Hollywood went all in on deifying Dr. Anthony Fauci.
We now know the folly behind that movement, revealed both in the recent diaries and Dr. Fauci's Fifth Amendment jamboree. Has a "hero" ever fallen this far, this fast?
The only difference between Dr. Fauci and a Bond villain? The lack of a stroke-worthy Persian cat.
It's important to note that Dr. Fauci's reign inspired multiple documentaries in recent years. And, predictably, they fell into two distinct camps.
The first? Cinematic mash letters to the now-disgraced doctor. The others? Closer to the truth.
The most high-profile doc of them all? "Fauci," funded by National Geographic, told a decidedly one-sided account of his life and career. The 2021 film, rushed out during the pandemic, proved little more than a hagiography for the infectious disease guru.
Even the left-leaning film critic community called out the film on that front. That didn't stop the avalanche of praise on a film that earned so little in theaters that the studio behind it didn't share the numbers with sites like BoxOfficeMojo.com.
"Fauci" scored an 86 percent "fresh" at RottenTomatoes.com. The Guardian dubbed the source "a standard bearer for truth." If that's the case, we're all in trouble.
The film got shipped quickly to Disney+, home to other works of fiction.
Another fawning documentary, "Dr. Tony Fauci," got funding from everyone reading this post. PBS's "American Masters" series delivered a pro-Fauci angle. The documentary's official description sets the tone:
Dr. Fauci’s prerogative to help others, including those who cannot afford medical treatment, is modeled upon his father’s compassionate service as a pharmacist in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
Tell that to the millions of people adversely affected by his misdirection and punitive lockdown recommendations. This Decider review suggests the movie reveals one of many Fauci flip-flops only to soften the blow:
it’s hard not to be convinced that his intent was pure, and he was trying to do the right thing.
If those documentaries induce one's gag reflex, there's an alternative. Two, actually.
One is streaming now at Angel Studios. It's "Thank You, Dr. Fauci," a 2025 title with a tongue-in-cheek purpose. The movie doesn't hold back on skewering his pandemic-sized misdirection.
The film didn't generate a single review from professional scribes at RottenTomatoes.com.
The 2022 film "The Real Anthony Fauci" is similarly critical of the subject's reign of error, but it got very little attention during its release. It's based on the book by current Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Ironically, the latter film's director (Kala Mandrake) co-wrote the 2015 documentary, "The Brainwashing of My Dad." That film explored an older man's journey from the center-left to the Right based on exposure to Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. It wasn't a flattering journey, by the film's ideological account.
What's missing in this picture? A genuinely fair and balanced look at Dr. Fauci's career and how he betrayed science with his pandemic declarations. It might humanize the subject matter, but it would hold him accountable and not be discounted by fair-minded liberals.
Will we ever see such a documentary? We should, at the very least.
