The Left continues to prove itself to be hypocritical as it demands ?tolerance? from those on the Right while seeking to censor opinions that are different from its own. An example of this can be found in the Left?s criticism of the new miniseries called The Kennedys, which scathingly portrays the American political family. The criticism ultimately prompted the History Channel to drop the program.
The Kennedys is an eight-part drama miniseries developed by conservative Joel Surnow, the co-creator of the hit television show 24. The cast of the miniseries features Tom Wilkinson, Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear, and Barry Pepper.
The Blaze explains the controversial elements of the program:
In the newly released second trailer for the program, Joe Kennedy [picture, above] is front and center as the nefarious family patriarch who is consumed by ambition not just for himself but for his entire family. “Its not what you are,” he tells his sons. “Its what people think you are. And with the right amount of money, you can make em think whatever you want this country is ours for the taking.”
Predictably, the less than flowery portrayal of the Kennedy family has provoked the ire of the Left, as well as the Kennedy family. Ted Sorenson, former advisor to JFK, has called an early version of the script malicious and vindictive.
The overwhelming criticism prompted the History Channel to drop the program, which has since been picked up by the ReelzChannel.
A&E TV Network, which owns History, issued the following statement explaining its decision:
While the film is produced and acted with the highest quality, after viewing the final product in its totality, we have concluded this dramatic interpretation is not a fit for the History brand. We recognize historical fiction is an important medium for storytelling and commend all the hard work and passion that has gone into the making of the series, but ultimately deem this as the right programming decision for our network.
Surnow asserts that the script for the program was approved by at least two notable historians and experts on the Kennedy family Steve Gillan and Robert Dallek and therefore cannot be accused of historical inaccuracy. Instead, he contends that the History Channels decision to drop the program is nothing more than discrimination and censorship. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Surnow said:
If anyone has known my work for the last 25, 30 years, Im not agenda-ized, Im not even a political writer. Im an agnostic filmmaker, Im an agnostic writer. I go where the story is. It really felt like discrimination to me at the end of the day. I have no problem with the Kennedys. The Kennedys are absolutely in their right to want to protect their family as they see fit. Its when the people who are inside our business, the ones making decisions who bend to that and cave to that, even when there is nothing valid about the objections being leveled against us, you have to start thinking about discrimination and censorship.
The people who canceled this had the opportunity to see all 8 episodes. This wasnt about the [Kennedy family], these are the people on the corporate board above the History Channel. Again, dont look at the Kennedys. The Kennedys have very little to do with this. They cant cancel a miniseries. The only people who can cancel it are the people at the highest corporate levels.
Regardless of any attempts at censorship, The Kennedys is scheduled to air on television on April 3 at 8 pm.
