Ronald Reagan Children’s Outrage Over Will Ferrell Dementia Comedy

News that Will Ferrell is set to play the late former president Ronald Reagan has been met with fury by his family.

The movie, which was taken from the Black List, the annually published list of the best un-produced screenplays in Hollywood, tells a fictional story of a White House intern who is tasked with convincing Reagan that he is actually an actor in a movie when dementia begins to set in.

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Reagan’s eldest son Michael took to Twitter, saying:

Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1994, however, there has long been speculation that he showed early signs of the disease during the latter part of his presidency, which ended in 1989.

Such claims have always been denied.

A more detailed response, however, came in the form of an eloquent open letter addressed directly to Ferrell from Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis.

“I saw the news bulletin — as did everyone — that you intend to portray my father in the throes of Alzheimer’s for a comedy that you are also producing,” she writes.

“Perhaps you have managed to retain some ignorance about Alzheimer’s and other versions of dementia. Perhaps if you knew more, you would not find the subject humorous.

“Alzheimer’s doesn’t care if you are President of the United States or a dockworker. It steals what is most precious to a human being — memories, connections, the familiar landmarks of a lifetime that we all come to rely on to hold our place secure in this world and keep us linked to those we have come to know and love.

“I watched as fear invaded my father’s eyes — this man who was never afraid of anything. I heard his voice tremble as he stood in the living room and said, ‘I don’t know where I am’. I watched helplessly as he reached for memories, for words, that were suddenly out of reach and moving farther away. For ten long years he drifted — past the memories that marked his life, past all that was familiar…and mercifully, finally past the fear.

“There was laughter in those years, but there was never humor.

“Perhaps for your comedy you would like to visit some dementia facilities. I have — I didn’t find anything comedic there, and my hope would be that if you’re a decent human being, you wouldn’t either.”

The screenplay, penned by Mike Rosolio, was given a live table-read in March, with Lena Dunham and 'Star Trek’s John Cho among those performing.

One audience member, Amy Lutz from the Young America’s Foundation, said: “The screenplay, though written to be a humorous satire, rather makes light of Alzheimer’s and undercuts President Reagan’s accomplishments in his second term.”

So far Ferrell and his production company Gary Sanchez, which is producing the project, have not commented on the concerns.

Reagan died in 2004 from pneumonia, complicated by his Alzheimer’s disease. His wife Nancy died last month at the age of 94 from heart failure.

Image credits: Yahoo File/Twitter/AP