Millions of Americans are deeply grateful for Dr. Fauci, especially for his leadership in the early days of the pandemic, but many started to grow more cynical about not just the doctor but the system itself. The latter populace has clearly been irked by the NatGeo documentary on Fauci that tries to elevate him to the greatest heights.
I saw “Fauci” around the time it screened at the Telluride Film Festival, but I refrained from posting any thoughts since it didn’t make much of an impression on me — this was a rather standard doc, plainly told. There was nothing especially appealing about the whole thing; directors John Hoffman, and Janet Tobias basically fawn all over their subject for 90 minutes. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you are curious about the life of this man, but there was nothing noticeably enticing about it.
The documentary presents a one-sided look at the career of the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the current Chief Medical Advisor to the President amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Even if this were a documentary on Mother Teresa, I would have liked to have seen a two-sided argument for and against her. However, according to this film, Fauci can do no wrong, he’s a saint. Take, for example, his early role coordinating the federal response to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s when there was a ton of pushback against him. Fauci monopolized the federal response to give sole priority to the antiviral drug AZT, or azidothymidine, as opposed to alternative remedies that proved to be very effective. The protests were as loud as the ones we are seeing against him today (except back then it was the left protesting, today it’s the right).
The elite disparity between audience and critical appetite was bound to happen. The Tomatometer for “Fauci” offers a 94% fresh score, compared to just 2% of the general audience who gave similar praise. This reflects the divide over the protagonist. RT appeared to temporarily halt audience reviews on Monday morning.
I actually find that number optimistic. Tickets for “Digger” go on sale next Tuesday, and presales will give us a better picture of how bad it’s looking.