Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady in Fact and Fiction

Former Prime Minister of Great Britain Margaret Thatcher has died.

A year ago, Reason TV interviewed John Blundell, a former adviser to Margaret Thatcher, about the movie The Iron Lady. Here's the original writeup:

"When I first heard of this movie," says John Blundell, "I immediately was a little worried because of Meryl Streep's own ideas and polices and so on that are very distinctly not Thatcherite."

As a longtime Margaret Thatcher ally, few people are in a better position than John Blundell to assess the veracity of the Oscar-nominated bio-pic, The Iron Lady. The former head of influential free-market organizations such as The Institute of Economic Affairs, The Institute for Humane Studies, and the Atlas Economic Research Foundation , Blundell is also the author ofMargaret Thatcher: A Portrait of the Iron Lady (2007) and the new Ladies for Liberty: Women Who Made a Difference in American History .

On the eve of the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony, Blundell sat down with Reason.tv to discuss the controversy surrounding the film (which depicts its titular character in the throes of demenita), Streep's widely praised performance, and the continuing power of Thatcher's social and political legacy.

"I must admit," he says, "to being pleasantly surprised. I think overall Margaret comes out of this process with her reputation enhanced and, of course, Meryl Streep's reputation hugely enhanced."

About 5.30 minutes. Produced and edited by Meredith Bragg.

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In 2009, Blundell gave a 30-minute talk about Thatcher's legacy at Reason Weekend, an annual event for donors to the nonprofit Reason Foundation that publishes this website. Watch or download that talk here.