Will Ferrell playing Reagan with dementia in bad taste?
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Funnyman Will Ferrell will channel President Ronald Reagan in a comedy that focuses on the President at the beginning of his second term as he falls into dementia. However, Dan Gainor, VP of Business and Culture for the Media Business Center believes the script is in bad taste.
Written by Mike Rosolio, the script “Reagan” made the list for best unproduced screenplays in 2015 and centers on an intern tasked with attempting to convince the leader of the country that he is playing the president in a movie.
“For desperate lefties to push forward yet another try at this totally discredited idea that Reagan was somehow senile is disgusting,” Gainor said.
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Gainor said Hollywood is determined to dethrone a conservative icon.
“Now, Hollywood's bitter left-wingers are trying to rewrite history by discrediting a man greater than any of them can ever hope to be,” he said. “Liberals have never been able to come to grips that Reagan won election and was both incredibly popular and successful. They blame him for all of what they consider the ills of the current world, including making America strong and ending the communist Soviet Union.”
Some social media users expressed outrage at the plot of the upcoming film.
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Alzheimers is not a comedy!Will Ferrell to play dementia-stricken Ronald Reagan https://t.co/5wdo2PVvHt via the @FoxNews Android app
— Michael Reagan (@ReaganWorld) April 27, 2016
I don't appreciate this. We don't make satire movies about JFK or other liberal sweethearts. https://t.co/J9SHJywZ9u
— Alyssa Canobbio (@AlyssaEinDC) April 27, 2016
Having family members who passed from Alzheimer's this is offensive. Boo #WillFerrell https://t.co/TVtRPpyamf
— Joe Randeen (@joetheflow) April 28, 2016
What an Outrag....Alzheimers is not joke...It kills..You should be ashamed all of you. https://t.co/GNzqR5vjrX
— Michael Reagan (@ReaganWorld) April 27, 2016
I am no fan of Reagan at all but a comedy about his dementia seems like it could be really inappropriate...
— Mike Silangil (@msilangil91) April 27, 2016
Then it's going to making fun of him in the most stupid manner! I WON'T see it! 🙈🙉 #WillFerrell https://t.co/iWtox5q4A8
— Fates Fool (@JenniferSelvidg) April 28, 2016
Others, however, said critics of the upcoming film need to ease up.
Back in December, one Reagan historian, Craig Shirley, expressed his outrage to Inside The Beltway regarding Rosolio’s script.
I personally love Ronald Reagan. This new Will Ferrel movie is just a movie. It doesn't have to follow any rules regarding content.
— Ben (@Cipione) April 28, 2016
Will Ferrell is a master of his art, God Level. He is the Bruce Lee of acting. He will do great as Ronald Reagan. Stay calm
— VaughanSollo (@VaughanSollo) April 27, 2016
“The Hollywood of Reagan’s era, in which the good guys won and the bad guys lost, and American values and truth were upheld, is a thing of the past. Now Hollywood for the most part is a cesspool of human garbage where the left is venerated and the right is eviscerated.”
In March, a live read of “Reagan” took place in Hollywood starring James Brolin, John Cho, and Lena Dunham.
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Ferrell along with Gary Sanchez Productions will produce the movie. No director has been named.
Gary Sanchez Productions, Rosolio, and Ferrell did not return FOX411’s request for comment.