Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

    As part of the unrelenting crush of 9/11 documentaries and specials coming out on the fifth anniversary of the attacks, ABC has been promoting "The Path to 9/11," which it calls a "docudrama." Based on real events, but with healthy heapings of dramatic and fictional elements.

    It paints a pretty partisan picture, and thus debate about it has been pretty partisan as well. Conservatives say, "Hey, you guys had your 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' so drop all the self-righteous demands for accuracy!" Liberals say it's basically one long propaganda piece to firmly absolve President Bush and further indict the easy target that is Bill Clinton.

    While some of the complaints are coming from the usual suspects (including Clinton, whose complaints apparently led to some last-minute edits), some of the criticism from "the other side" is notable. People depicted in the film are upset about wholly fabricated scenes and situations, an FBI consultant brought on board quit over the fictionalizations, star Harvey Keitel acknowledges there are issues, and some of ABC's partners (like Scholastic) are bailing. It's airing commercial free to spare the struggle over finding a sponsor. The fact that ABC largely limited advance "screeners" to presumably favorable reviewers further shows their apparent discomfort.

    Blogs have been in a froth over this thing for a while, but now, just hours away from its airing, it's hitting the mainstream. After standing its ground against some pretty high-level critics, now Variety reports ABC is having second thoughts.

    For a relatively level-headed look at what's in the film, see this Editor & Publisher overview. Note the subsequent updates. Our own Linkmeister has inquired whether KITV will air it, and reports that KITV says it has no choice. He notes they opted out of "Saving Private Ryan" (discused on HT here).

    So is this a big deal or much ado about nothing? Same old, same old, or unconscionable politicizing of a shared tragedy? Will this whole flap be free advertising for ABC and a smashing success for the network? Or will it unfold into a mess that a Disney company probably shouldn't have waded into in the first place?

  • #2
    Re: ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

    Wasn't disney one of the original funders of Farenheit 911?
    Description of Incident: In early May, 2004, the Walt Disney Company announced that it will block its subsidiary, Miramax, from distributing Moore's latest film. Disney has declared that, being a family oriented entertainment company, it does not want to be associated with a film that has such strong, partisan political intentions. Some believe that Disney fears it will lose tax breaks from the state of Florida, under the governorship of Jeb Bush. Conservatives criticized Disney in May 2003, when it announced that Miramax would distribute the film.
    http://www.thefileroom.org/documents...ase.cfm/id/822

    It seems strange that Disney owns ABC....and would let ABC run this...

    Maybe the ratings are down and Disney thinks this is what it will take... maybe they are irked that they pulled out of the Michael Moore project before it got the attention and publicity it did?

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

      One of the many questionable things about this thing is that it's running commercial-free, while it reportedly cost $40M to produce. How then does ABC expect to recoup its costs? Is it a $40M campaign contribution to the Republican party?
      http://www.linkmeister.com/wordpress/

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

        How then does ABC expect to recoup its costs? Is it a $40M campaign contribution to the Republican party?
        Did you see how much the "Magic Kingdom" charges for a day of fun? They will make it back in no time.
        Listen to KEITH AND THE GIRLsigpic

        Stupid people come in all flavors-buzz1941
        Flickr

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

          Originally posted by alohabear
          Did you see how much the "Magic Kingdom" charges for a day of fun?
          You referring to Disney, or the G.O.P.?

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

            Whatever happens to the film, this is rapidly becoming a PR disaster for Disney and ABC. Here's some interesting backstory on how/by whom the movie was made (I don't know how much can be corroborated, but there are plenty of citations).

            http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-bl...t_b_29015.html
            http://www.linkmeister.com/wordpress/

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

              I'm surprised at the outrage. There is plenty of blame to go around for being 'asleep at the wheel' in both parties and initial reports said this show was evenhanded. The 9/11 Commission Report, which I did read, reached pretty much the same conclusions that Clinton was distracted by the Lewinsky scandal and there were several opportunities to kill Bin Laden which we didn't take advantage of for a number of reasons. And, then the Bush administration had multiple failures to comprehend the gravity of the situation as well.

              It wasn't until the big guns started screaming bloody murder (which reminds me of the quote from Hamlet, paraphrasing here, 'methinks they doth protest too much' and my grandmother's version 'only the guilty taketh the truth to be hard') that all of sudden people started to scramble and call for, dare we say it, censorship? Even NYT was of the opinion it should be aired. One thing is for sure, if it does air, a lot of people will watch.

              Edited to add this link to Variety's review. They describe it as 'earnest but scattered and a little plodding' Variety review
              Last edited by glossyp; September 8, 2006, 02:11 PM.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

                I have a copy of the 9/11 Report, but Think Progress found it before I could regarding this claim that Clinton was distracted by the Lewinsky scandal (and by the way, who impeached whom, thus causing any possible distraction?)

                What the 9/11 Commission actually says (pg. 118):

                Everyone involved in the decision had, of course, been aware of President Clinton’s problems. He told them to ignore them. Berger recalled the President saying to him “that they are going to get crap either way, so they should do the right thing.” All his aides testified to us that they based their advice solely on national security considerations. We have found no reason to question their statements.
                http://www.linkmeister.com/wordpress/

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

                  Originally posted by glossyp
                  I'm surprised at the outrage. There is plenty of blame to go around for being 'asleep at the wheel' in both parties and initial reports said this show was evenhanded.
                  Um. "Initial reports" came from the recipients of the 900 or so advance DVD screeners, a group seemingly cherry-picked to speak favorably or at least not too critically (whereas some of the people actually portrayed in it did not have such courtesy extended to them).

                  Absolutely there is plenty of blame to go around, for both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and perhaps stretching back earlier. But this film definitely puts much of the load on Clinton, and even the Bush elements are insulated through omission or other parties ("It was Tenet's fault, and Tenet was from Clinton's days!").

                  Obviously left- and right-wing bloggers can go off the deep end, so instead of the Huffington Post, I'd again start with the E&P review of the film. The bit about almost nabbing Osama? It's a key point in the film, and it never happened.

                  I mean, Disney has talked itself into a corner. It pitched it as a "docudrama," with an emphasis on the documentary, but now it's slid to "dramatization," basically admitting, yes, some stuff was made up. They can't have it both ways. If it's not a level-headed look at what happened, based on the best-selling 9/11 Commission Report (it directly contradicts the report on some points), what the heck is it? Just a great, rip-roaring, "pro-American" yarn? Or a shameless bit of revisionist history and propaganda?

                  The writer, Cyrus Nowrasteh, isn't just any ol' Hollywood hack. And director David Cunningham is hardly a specialist in entertainment. Considering the secrecy and cloudy geneisis of this project in the first place (see Link's link - though obviously not objective, most of the stuff in there can be corroborated), I'm actually surprised it got this far.

                  If this thing were sold as a bit of fiction, there'd be no problem (well, except for those who think 9/11 is hardly the best material for a "fun thriller"). But its the now-crumbling packaging of this as some kind of historical piece that's backfired, badly.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

                    I can't believe how much you guys are judging this show before you even see it! CBC is running the same show this sunday, most likely a contract with ABC. The government is the one who is talking down about this special. Last I checked, the government also talked down about Farenheit 9/11, yet that was all proven to be facts. If you care so much about it, watch it first, then judge for yourself.

                    As for affiliate stations, they are obligated to run Network Original Programming by their networks. It is part of their contract and they are not able to get out of it. The whole Saving Private Ryan thing is most likely because it is a movie and not regular, or original ABC programming. That is most likely why they were able to get out of airing it.
                    Dreaming of the sun from Canada

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

                      Originally posted by pzarquon
                      Obviously left- and right-wing bloggers can go off the deep end, so instead of the Huffington Post, I'd again start with the E&P review of the film. The bit about almost nabbing Osama? It's a key point in the film, and it never happened.
                      Perhaps not specifically as depicted in the docudrama but there is abundant evidence from many sources that there were numerous opportunites not to 'nab' OBL, but kill him. See this article from the London Times for details. Not once, not twice, but several times action could have been taken. Al Jazzera ran a series on our failures in this regard to commemorate the fourth anniversary of Sept. 11. Now whether the docudrama writer (he does have considerable writing credentials) and director (raised on the Big Island according to imdb) should have laid each of these out one by one is a good question to ask.

                      And, here's another question. If Bill Clinton didn't want anyone to see this, shouldn't he have kept quiet and waited for it to blow over rather than drawing huge amounts of attention to it? What's happened now is more people are likely to watch and wonder. Conspiracy theorists will think he's getting a kick back from ABC to promote the film.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

                        On that point we most likely agree. This kind of controversy is the best kind of advertising money can't buy!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

                          Rush Limbaugh was singing praises for this show on his radio broadcast a few days ago, and because of that, I will be watching and taping it. So yes, free negative publicity works.
                          I'm still here. Are you?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: ABC's 9/!! "Docu farce"

                            .
                            --Not once, not twice, but several times action could have been taken (to kill Usama bin Laden) .--

                            The one excerpt I saw was Michael Sherer describing one of those alleged "several times" when intelligence indicated that footprints in the projected cruise missile kill zone belonged to children who were likely present in the area. Mr. Scherer seemed to want to roll his eyes as if to say, "So what?! Kill 'em all! Just kill Osama bin Laden, whatever it takes!!"

                            Such militarist efficiency now employed by US and Israel, USrael, has been adopted by militarist anti-terrorUSts.

                            In the U.S. we get exclusively US reports from occupied-Afghanistan of the kind: "...twenty-three Taliban killed...", "...86 Taliban fighters killed...", "... 200 Taliban militants killed...",,, believing such reports is, as was the U.S. public during most if not all of US's "The Vietnam War", now in the U.S. not the norm, rather, U.S. popular belief in the accuracy of such reports is one of default due exhaustion of intellectuality, human conscience when such belief is not otherwise resultant of individuals' unquestioned faith, religious convictions and fears wherein militarUSt$/corporatUSt$/fascUSt$ are accepted as saviors from "evil men", saviors from "evil nations", saviors from "Evil" anything (saving from anything but militarUSt$/corporatUSt$/fascUSt$ themselves, of course,,, for whom they, the U.S. general populace is, like many others in the world, the victim).

                            Believing US reports of those killed by US/Brit NATO killers in Afghanistan should easily qualify one to be True Blue Cheneybush. So? All of those anti-terrorUSts adult males were killed and there were no children or women killed in the process? Sorry, I may be pretty dumb but at least I have half a brain and I don't don't believe such spiels of lies!

                            When and Where on the whole planet do men engage in modern warfare in significant numbers minus their unarmed friends and family, except that they are engaged in militarist pursuits in lands foreign to them? Afghan militant anti-terrorUSts are, at this point, without exception, as far as anyone suspects, not fighting their terrorUSt$ occupiers in lands foreign to them.

                            There is no way that US reports of terrorUSt$' killings in Afghanistan, or elsewhere for that matter, are complete, muchless accurate or reliable. But what do US "Americans" care?
                            Last edited by waioli kai; September 10, 2006, 03:54 PM.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: ABC's 9/11 "Docudrama"

                              I tried watching The Path to 9/11 and just couldn't make it though. Wound up watching Ted Koppel's Discovery special on Security. I was really impressed with the level of the debate and depth of thought (even for the views I did not agree with *g*) as well as the civility with which all participants conducted themselves.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X