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Hitler rise to power series canceled { May 15 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/tv_and_radio/article/0,1406,KNS_357_1963755,00.htmlhttp://www.knoxnews.com/kns/tv_and_radio/article/0,1406,KNS_357_1963755,00.html
Texas TV stations pull CBS 'Hitler' TV miniseries
By JEREMY BROWN
May 15, 2003
The CBS affiliate in Corpus Christi, Texas, has opted not to air a two-part miniseries dramatizing the young life of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Dale Remy, general manager of KZTV Channel 10, said he was concerned that the film could give harmful ideas to white supremacists and disturbed young people.
"The Nazi concept, if you will, is still very real, and I think anything we do to give that particular thinking a venue, a format, is a mistake," Remy said. "More people that are already on the fence on this and have issues might find something in this character to identify with, and that bothers me tremendously."
The company that owns KZTV has a second CBS affiliate in Laredo, Texas, that has also chosen not to air "Hitler: the Rise of Evil." CBS spokesman Chris Ender said that of the more than 200 CBS affiliates in the country, he knew of no others that have declined to show the film.
"It is a story that everybody knows how it ended, but very few know how it began," Ender said. "We think the story is compelling, and we think the producers have done an excellent job of presenting it in a compelling and thoughtful manner."
The network considers "Hitler: the Rise of Evil" - scheduled to run Sunday and Tuesday - its event mini-series for the May sweeps, Ender said. Locally, KZTV plans to run "Superman II" and "Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear" in those slots.
"If Nazism had risen, fallen and gone away, I would not have the issue with it that I do," Remy said. "My issue is that Nazism is real in our society. I think that we as the media have to take some responsibility and I just felt like the Hitler life story was a line I wasn't willing to cross."
The mini-series will air, however, on the Corpus Christi UPN affiliate, KTOV Channel 7, which sometimes picks up network programming that other local affiliates have passed on.
"We believe it's a very good program," said Fred Hoffmann, owner and general manager at KTOV. "We see absolutely nothing wrong with it. I find it very difficult to believe that CBS would put on something that would be offensive to any part of our country."
Robert Carlyle, a Scottish actor who has appeared in movies such as "Angela's Ashes," "The Full Monty" and "Trainspotting," plays Hitler. Other stars include Stockard Channing, Peter O'Toole and Matthew Modine. Channing plays the dictator's mother, Clara.
O'Toole takes up the part of Paul von Hindenburg, the German president who appointed Hitler chancellor in 1934. Modine portrays Fritz Gerlich, a German journalist who opposed Hitler and was ultimately murdered.
According to CBS, the company that developed the mini-series, Alliance Atlas, drew on biographies, periodicals, documentaries, archival information, journalistic accounts and consultations with prominent academics for research.
The miniseries has inspired other controversies. Early on, the Anti-Defamation League, the New York-based group dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism, came out against the mini-series. But the league has since publicly endorsed it, saying the film shows how fragile democracy is and how potent evil is.
"You can't look at films like 'The Pianist' or 'Schindler's List' or a TV series like 'Shoah' without being repelled by what Hitler and his followers did," said Rabbi Kenneth Roseman of Temple Beth El in Corpus Christi. "I generally tend to think that it is more worthwhile to tell the truth and that people are smart enough and ethical and moral enough to draw the proper conclusion. I trust people."
Contact Jeremy Brown at 886-3763 or brownj@caller.com
(Contact Jeremy Brown of the Caller-Times in Corpus Christi, Texas, at http://www.caller.com.)
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