Calling Rob Long
Someone (perhaps Rob Long) please explain this to me. The Kennedys miniseries has been reviled by many critics. The Hollywood Reporter produced not just one, but two versions of its hostile review. The critiques are so extreme, methinks the reviewers doth protest too much. After having viewed a few episodes, the series seems competently produced, with good actors for the most part. I'm no fan of miniseries in particular, or television in general, but it was watchable for me. One helpful and praiseworthy adjunct to the series is the synched website, which brings up relevant links and bios of character in synchrony with the action in the program.
The risible idea that the History Channel rejected the series because it was not historically accurate is recognized as absurd even by some of the critics. Instead, the argument seems to turn on the fact that the producer is a Republican. OMG!!! Is it really this bad in Hollywood?
Curiously, the Guardian (no right-wing journal that) posted a more balanced, even somewhat favorable, review. In an ironic twist, the History Channel UK apparently did pick up the series.
The blatant partisanship, hypocrisy, and shrillness of the response puzzle me. What's the big deal? Why is this so politically laden? Must everything polarize?
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Comments:
Sep '10
Re: Calling Rob Long
My wife and I have been DVRing the series and watching it. I think we are about half way through now. I don't know what the fuss is except to say that this series shows Joe Sr., Jack, Jackie (somewhat), and to some extent even Rose Kennedy as substantially flawed figures. Jack and Jackie's marriage according to the series nearly fell apart over infidelities. Jack used a lot of pain management drugs, Joe Sr. was overbearing and a philanderer. Robert and Ethel come off as being lovely thus far.
Now compare this series to another movie called JFK. I suspect the outright lies in JFK dwarf those in the Kennedy's. I suspect that the Hollywood Reporter felt no need to defame it.
May '10
Re: Calling Rob Long
This is what happens when you mess with the patron saint of liberal baby boomers.
Re: Calling Rob Long
John Hinderaker and Brian Ward gave a lengthy review of The Kennedys on their podcast this week. Be sure and give it a listen.
Sep '10
Re: Calling Rob Long
Thanks for the tip. I enjoyed their take on it. I was still hoping to hear what others thought, plus maybe some insight from an insider. Rob?
May '10
Re: Calling Rob Long
The Kennedy boys represent an endless opportunity. Three of them died young. They are unfinished stories that others enjoy finishing in their imaginations. To interfere with that provokes rage.
Otherwise they would have to face up to the fact that these philandering drunks would have ended up pickled relics like Teddy.
Oct '10
Re: Calling Rob Long
I'm still waiting for "The Path to 911" on DVD. Hollywood is not about money. They are about left wing ideology.
Mar '11
Re: Calling Rob Long
The problem is that it isn't a hagiography. John and Robert Kennedy were and are secular saints to many liberals and to portray them as merely human and capable of fault is blasphemy. Liberals tend to view television and movies as theirs, a safe place for them where the troubles of reality can't intrude, so to have this appear on television feels to them like someone striding into a church and yelling that the Virgin Mary is a harlot (they'd use stronger words, but I'm not gonna here) would to a Christian.
Aug '10
Re: Calling Rob Long
Hard to admit that they're such a big part of American history. From the Honeyfitz to the careening bumper car public lives, this isn't the rule, but the glitzy exception. Precursor to Kardashian.
Who said words with "K" in them were funnier ?
Calvin Coolidge, you c ?
May '10
Re: Calling Rob Long
The memories of RFK seem singularly distorted, given that he was in charge of covert operations under JFK, and (I have read) that LBJ escalated in Vietnam because he feared that if he didn't, RFK would pass him on the right, i.e., would accuse him of abandoning JFK's defense of freedom.
Nov '10
Re: Calling Rob Long
I haven’t seen this show but if it accurately portrays JFK’s politics it will drive the left over a cliff since his political agenda was so similar to Ronald Reagan’s, i.e., lower taxes and a strong defense. The left also wants to forget that JFK said, “Ask not what your country can do for you...” and “let every nation know that we will fight any fight, bear any burden, etc., in defense of freedom.” If the show has JFK speaking those words the Left will trash it and claim it’s historically inaccurate.
Sep '10
Re: Calling Rob Long
I read a comment somewhere that the RFK side of the family must have been in control of the script because the series paints a fairly adoring picture of Robert. Not being an RFK expert, I can't judge but it does seem he is the only one who comes out smelling like a rose (Kennedy).
Sep '10
Re: Calling Rob Long
JFK, and LBJ for that matter, was a man of his times. They are both portrayed as favoring a strong stand of the Soviets. Not sure how accurate that is vis a vis LBJ.
In any case, we've evolved a bit since the 60s. In some ways, the liberal of 1960 is the conservative of today. Maybe that's not surprising. Does take some of the sheen off the JFK myth, doesn't it?
Jul '10
Re: Calling Rob Long
We, too, DVR'd them and I've now seen them all. I thought the portrayal of Jackie was maudlin and did no justice to her as an independent thinking woman but merely made her another plaything of her unfaithful husband. The sanctification of Bobby was sickening; everyone knows he was no less a roving cat than Jack, but such was not shown. I supposed they couldn't keep up this love fest with the inclusion of anything 'Teddy' so there was no mention of his existence. All these complaints are about the writing of the story (fictional, it certainly is) but the production itself: clothes, furnishings etc were terrific and I'm glad I watched it. It was an entertaining story of some people but not the real Kennedys. DVR was particularly enjoyable because the overwhelming commercials were skippable.
Feb '11
Re: Calling Rob Long
And don't forget his other line: "I'm a jelly doughnut."
Jul '10
Re: Calling Rob Long
I watched all of it, and found that even the most "controversial" moments had a ring of authenticity to them. I have no trouble believing Joe Kennedy fondled his secretaries in front of his grown sons, and he definitely had a wayward daughter lobotomized (though there's reason to doubt that she was quite as mentally incapacitated as portrayed). I actually thought the miniseries went out of its way to put Rose on a pedestal, making her the long-suffering but noble wife and completely ignoring how she excommunicated a daughter who married a protestant (then died, and Rose prohibited any family member from attending the funeral).
The writer is a self-proclaimed liberal, so I also truly fail to understand what the fuss was about here. The Jackie biopics that every major network has made and run for years were all far more questionable from a historical basis...and more inflammatory. This was almost boring.