CNN to air Alex Gibney's 'Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine' this Sunday

Posted:
in General Discussion edited December 2015
CNN has launched a microsite advertising its upcoming broadcast of "Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine," the controversial Alex Gibney documentary about Apple's iconic co-founder.




The documentary will be airing this Sunday, Jan. 3, at 9 p.m. Eastern time. The microsite includes a custom-made trailer, a short clip from the film, and links to two articles. One of these is a quick Jobs biography recapping some major and minor points from his life, such as his interest in Buddhism.

CNN's airing will be the first major TV broadcast of the documentary. The film's initial public screening was at last March's SXSW festival in Austin, Tex.

Some people within Apple were immediately critical, to the point that workers were seen leaving a screening early. The company's senior VP of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, went on Twitter to call the movie an "inaccurate and mean-spirited" view of a friend.

As a rule, however, Apple's leadership has been unhappy with the accuracy of most depictions of Jobs, including Danny Boyle's Golden Globe-nominated biopic Steve Jobs. Cue has so far only praised the Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli book Becoming Steve Jobs.

Gibney is a typically well-respected filmmaker however, known for other documentaries like the Scientology expose Going Clear, and Taxi to the Dark Side, which won a Best Documentary Oscar in 2008.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    CNN's viewership numbers only look "okay" because MSNBS is so bad. I doubt this will help them come out of the gutter though. 
    edited December 2015
  • Reply 2 of 14
    What is this obsession of making all of these documentaries about him? They keep rehashing everything we already know.
    tallest skil
  • Reply 3 of 14

    As a rule, however, Apple's leadership has been unhappy with the accuracy of most depictions of Jobs, including Danny Boyle's Golden Globe-nominated biopic Steve Jobs. Cue has so far only praised the Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli book Becoming Steve Jobs.
    no. they dont dislike them as a rule, they dislike them because they weren't accurate. like this golden nugget from Steve Jobs, where the Woz character says to the Jobs character: "You STOLE the user interface. What exactly is it YOU DO here?" wrong in so many ways.
    edited December 2015 flaneurschwabsaucetallest skil
  • Reply 4 of 14
    noivadnoivad Posts: 186member
    @bdkennedy Jobs was an iconic figure because he not only started the most influential user facing computer company ever, but also because he saved that very same company that was 90 days away from failing upon his return. He also founded Pixar that changed the perception of animated movies and was also very successful. He was smart enough to inspire smarter people to make something great. His passion for excellence was unrelenting, and he paid a price for it. Most people will never have that drive nor that level of success. That is why there is a fascination with him—just as there’s fascination with prior inventors and people who went against the tide. So, in the wake of his death everyone that can make a buck from it, will—No matter how accurate or inaccurate those depictions might be. If people who personally knew and worked with Jobs panned this CNN documentary, then I might pass on it. But I will have to see it, because people have said his temperament changed over the years, maybe Cue only got the tail end of the more mellow Jobs or Cue himself is similar in drive. Each person has their own lens with which they perceive. So, I’m skeptical of any second hand tales. Gather enough tales & you will see the many sides of the same person and—if you are lucky—be able to see their shadow somewhat clearly.
  • Reply 5 of 14
    bdkennedy said:
    What is this obsession of making all of these documentaries about him? They keep rehashing everything we already know.
    I would say it is because remarkable people garner a remarkable amount of attention and "obsession".

    Not only was Jobs remarkable, his life was cut short, which left a void.

    There are some others who have conjured such an outpouring of emotion and attention (or obsession as one might put it) all over the world upon their early death. People like JFK, Martin Luther King Jr., Lady Diana, Michael Jackson, John Lennon, Elvis Presley, to name a few off the top of my head. Those are people who more of less garnered similar levels of attention both in life and death in the form of general media and public attention, books, movies, documentaries, etc. 

    That being said I watched the Gibney documentary on Jobs a while back when it came out. I didn't expect a puff piece, but I didn't expect an agenda either. I felt like it was a missed opportunity in a few ways. There was enough good movie making there to make it not a complete waste of time, but at the end of the show I felt it was somewhat lacking overall.
  • Reply 6 of 14
    tyler82tyler82 Posts: 1,100member
    Pirates of Silicon Valley was, is, and always will be the only great Steve Jobs/ Apple bioflick. All these others are just cheap trash trying to cash in on the man's death. Ashton Kutcher, seriously??
    bdkennedy1002
  • Reply 7 of 14
    tyler82 said:
    Pirates of Silicon Valley was, is, and always will be the only great Steve Jobs/ Apple bioflick. All these others are just cheap trash trying to cash in on the man's death. Ashton Kutcher, seriously??
    I have never liked Kutcher in any roles he's played -- including Kelso -- but I have to say he did a great job playing Jobs. Just my HO.
  • Reply 8 of 14
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    The problem with Gibney's movie, like Sorkin's, is that the writers don't have enough intelligence to ask and try to answer the right questions.

    They therefore resort to kicking around the same stupid gutter memes about Chinese child laborers and the stock backdating. Meanwhile they have no idea why they find their iPhones and iMacs so irresistible.
    nolamacguyjony0
  • Reply 9 of 14
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    He’s been dead for a while. Time to tear him down. That’s how it goes with important people that had major impacts on society and culture. Try to show the world that they weren’t important at all and didn’t really accomplish anything. Jobs was an asshole, MLK was a communist, well you know the routine.
    jony0
  • Reply 10 of 14
    My quote used in the trailer -"he (Steve Jobs) single-handedly created the personal computer industry" left out that I was quoting Time Magazine. Illustrates how editing a documentary fulfills an agenda.
  • Reply 11 of 14
    bluefire1bluefire1 Posts: 1,301member
    I'm going to take a different approach: I'm actually going to watch the program before deciding whether to compliment or criticize it.
  • Reply 12 of 14
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    bluefire1 said:
    I'm going to take a different approach: I'm actually going to watch the program before deciding whether to compliment or criticize it.
    I have seen this movie, rented it on iTunes, and that's why I said what I said above.

    Sorkin's movie I did not see. The trailer was enough to make up my mind. That, and the interviews with him. He couldn't get past the emotional dramas. Typical Hollywood TV trash. Will these people ever grow up?
  • Reply 13 of 14
    bluefire1 said:
    I'm going to take a different approach: I'm actually going to watch the program before deciding whether to compliment or criticize it.
    That is a good approach.

    As a fan of Apple and Jobs and tech stuff in general I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. I agree that you check it out and form your own opinion.
  • Reply 14 of 14
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    CNN's viewership numbers only look "okay" because MSNBS is so bad. I doubt this will help them come out of the gutter though. 
    Come on, the gutter is already full, Fox News is stuck in there!
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