I am at my wit's end with ABC's blatent distortion of documented fact. They are lying to their viewers. We simply cannot allow this movie to become a part of the national consciessness. I wrote this letter to every email address listed
here.
In 1999, NBC aired a miniseries titled "Noah's Ark" which was billed as being taken from "the Biblical story of Genisis." Anyone who remembers the movie and has even a remedial understanding of the Bible will find this assertion laughable. Not only is the story completely rearranged, but some events are totally invented. The actual account of Noah's Ark is encapsulated within 3 relatively short chapters (Gen. 6:1 - 8:13), so the writer (Peter Barnes) had to get extremely creative to fill 178 minutes. Some of the more absurd reinventions include placing Sodom and Gomorrah before the flood (in Genesis it takes place more than 1000 years later), the depiction of Noah's entire family going insane for a short time, and the classic line from God Almighty, "I'm sorry Noah, I was wrong."
But the newly invented scene which, I believe, takes the cake was when Lot reappears as a pirate on a raft and attacks the Ark. As much as I wanted to laugh at its ludicrousness, I was sicked and saddened by this blatant misrepresentation for dramatic purposes.
More than 3 years later, I was having a brief conversation with a friend about the Bible. I do not remember what sparked the conversation or even what we were originally talking about, but at one point he mentioned the pirate that attacked Noah's Ark. Speechless, I thought he was joking. In fact, his memory had stored that information along with his other memories of the Bible. He actually believed that the scene existed in Genesis.
Presenting the events leading up to 9-11 using "dramatic license" is not only grossly irresponsible, it is dangerous. With Noah's Ark, anyone can read the actual story inside of 7 minutes. This is simply not the case with the 9-11 terrorist attacks. The Commission Report, from which you claim to base the script, is 585 pages long. To reinvent, reinterpret, and (most frighteningly) completely fabricate actual, documented events should be an embarrassment to everyone at ABC and anyone involved with this project.
Despite your assertions that a disclaimer will explain that this movie is "dramatization . . . not a documentary" and contains "fictionalized scenes," it will become a part of the national consciousness. You know this and you refuse to correct it.
To put it bluntly, I am disgusted by your extreme disregard for documented fact. For an event of this magnitude, I would be disappointed if you had reinterpreted a single scene, let alone several. But to include events that didn't actually occur is loathsome.
I implore you, do not air this movie.
The problem is: They know it will become part of the national consciensness. I believe that is exactly what they are trying to accomplish.