Just before DKos went down for maintenance I was writing a diary about the faked scenes still being in the promo. That was a few hours ago now, and I've watched and live-blogged part 1 of the "show" now. It's pretty long, so rather than put it all in here,
here's a link to my live blog. I'm now tidying it up so it makes more sense. As you will see, they appear to have
left in the fake scenes for the NZ version.
It does blame Clinton and his team, both for not giving the order to shoot Bin Laden when they had the chance, and for stirring them up by attempting to attack them later, so that OSB was angered anough to declare war on America. There's lots more. Take a look at my blog.
Meanwhile, below the fold you'll find what I was originally going to write in this diary...
As
STOP George and
Hunter have already diaried, the worldwide promos for
The Path to 9/11 are focusing on the faked scenes, and giving absolutely
no indication that this is a "dramatisation containing fictionalised scenes and composite characters". In fact, as this TV One promo from New Zealand shows, they are calling it "The shocking truth!" and labelling it "YOU KNOW
WHAT HAPPENED - THIS IS
HOW IT HAPPENED".
As in the European trailer, the NZ promo uses the scene where CIA operatives "find" Bin Laden, and Sandy Berger refuses to have him taken out. As we know, this is simply not true. It never happened and yet the trailer has this fictionalised scene as its central message.
Take a look...
Yesterday I diaried about my complaint to TV One about the promo (still haven't heard back from them, by the way).
Radio New Zealand is reporting that TVNZ intends to screen the original version, not the "tinkered" version that ABC/Disney have been going on about, although they do say that TV One is planning to include a disclaimer.
AFAIC that's not good enough (although it's part of what I asked for in my complaint to TV One). Their promos are still promoting this as a true story, and their website still claims that:
(The Path to 9/11) is a dramatisation of the events published in the national bestseller 'The 9/11 Commission Report'.
[snip]
...the miniseries takes viewers on an unforgettable journey through the events that presaged that fateful day.
There's very little coverage here of the controversy in the US, but I did find a preview on XTRA MSN, which is one of NZ's most visited websites:
Beginning with the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, 'The Path to 9/11 takes viewers on an unforgettable journey through the events that presaged the fateful morning of September 11, 2001. The 9/11 Commission was formed to determine how such an attack could happen and looks at the different factors and actions (or lack thereof), that led to the 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre.
Executive producer Marc Platt (Empire Falls) says 'The 9/11 Commission Report' is a factual document but reads more like a gripping thriller: As a former studio head, Platt oversaw the production of such films as Silence of the Lambs, Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia and As Good As It Gets, and he says the use of "dramatisation was the most accessible way to bring a very important story, a very important lesson, to the broadest possible number of people".
Platt says the ambition was to portray the report accurately: "The mini-series reports in detail from the events that began in February 1993, with the initial bombing of the World Trade Center, the first attempts to bring it down, and traces the events that really led up to, and allowed for particular events of 9/11.
"The Commission Report is so vast, the event so complicated, that to reduce the Commission report - which really tells the trail of how we got to where we got to, how we identified or didn't identify people - it couldn't be reduced to two, two and a half hours, quite frankly."
So the mini-series aims to "portray the report accurately", does it? Hmmmm.
Not a peep about the controversy on either the TV One or TV3 news broadcasts this evening, and TV One is still promoting it as "the shocking truth".
You know what I find so weird? We don't even like Bush here in New Zealand! I've yet to meet a Kiwi who has anything good to say about him!
I'll be doing a live blog of the broadcast on my blog Webweaver's World - you're welcome to follow along (or read it later! heh). The "show" starts at 7.30pm (3.30am Sunday in New York and 12.30am Sunday in Los Angeles). It's 7.15pm now.
I'll also be making a formal complaint about the promotion and the programme itself to the Broadcasting Standards Authority NZ.
Here's the transcript of the trailer (in case it gets pulled from YouTube).
Fly-over shot approaching Manhatten and the WTC from the south.
On-screen text: YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED...
Middle-Eastern (male) voice: We predict a black day for America.
View of Middle-Eastern man (Bin Laden?) surrounded by cheering supporters. Followed by shot of CIA agent watching through binoculars, while standing behind traditionally-dressed Afghani man (Commander Massoud).
On-screen text: THIS IS HOW IT HAPPENED.
American (male) voice: How many times is the Agency gonna fail this country?
TVOne voiceover: For the first time...
Black flag with Arabic writing on it flapping in the breeze (attached to a vehicle) as it drives towards an explosion. Zoom-in on WTC (intact). Shot of business people running along a glass-walled corridor (as seen from outside the building). Editor or newsman watching footage of Bin Laden.
TVOne voiceover: ...the shocking truth!
Closeup of Harvey Keitel character (FBI counterterrorism expert John O'Neill).
John O'Neill: They call him "the tall one".
Older American man (Cheney? Rove? Tenet?) passes John O'Neill a photo of Osama.
Older American man: His name is Osama Bin Laden.
Shot of White House.
TVOne voiceover: Then - and now...
Shot of CIA operatives watching on screen - something - that horrifies them.
American woman #1 (CIA?): Can't you give the order?
Sandy Berger I don't have that authority!
White noise on screen replaces image of Sandy Berger.
Shot of military helicopter against orange sky followed by news footage of Osama firing a rifle.
On-screen text: "Tension-filled and visually dazzling" - Dominion Post
TVOne voiceover: The television event you need to see...
Shot of Arabic man (being arrested?) followed by closeup of man in traditional Afghan dress.
Voiceover of Lead Afghan guerilla fighter, Masoud: Are there any men left in Washington?
Accompanied by shot of US soldier speaking into a two-way radio.
American woman #1 (CIA?): (distraught) We had him! We're responsible for that!
View of firefighters in the ruins of the World Trade Center.
On-screen text: WORLD PREMIERE
On-screen text: THE PATH TO 9/11
TVOne voiceover: Across two nights at the special time of 7.30 - The Path to 9/11. Sunday on One.