HBO Documentary, Reagan

[Jefferson23]

As discussed on Grit Tv,

Eugene Jarecki, award winning and dramatic and documentary film maker and author.

"I think the myth is shattering in front of us," Eugene Jarecki says of Ronald Reagan. Conservatives have tried for so long to "engineer Reagan into our drinking water," he notes, but it's an illusory Reagan, a Reagan who stands for whatever program those people want to pass, whatever agenda they're promoting. The real Reagan was quite different from what we hear about--and this week we're hearing a lot about Reagan, as it's the 100th anniversary of his death.

From HBO, the Synopsis of the documentary: http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/index.html#/documentaries/reagan/synopsis.html

On edit to add an interview with Jarecki from The Nation:

Snip* Here are some highlights from my talk with Jarecki, who was in New York (he hails from Rye, and his brother is Andrew Jarecki, who made Capturing The Friedmans), this past Thursday.

On the Inspiration for the Film


The idea to “set the record straight” came to him after watching the massive coverage of Reagan’s funeral. He was working on Why We Fight, which he describes as a “film about Eisenhower and the latter half of the century and how the American military and the policy machine grew into such an out of control system. So I could not do that without looking at the incredible impact Reagan had on America. He’s so much a part of our American conversation.”

The original home for the film was the BBC, but then he hooked up with HBO, which “guaranteed wide viewership, meaning this would encourage that many more Americans to look more closely at Reagan.”

On Those Interviewed


Jarecki drew up a long list of people to interview, but even among those once close to Reagan he did not want people who would merely sell him as “a brand.” He cites former Reagan speechwriter Peter Robinson as one who did not treat his boss as a “product.” Jarecki calls the Reagan critics “responsible journalists,” asserting, “We didn’t want to do another shouting match, but have a reasonable conversation.”

in full: http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20110206/cm_thenation/158332_1

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1. Helping to keep the Record straight ...