6 Responses to “Mickey Mouse History”

1. Charles Bryan Says:
   September 7th, 2006 at 6:12 AM

   I don’t know why Disney’s product conservatism would come as a surprise to anyone, especially the folks at Daily Kos. However, if I recall correctly, Disney has stood up for extending employee benefits to same sex partners, despite outside criticism from conservative groups.

   Regarding the “Welcome to the Neighborhood” show, here’s a very different account of why it was pulled:

   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/29/AR2005062902817.html

   It all may be moot, because I don’t think the at-home audience wants to see 9/11 material at all, and since “Path” is up against the Colts and the Giants, that will pretty much seal the Nielsen deal.

   None of that absolves Disney from bias, or from it being just a generally creepy cultural cancer. If anyone would like to let Disney/ABC know what you think, here’s some email addresses I clipped from the Kos comments section:

   Robert Iger (CEO) [email protected]

   Alex Wallau (President of Network Operations & Administration)[email protected]

   David Westin (ABC News President) [email protected]

   And as far as the concerns about Scholastic’s Viewing Guide for Teachers? When I taught, I routinely threw those things away, and most teachers I know are too busy these days making sure everything correlates with state testing guidelines.

   9/11 ain’t on the guideline sheet.

2. gordon Says:
   September 7th, 2006 at 8:14 AM

   Isn’t this Path to 9/11 fakumentary the very reason that entites like ABC get their broadcasting licenses challenged?

3. Micah Says:
   September 7th, 2006 at 2:04 PM

   “They made a deal with Mel Gibson, beloved on the religious right for his film “The Passion,” to produce a film about the Holocaust even though they knew at the time he held extremely controversial views about the Holocaust and Judaism. They only cancelled the project when he was caught by the police drunkenly saying “all the wars in the world are caused by the Jews.”

   People on the right and left were giving Mel the benefit of the doubt until he made his recent statements. Hell, some are STILL giving him the benefit of the doubt. I guess Mel is definitely anti-semitic if it villainizes ABC, but if he’s criticized by the Anti-Defamation League, he’ll get the benefit of the doubt.

   Having said all that, even if not one point the article makes in presenting it’s argument is valid, this “docudrama” is no doubt right wing propaganda. Don’t even need to see it. I feel the same way about Farenheit 911 and the Passion. I look at the source of the information.

   But this docudrama is no doubt a dangerous precedent. If you present a historical event as a dramatization, does that mean you can invent facts? In the case of the Passion, you can if it is old enough. But, I don’t really see how ABC can legally have a character called “BIll Clinton” doing and saying things he never did, what with the guy still alive and all. I don’t know, can they?

4. Steve Gerber Says:
   September 8th, 2006 at 1:25 PM

   I don’t want to see this program cancelled, necessarily. I don’t even care if the right-wingers insist on its being shown in whatever the hell its current form is. I’d just rather ABC shunt it off to one of their small cable outlets — as CBS did when pressured about the Ronald Reagan “docudrama”. (In that case, “dreckudrama” would have been a more accurate description. It was a truly awful script, badly directed, and laughably acted. If you had any taste at all, you couldn’t think otherwise, no matter *what* your political persuassion. CBS did itself a favor.)

   Mel Gibson is a whole other discussion. I’ve seen *Passion*, and I didn’t find it anti-Semetic. (I mean, the Jesus myth is what it is: a tale of a prophet betrayed by his own people with the assistance of their conquerors. Its roots go back at least as far as the story of Cassandra.) Now, Gibson himself apparently *is* an anti-Semite, or, at the very least, he was sufficiently inculcated in his father’s beliefs that they’re still lurking beneath the surface, waiting for the right drunken moment to emerge. I find him pathetic and funny, particularly since he owes much of his career to Joel Silver and Richard Donner. I hope those Beverly Hills rabbis who’ve invited Gibson to their Yom Kippur services can shepherd him toward atonement.

5. Stephen Payne Says:
   September 9th, 2006 at 9:52 AM

   Now, forgive me for being snide, but I hardly think DailyKos is an any position to criticize other people for manipulating the exchange of ideas, especially since it’s known for deleting accounts of people who’s beliefs don’t fit the status quo of the site’s creator and followers.

   As far as this article goes, I’m gonna need quotes from reputable news sources, not other blogs. One angry young man who posts something on the internet is not a reasonable person to quote from.

6. gordon Says:
   September 12th, 2006 at 10:33 PM

   “As far as this article goes, I’m gonna need quotes from reputable news sources, not other blogs. One angry young man who posts something on the internet is not a reasonable person to quote from.”

   I completely understand, Stephan. I feel exactly the same way when I hear anything from Brit Hume, Sean Hannity, Rush, Ann, Michele, Chris Wallace, Joe Scarborough, Bill O’Reilly, Norman Podhertz, Charles Krauthammer, etc, etc, etc…