert and painting Anita Hill as a saint of sexual harassment in "Confirmation."
The makers of this "fact-based" movie claim it's balanced. Baloney. The advertisements alone give away the game. Over the face of actress (and executive producer) Kerry Washington, who played St. Anita, are the words, "It only takes one voice to change history."
This ignores the obvious: Liberals lost the Thomas fight more dramatically than they lost the 2000 election. It wasn't just that he won his confirmation. The American people didn't believe Hill's lurid and unsubstantiated tales of "Long Dong Silver" chatter. Even the CBS-New York Times poll found 58 percent believed Thomas, to only 24 percent for Hill. Only 26 percent of women believed Hill.
But HBO is rewriting history to make Hill's unpersuasive smear a dramatic turning point of women's rights. Cue the violins!
Early on in the movie, Hill is reluctant to testify, saying, "When someone comes forward, the victim tends to become the villain." That's exactly what HBO is doing to Justice Thomas with this movie: villainizing the victim.
Appearing on Fox's "The Kelly File," the film's executive producer and writer Susannah Grant claimed she was never certain about who was telling the truth during the Hill-Thomas hearings. She insisted that the truth wasn't really that interesting. "What I think is interesting about these hearings that they were a watershed event in our collective cultural history. They completely changed how we perceive and talk about women's rights in the workplace."
Grant and HBO predictably ignore everything that's happened in America since the Hill fiasco that ruins their leftist narrative. The film ends with the happy note that sexual-harassment complaints quickly doubled at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency Thomas led during the Reagan years. The film doesn't breathe a word about all the sexual harassment and rape charges against, yup, Bill Clinton, and how Anita Hill came to Slick Willie's defense in op-eds and TV interviews and shredded the consistency of feminism in the process.
HBO would never do a film about Paula Jones or Kathleen Willey or Juanita Broaddrick with the words, "It only takes one voice to change history" over their face. Bill Clinton's alleged harassment of them in the workplace and hotel rooms could never make them feminist icons like Hill. Feminists put female accusers down when they question the behavior of "feminist" male politicians.
Why at this late date would HBO dredge this garbage up again? This is obviously an election-year ploy in a year with a female Democratic Party nominee. Liberals can easily compare Hill and Hillary Clinton as misunderstood feminist heroines facing down abusive Republicans. Kerry Washington is a huge Clinton backer, posting gushy notes on her Instagram account when Clinton appeared with her in Hollywood in February: "A good friend came by set today. Proud to say... #imwithher".
When NBC's Matt Lauer surprisingly asked Washington if the film was propaganda, Washington shot back, saying: "For me, I've always felt it's important for me to not hold back on my political beliefs because of what I do for a living. I don't think that I should have to be any less of an American because I'm an actor." But "Confirmation" insists that what Americans thought of the real Hill-Thomas hearings in 1991 is less worthy of consideration than Washington's fictionalized history.
I believed Anita Hill during those hearings and was angered that Clarence Thomas was confirmed by GHWB’s tie-breaker. The, just a handful of years later, I saw her commenting on a morning news program. She was asked about Bill Clinton’s ‘indiscretions’. Her comment was ‘well, you really have to consider his voting record’. THIS was a watershed moment for me. I had always looked hard at all the candidates and split my vote, voting for whom I thought would be the best office-holder, Republican or Democrat. Since hearing her hypocrisy, I have never voted for a Democrat for anything. I’m sure HBO won’t be showing her true colors either.
I dropped every premium channel off DirectV and I have online Netflix and the Amazon Fire TV interface. I used to run an Apple TV but the Fire is so much better and it will give me both Prime and Netflix. Added a Starz subscription too (I think it’s the best Premium).
I am quickly approaching to calling DirectV and telling them to stick it and their nickel and dime charges.
I thought the person who looked terrible in the movie was Joe Biden. If Americans remembered that, no way would he be VP. Many forgot.
The Thomas confirmation was the first time I ever called my Senators office in DC...telling them how stupid Hill’s testimony was.
The film doesn’t breathe a word about all the sexual harassment and rape charges against Bill Clinton,.
HBO would never do a film about Paula Jones or Kathleen Willey or Juanita Broaddrick
I must be a horrible Neanderthal but I felt even if Hill was telling the truth - none of that disqualified Thomas. I see nothing wrong with bawdy discussions between adults.
Even in my political naivety of that era I could see that she was a ringer. Consistent attitudes and actions by the dhimmicrats have provided me with tons of confirmation of their malevolent intent.
The History of our era will be lost in ‘infotainment.’ Future historians will never be able to tell what is true. Even ‘eyewitness’ reports will be distorted by the effect of infotainment.
Not stupid, it was perjury, and she should’ve been criminally indicted for it. That the sleazy party of perversion and sodomy turned around and ran on it in 1992 as the “Year of the (Communist) Woman” and elected a rapist and serial sex predator as President was the coup de grace.
We're gonna take you back, to the year 1939 when Charlie Chaplin and his Nazi regime enslaved Europe and tried to take over the world...But then an even greater force emerged, the "un" and the "un" un-nazied the world - forever.
“...They completely changed how we perceive and talk about women’s rights in the workplace.”
By allowing transgender males to use women’s restrooms and locker rooms, you have denied a woman’s right to privacy. But no one is talking about that. I would expect women nationwide to be up in arms over their loss of a fundamental right.
> HBO would never do a film about Paula Jones or Kathleen Willey or Juanita Broaddrick with the words, “It only takes one voice to change history” over their face.
Well said. Anita Hill is a liar and a pawn. No different from Sandra Fluke.
Anita Hill is no different than Tawana Brawley.
Well...I was naive and “stupid” was the only term I could come up with at the time. Ironically I had just been elected to a Board and another board members wife (both former state legislators) was very involved in the Anita Hill side, I found out later.
I watched it too...and thought her testimony was complete fantasy land. Didn’t make any sense to me at all.
Ask some US college students. They’ll probably believe all this...
I felt pretty much the same way about it. People say all kinds of things in the workplace, and don’t necessarily mean ill. However I did not find her believable at all. Some of the stories seemed very absurd. Plus I felt if he exhibited that sort of behavior it would not be restricted to her. And then I wondered why keep working with him? Additionally, if you have a serious problem with someone you need to say something at the time.
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