Ken Burns' 1990 documentary The Civil War was ground breaking. It has had a huge impact on both documentary film making, and current perceptions of the Civil War. Below is a video of Burns discussing the film.
That being said, I have to agree with James M. Lundberg's article in today's slate, "Thanks a Lot, Ken Burns". While the film did manage to engage an audience of millions for 11 hours, it is not very good history. When an event that killed hundreds of thousands of people gets turned into a warm and fuzzy story, you have to think that somewhere something is being warped.
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I don't think it's bad history to tell personal stories. Everyone knows that there was unprecedented death and destruction, but it's also a fact that the participants were actual people who lived actual lives and had actual feelings. I don't think there's anything wrong with putting a personal spin on an epic series of events.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I do agree with much of what Lundberg says in his piece. Much was romanticized and "prettied up" in the documentary, but it was the soft tone that struck a chord with people. If interest in the documentary motivated people to actually learn more about the Civil War, even if they didn't like what they learned because it didn't match the visions that were ingrained in their minds from watching the documentary, then it accomplished something and served a good purpose.
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