WE'VE POPGUNS; THEY CANONS:

Grumbling Trickles Down From Reagan Biopic (JIM RUTENBERG, 10/21/03, NY Times)

"The Reagans," according to the final version of the script obtained by The New York Times, does give Mr. Reagan most of the credit for ending the cold war and paints him as an exceptionally gifted politician and a moral man who stuck to his beliefs, often against his advisers' urgings.

But there is no mention of the economic recovery or the creation of wealth during his administration, key accomplishments to his supporters. Nor does it show him delivering the nation from the malaise of the Jimmy Carter years, as his supporters say he did.

The details the producers do choose to stress — like Mr. Reagan's moments of forgetfulness, his supposed opinions on AIDS and gays, his laissez-faire handling of his staff members — often carry a disapproving tone.

Nancy Reagan, who is played by Judy Davis, does not get light treatment either. While the script portrays Mrs. Reagan as a loyal and protective wife, it also shows her as a control addict, who set the president's schedule based on her astrologer's advice and who had significant influence over White House personnel and policy decisions.

The portrayal sounds well within the realm of fairness, if somewhat negative in approach--of course, they tipped their hand early when they hired Mr. Streisand to play Ronald Reagan. But far more people will watch this than have read all the positive assessments of the Reagan presidency. It's well to remember that even though the Right is no longer silenced on the air waves and in magazines and publishing, the real mass media is still the bailiwick of the Left.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 21, 2003 9:12 AM