Mockumentary of a President
By Joy Gilliana, 9.27.06
The President was killed in cold blood during a visit to Chicago. This opening scene of the controversial British-made film “Death of a President,” premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 10, 2006.
The mockumentary - created, directed, and produced by Gabriel Range - tells of the assassination of President George W. Bush and the media frenzy and investigation that follows.
The content of this film has sparked many debates, one of them being whether or not a living president should be the subject of a fictional assassination.
The controversy was sparked when Britons awoke to find a promotional photo of Bush’s “assassination” in their morning papers, and many thought the U.S. President had actually been killed, according to the Washington Post. Roy Greenslade, a British media critic, said that such a realistic image “could convince crazy people that this might be a good idea.” He also said that the same effect could be achieved with a fictional president. On the contrary, Peter Dale, head of the British television channel that will air the controversial film, said that the use of a fictional character “wouldn’t have the same resonance.”
The film is shot like a real documentary incorporating real footage of President Bush with staged scenes. A headshot of President Bush was digitally imposed onto the actor who played him, creating the very realistic photo that many Britons found in their newspapers. Secret Service actors were also inserted into real footage of the President’s entourage.
The realism of the movie’s footage coupled with the depiction of the assassination of a living President disgusted many people, while others viewed it as a way of showing what could happen as a result of post 9/11 events. Jhonna McLean, a recent graduate of Judson College understands that the film’s creator had the artistic license to create such a movie but felt that the same effect could have been achieved with a fictional president.
“It is a disrespectful thing to do to any living person,” McClean said.
