On the one hand, by exposing the problems, flaws, and conservative agenda behind ABC’s 9/11 docudrama “[tag]The Path to 9/11[/tag],” the left runs the risk of driving up interest in the broadcast, which means more people may be inclined to watch the misleading “film,” just to see what all the fuss is about. On the other hand, this docudrama does a genuine disservice to the public, and the more we do to highlight the program’s mistakes, the better informed the public will be.
Following up on yesterday’s item, ThinkProgress added that the “The Path to 9/11” was written by a far-right activist.
The writer of the movie is an unabashed conservative named Cyrus Nowrasteh. Last year, Nowrasteh spoke on a panel titled, “Rebels With a Cause: How Conservatives Can Lead Hollywood’s Next Paradigm Shift.” He has described Michael Moore as “an out of control socialist weasel,” and conducted interviews with right-wing websites like FrontPageMag.
Of course, as Nico noted, the real problem with this docudrama is that it’s being presented to the public as a neutral, reliable historical drama. ABC is telling viewers that it’s is “based on the 9/11 Commission Report.” Nowrasteh claims he “wanted to match the just-the-facts tone of the report,” and describes the project as “an objective telling of the events of 9/11.”
But it’s not. It repeats many of the same anti-Clinton, far-right talking points that have been debunked for years.
One thing that fascinates me about the conservative glee about this docudrama is how it conflicts with their right’s criticisms of Oliver Stone, who was castigated for historical inaccuracies in “Born on the 4th of July” and “JFK.” When Stone said the films weren’t meant to be historically-accurate documentaries — just as the director of “The Path to 9/11” is doing now — conservatives said that wasn’t good enough. The movies were presented as if they were real, which in turn could cause public confusion, which in turn meant the movies should be avoided.
Similarly, when CBS planned a docudrama that failed to cast Ronald Reagan in a perfectly flattering light, conservatives were practically apoplectic. It didn’t matter that producers insisted that it wasn’t a documentary; the right wanted disclaimers, or preferably, cancellation.
But now that a far-right writer has created a fictionalized take on 9/11 that blames Clinton for the attacks, historical accuracy in prime-time docudramas no longer matters. How convenient.