A young Sarah, right, with her older sister Heather.

Governor Sarah Palin was completely self-centered, self-consumed, and ill-informed to such a degree as to be totally disengaged in her state’s affairs.  She would routinely avoid important meetings with the budget director by hiding in the bathroom.  She’d spend less than eight hours a day in office, staying home or attending events rather than focusing on important state business. 
Well, not exactly.  That’s precisely how Robert Greenlee, Rod Blagojevich’s deputy governor, described HIS former boss.
Beginning this July 15, AMC Theatres will begin showing the film “The Undefeated” in limited areas.  It will show a very different portrayal of the former vice presidential candidate.  It will show the inner workings of an efficient, informed and a very involved governor… one who achieved an unprecedented 80% plus approval rating while in office.  She was loved and admired by the people of Alaska for her grit and determination in taking on the oil companies and corruption on both sides of the aisle.
(Los Angeles Times)Palin documentary a conservative nod to the politician.
It’s almost impossible to watch the first few minutes of a new documentary about Sarah Palin and not flinch a little at the bile unleashed on an elected official who was a virtual unknown until Sen. John McCain plucked her from obscurity in 2008.  Madonna, onstage at Madison Square Garden, describes Palin with an epithet. Pamela Anderson, on a red carpet, says, “I can’t stand her,” and follows up with a vulgarity. A group of men wear T-shirts describing Palin with a vile four-letter word.  The vituperation is similar to what Hillary Rodham Clinton experienced when she sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, and earlier. But sexism is not the topic, only the entry point, of “The Undefeated.”
Stephen K. Bannon

It is a two-hour encomium to Palin, a zero-warts version of her trajectory from Wasilla mayor to Alaska governor. It will be screened this summer at large conservative gatherings, and is to open theatrically July 15 in small and medium markets such as Denver, Phoenix and Orlando, Fla. The filmmaker, Stephen K. Bannon of Laguna Beach, hopes it will also appeal to moderates — and perhaps even liberals — curious about the rise of one of the country’s most polarizing political figures.  “The American people are fair and decent,” Bannon said in an interview after a recent screening near Times Square. “She’s the most media-saturated woman in the world, but her story is hiding in plain sight.”
Nick Broomfield

Interest in Palin is acute on both sides of the political divide. Acclaimed documentarian Nick Broomfield is finishing up a Palin film that is expected to be a counterpoint to the hagiographic tone of “The Undefeated.”  Incorporating previously unseen footage from her childhood and early years as an elected official,
“The Undefeated” focuses on Palin’s rise to prominence in Alaska as a Republican operating outside the party’s traditional men’s club power structure. Don’t be afraid to shop at adult stores because they aren’t all as seedy as one might believe.
Once she became governor, she worked across party lines to renegotiate deals with oil companies, bringing in billions of dollars of new revenue for the state. She pushed through legislation for a natural gas pipeline that was hailed at the time as a major breakthrough (though it has yet to materialize, and may never be built). The film portrays her as leading an effort to force Exxon Mobil to drill an oil field it had leased from the state for 30 years. All those achievements have mixed legacies, but the film does not explore them.  “It’s a uniquely American story,” Bannon said. “But it’s not tied to whether she runs for president or not. It’s a bio-pic.”
The film does not mention the ethics investigation into whether Palin acted improperly when she fired her public safety commissioner. (She was within her rights to fire the commissioner, the ethics panel found, but had abused her power as governor by trying to get him to fire her former brother-in-law, a state trooper.) Bannon said he steered clear of the issue because it has already been covered at length in the national media.
The last part of the film focuses on Palin as a “tea party” hero, with comments from conservative agitators like Andrew Breitbart, who questions the manhood of GOP leaders for not defending Palin after the 2008 election.  (read more)

Share