The TV miniseries “The Kennedys” got spiked by The History Channel by angering enough Kennedys – or FOKs (friends of Kennedys).
Details remain fuzzy as to why, but it’s assumed the people objecting to the project didn’t like seeing the famous family’s flaws in such detail. Or, perhaps the movie didn’t spotlight the Kennedys’ triumphs in suitable fashion.
Compare that to “The Fighter,” another project based on the lives of imperfect people which hit Blu-ray and DVD shelves earlier this month. Micky and Dicky Ward, played on screen by Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, aren’t saints. But the Wards and their extended family cooperated with the film’s crew to bring their story to the big screen, hairy warts and all.
Maybe the Wards fell victim to the Springer Syndrome, the need to be famous that overwhelms all common sense. Or, perhaps they realized their assembled weaknesses don’t diminish their triumphs – they enhance them.
“The Fighter’s” Blu-ray extras include the Wards and their extended circle of friends discussing the family, its hardscrabble roots and their interactions with the film’s stars. It’s powerful stuff, and a fine complement to a terrific feature film.
(Photo: Left to right: Mark Wahlberg plays Micky Ward, Jack McGee plays George Ward, Melissa Leo plays Alice Ward, Christian Bale plays Dicky Eklund and Jackson Nicoll plays Little Dicky in “The Fighter.” Photo credit: JoJo Whilden © 2010 Fighter, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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The man responsible for the censorship of the Kennedys miniseries is a creep named Robert Greenwald. After making the notorious bomb XANADU in 1980, he would find his niche two decades as a maker of far-left documentaries such as OUTFOXED and WAL-MART: THE HIGH PRICE OF LOW COST as well as hit jobs on John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. He’s obviously a strongly believe in “free speech for me but not for thee”.