CBS pulls Reagan miniseries: Movie to go to Showtime
We believe it does not present a balanced portrayal of the Reagans for CBS and its audience.
- CBS statement
Let the spin doctoring begin. Now that CBS management has proven what a collection of spineless wienies they are, they can bleat to the four winds about how they question the objectivity of the Reagan miniseries. What is left unsaid is that they caved into partisan pressure from Conservatives who were concerned that their icon was not portrayed as a god-like and infallible figure.
Not exactly a victory for free speech, eh?
Neal Gabler, author of "Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality," said CBS' decision was unhealthy for democracy.
"CBS, in pulling this film, did incredible harm, much more harm than they could ever have done in making the film," Gabler said. "What they've told us now is that a very small group of people have censorship power over the broadcast networks."
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, said CBS' decision "smells of intimidation to me."
But conservatives said it was a question of accuracy.
he miniseries became a hot topic on talk radio and the TV news networks. The chairman of the Republican National Committee wrote to CBS President Leslie Moonves, asking for historians to review the movie, and the conservative Media Research Center asked advertisers to consider boycotting the film.
"This was a left-wing smear of one of the nation's most beloved presidents and CBS got caught," said Brent Bozell, founder of the Media Research Center.
Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said putting the movie before a smaller audience on Showtime doesn't address accuracy concerns. Without changes, Showtime should remind viewers every 10 minutes that the movie is fictional, he said.
Puh-leeze. Look, this came down to one thing: money. CBS recognized that the threat to organize a boycott of their advertisers is not an idle one. In the end, it was all about the money, and free speech loses out to the threat to squeeze CBS' wallet. In so doing, Conservatives have displayed their disdain of and intolerance for dissenting viewpoints, as well as a pronounced disrespect of democracy.
I don't know, nor do I much care about the supposed "lack of accuracy" in the script that Conservatives complained about. It's not as if I was going to watch the miniseries anyway. But what is so wrong with letting American TV viewers see it and make up their own minds? And what's this crap about posting a reminder every 10 minutes? Are Conservatives really so afraid that Americans will begin to think critically? Don't worry, y'all; if it hasn't happened by now (and it hasn't), it ain't gonna happen. The American electorate will maintain it's blissfully sheep-like qualities regardly of how your beloved High Priest of Self-Interest is portrayed.
So what is the moral of the story if you're CBS? How about "stick to cheesy, poor-written dramas and implausible sitcoms"? At least you won't have to worry about intolerant, tunnel-visioned Conservatives threatening to boycott your advertisers.
And what is it about Ronald Reagan that makes Conservatives feel that they must deify his every utterance and worship the very ground he trods upon? The man is a deeply flawed, shallow, intolerant, and judgemental Conservative. On top of being a parody of a President, he was a product of simply being in the right place at the right time. Look, it's not as if he brought down the Berlin Wall or single-handedly brought about the demise of Communism and the end of the Cold War. It happened on his watch, certainly, but no historian with any degree of credibility will attribute these events to Reagan's stewardship. It was a historical accident, just as it would have been had a Democrat been in the White House.
Wake up and smell the cat litter, y'all! If you're a Conservative, you have NOTHING to be proud of here. All you've done is demonstrate your small-mindedness and intolerance of differing viewpoints. Not exactly a great contribution to the cause of democracy, eh?
