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Advance Word On 'saving': Dull

#1 User is offline   jessefan 

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Posted 05 November 2003 - 04:11 PM

QUOTE
Unfortunately, the truth may have gotten in the way of a good story. Entertainment Weekly labeled the film as "bland," while Time said it was "dull."

Lynch, played by Laura Regan, spends much of the film barely conscious in an Iraqi hospital, while al-Rehaief (Nicholas Guilak) strolls across the desert to share his knowledge with the Americans. The rescue, devoid of tension, goes off without a shot fired.


Now this is what I mean about making a movie of tragic real life events like this. Once you've rendered it as 'entertainment' it become liable to the kind of sacrilege that is implied in the above description.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-11...ence-usat_x.htm

The Reagans lose out to Jessica Lynch

November 05 2003 at 09:39AM



Los Angeles - The same day CBS pulled its controversial miniseries The Reagans, claiming that it was not balanced, rival network NBC on Tuesday proclaimed the accuracy of its upcoming television movie about the rescue of American soldier Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital.

Saving Jessica Lynch is set to air on NBC on Sunday, and the network previewed it for an audience, including the Canadian actress who plays Lynch and the Iraqi lawyer who informed United States troops of her whereabouts.

When news of Lynch's rescue first surfaced in April, the mission was described as being a daring nighttime raid. Lynch was also reported to have been wounded as she battled attackers. It later emerged that the rescuers were unopposed and that Lynch was injured when her vehicle crashed.

The producers worked with the Iraqi lawyer, Mohammed al-Rehaief, who said "the movie touched my heart." Lynch, who is working on a book, was not involved.

'Everything in this had to be vetted'
The screenwriter of Saving Jessica Lynch, John Fasano, told Reuters that he went through about 20 drafts as more details of the raid emerged "and all the way I had to prove everything. Everything in this had to be vetted."

Unfortunately, the truth may have gotten in the way of a good story. Entertainment Weekly labeled the film as "bland," while Time said it was "dull."

Lynch, played by Laura Regan, spends much of the film barely conscious in an Iraqi hospital, while al-Rehaief (Nicholas Guilak) strolls across the desert to share his knowledge with the Americans. The rescue, devoid of tension, goes off without a shot fired.

On the other hand, The Reagans, about former president Ronald Reagan, and his wife, Nancy, came under fire for portraying the couple in an unflattering light.

In one scene from the film's final script, Reagan says of Aids patients, "They that live in sin shall die in sin." But there is no evidence he ever expressed those views.

'They that live in sin shall die in sin'
"NBC would have never let me get away with that in this film," Fasano said.

CBS dropped plans to air The Reagans later this month, and instead sold the four-hour miniseries to pay-cable network Showtime, which has a fraction of the audience. It said the movie "does not present a balanced portrayal of the Reagans," and that subsequent changes it had considered "did not address those concerns."


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#2 User is offline   jessefan 

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Posted 05 November 2003 - 04:24 PM

Here is another stupid example. I'd like to put some more lumps in 'Lumpy.'

http://cornelldailysun.com/articles/9868/

Made for T.V.


Tofutti Break
By JOSH MENDELSOHN
T.V. movies are the ambrosia of the masses. Filled with ups and downs, elation and heartbreak, they bring a joy to Man that was meant only for Gods. The most satisfying are She Cried No and No One Would Tell wherein DJ Tanner (Candace Cameron) is date raped by Fred Savage and Mark Paul Gosselaar, respectively, but overpowers their unwelcome advances with her strength of spirit, displaying the true power of woman. Ah, washed up actors playing date rapists in a pathetic attempt to add edge to their fledgling careers. Nothing says "cast me in your movie" quite like "I played a rapist," except maybe "I am a rapist." The only thing I was upset with was that they stopped with only those two movies. While I wholeheartedly condemn the act of date rape as being reprehensible, I wouldn't condemn an educational T.V. movie where Alfonso Riberio date raped Mayim Bialik. But anyway, this Sunday the Gods of Television pour us a new glass of entertainment, enriching the world with the NBC original film, "Saving Jessica Lynch" which depicts the story of Lynch, the American soldier who was rescued from an Iraqi hospital in April.

Originally, the story that we were told was that Lynch's Army supply caravan had been attacked by the Iraqis, and nine of Lynch's fellow soldiers were killed in the attack. Lynch was shot and stabbed before she was captured and taken to a hospital, where she was guarded by Iraqi soldiers. U.S. forces searched frantically for her until they received crucial information from a defected Iraqi lawyer who helped them locate Lynch. On April 1, U.S. rescue teams attempted a daring recovery of P.F.C Lynch. According to Brigadier General Vincent Brooks, "There were firefights outside of the building, getting in and getting out." Unfortunately, Lynch couldn't remember exactly what happened during her rescue. According to her doctors, the trauma of the event hindered her ability to create memories of it, saying "it is very unlikely that in the future she will recall any of those events."

And so Lynch came home, and everyone celebrated her heroism, and rightfully so. But soon after, problems began to arise. In July, A BBC investigative report, entitled "War Spin" said that Lynch was neither shot nor stabbed, something her parents later confirmed. In addition, they said the Special Forces rescue was unnecessary because Lynch was not being guarded by Iraqi forces. Doctors at the hospital claim to have told U.S. forces where Private Lynch was and tried to return her to U.S. forces. USA Today even reported that U.S. forces were offered a KEY TO THE BUILDING to rescue Lynch, which they refused and subsequently broke the doors down. The Pentagon even de-emphasized the daring of their rescue, saying that the reports of a firefight were only early media reports, and did not come from the Pentagon.

Ok, so maybe the story was embellished. Maybe the rescue was done unnecessarily to provide the U.S. military and the general public with some reassurance at a time when public opinion was turning against the war. So what's to be done? Ignore it...

In September, Lynch got a $1 million book deal. She agreed to give interviews to Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, David Letterman and Larry King. For NBC's movie, airing this Sunday, they tried to use Lynch, but the deal fell through and the movie is based on the recollections of the Iraqi lawyer who told U.S. forces where Lynch was.

The problem with putting Lynch on all these shows is: What can she talk about if she has no memories of her rescue? She says that her book will be about, "more than a girl going off to war and fighting alongside her fellow soldiers. It will be a story about growing up in America." I don't want to read or watch this girl's version of Catcher In the Rye, I want to hear about her rescue. I could write about growing up in America and make it a lot more interesting. It would involve all of the massive humiliation and torment of my childhood, culminating in my teenage years when I was known to both students and teachers as "Lumpy" and forced to wear a full body cast. And unless Lynch starts talking about her capture and rescue, I don't think she can top my myriad "Lumpy" stories.

I don't doubt Private Lynch's integrity. I don't question her heroism. I feel that she should be celebrated, along with every other soldier, for being heroes and fighting for our country. I just feel that both our government and our mainstream media is ignoring the truth in the name of political/advertising motivations. They probably decided that what really happened wouldn't inspire people, or reassure people, or compel them to watch TV so the networks took the story that they liked better. I mean, maybe the NBC movie will have a scene where U.S. forces are offered a key to the building, the soldiers caucus, and decide to break the doors down unnecessarily. But I doubt it. In the media's defense, USA Today comes off looking like a hard core news gathering entity. I'm impressed. I thought they only made those little graphs talking about which cities have the most people who like pie.

Ok, but who really gets hurt? NBC shows a movie that may or may not be true, but at least we get to feel good about a war that doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon. It seems like the only real losers are American Dreams or Suddenly Susan or whatever else gets pre-empted by this T.V. movie. At worst, this story is an exaggerated version of a heroic event that merely draws our attention to a young woman who risked her life for our country. But the problem with this is that at a certain point the little embellishments add up. It starts with an exaggerated rescue or the President exaggerating Iraqi weapons of mass destruction or incorrect comments about how repealing the estate tax will help the poor. At a certain point these government embellishments just seem like lies. And often, as in this case, the television networks don't search for the truth, they search for what people will watch. And we remain left with half truths, which makes me feel like I'm being manipulated.

It's gotten to the point where I don't believe much of anything I see on T.V. except for Dr. Phil. It just kind of feels like the truth is being treated like DJ Tanner, and the question becomes, who's going to step up and tell Fred Savage to back off? I can't do it alone because if I get hurt, I don't want to have to put on my back brace again.

My "Lumpy" days are over.



Josh Mendelsohn is a senior in the College of Industrial and Labor Relations. He can be reached at jsm39@cornell.edu. Guest Room appears Tuesdays. He's also in the band SATB and would like to shamelessly plug his show at The Nines on Friday night, 10 p.m.

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