This is about to come come on on my local PBS station and it looks interesting. Obviously PBS shows vary according to location so check your local listings. It's a few years old, but I've not seen it before.
Documentary Produced by Academy-award Winning Filmmaker Chuck Workman and WETA Examines the Media's Portrayal of the Presidency
For Immediate Release: January 19, 2006
America’s perception of the presidency is often driven by image. "The People’s President: Man, Myth and the Media," looks at the role of Hollywood film and network/cable television in both shaping and reflecting America’s views of the presidency. The one-hour documentary will premiere on WETA on Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 20 at 9 p.m. ET and will air on PBS stations nationwide throughout the month (check local listings). The film is a presentation of the White House Historical Association, and is produced by Chuck Workman in association with WETA Washington, D.C. "The People’s President" is dedicated to the late Hugh Sidey, journalist, historian and former chairman and long-time member of the board of directors of the White House Historical Association.
For as long as film has captured the president, Hollywood has been there to provide its take on the nation’s leader. In 1915, Abraham Lincoln was portrayed in "Birth of a Nation." Henry Fonda played in "Young Mr. Lincoln" in 1939. Fonda also played a fictional president in "Meteor," trying to protect citizens from a runaway asteroid headed for Earth. With the help of the Soviets, and Sean Connery, the world is saved from annihilation.
In "The People’s President," Workman has weaved together 130 clips from film ("Kisses for my President, "All the President’s Men," "Dave," "Fahrenheit 9/11"); television ("The West Wing," "Truman); newsreels and press coverage plus presidential caricatures, cartoons, and souvenirs, to explain the traits we treasure in our leader and the danger of idealizing or demonizing the president at the expense of understanding the daily grind of governance.
When Hollywood and television productions meet the presidency, viewers are presented with a mix of bio-pics and complete fabrication – both of which tend to give us the president we all wish to call our own.
http://www.weta.org/about/press/releases/37737Reminds me of the joke my friends and I have, "you know it's the future because the President is black .... just like on the TV" :)
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