I have two excellent docudramas to recommend. Besides having politics in common, both series showcase top notch writing and acting.
First up is the Roger Ailes takedown The Loudest Voice. I first caught on to the fact that there was something different about FOX news during Obama’s presidency. I have nothing against someone voicing an opposing opinion. I trash Trump every chance I get. But when every show and nearly every personality on a particular cable outlet voices the same opposition, you know something deeper is going on.
If you want to know how FOX news became Trump TV and the channel for right wing conspiracy theories, this docudrama is for you. When Roger Ailes was fired from CNBC, Rupert Murdoch gave him the reins of a brand new 24 hour cable channel. Ailes was given complete editorial control. He hired like-minded conservative news personalities. He set sexist dress guidelines for the women who worked at FOX and those who appeared on camera. And he also created a climate of rampant sexual misconduct with Ailes leading the pack.
Russel Crow delivers an award-winning performance as Roger Ailes. He completely disappears behind the character. I’m still pissed off that Rupert Murdoch gave this sorry-ass SOB a forty-million dollar severance package. He should have been dismissed for cause and shown the door.
The next political docudrama is the seven episode John Adams miniseries starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. Besides offering an excellent history lesson on the birth of our nation, this series shows that political discord has been a part of politics from the very beginning.
Everything about this miniseries is top notch. There are a lot of dialogue heavy scenes, but there are also convincing action sequences that propel the story forward, such as the Atlantic battle scene.
The founding fathers were not heroic figures, though each had moments of glory. They were, instead, flawed individuals who came together for a common cause. This miniseries paints a realistic portrait of the characters and events that shaped our nation. One scene in particular seemed to incapsulate everything that came before. It involved a painting that was meant to capture the signing of the declaration of independence. Much to the dismay of the artist, John Adams dismisses the painting as fiction. There was never a signing as depicted in the painting. Instead, as John Adams explains, the signatories added their names as they “scurried” in and out over a period of weeks.
The last episode also depicts the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. I won’t give away anything more except to say that I found the timing of their deaths to be very prophetic.
You can catch this series on Amazon prime.
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