Reince Is Right

By MAUREEN DOWD, NYT

WASHINGTON — Reince Priebus says a lot of goofy things, but the chairman of the Republican National Committee has a point.

Films can dramatically alter the way famous people are viewed, making them cooler, more glamorous, more sympathetic — and the reverse. Clever filmmakers can offer up delicious soufflés of propaganda and storytelling, putting a new imprint on the historical record.

Priebus has complained to NBC and CNN executives about plans for what he calls Hillary Clinton “puff pieces” while Hillary is “on the dance floor.” The NBC entertainment division is doing a four-hour mini-series starring Diane Lane, and CNN Films is producing a documentary to be shown in theaters next year directed by Charles Ferguson, who won an Oscar for “Inside Job,” his scorching 2010 documentary on Wall Street.

Priebus says the films would be political ads “masquerading” as unbiased productions. He should know, since Republicans popularized full-length attack films, sliming the Clintons and Obamas. (In the 2008 documentary “Hillary: the Movie,” produced by the conservative Citizens United, one woman claimed the Clintons put a hit out on her cat.)

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