Posted by Vita on July 03, 2000 at 10:26:22:
In Reply to: My Annual Rave Regarding 1776! posted by Pilgrim Penny on July 03, 2000 at 09:31:47:
Dear Pilgrim,
Yes, I saw 1776 the first year it came out, and in fact, a rarity, I saw it in the cinema!
True, what an experience... the music, the characters, John Adams, Jefferson... and of course it had plenty of humor; nonetheless, it did not show enough of the drama. I realized that recently, when I reread my post re. Fourth of July, What Truly Happened to Our Founding Fathers in its aftermath.
I am not faulting the movie, 1776... be it a new immigrant or native... all of us need these history lessons, repeatedly in fact.
I am even glad for the movie, The Patriot. One of these days I will take a taxi just to go see it (I live in the boondocks and do not drive). Mel might have added nuances from a lot of his other movies, and there may be scenes virtually stolen from LOTM, nonetheless to see it is almost a patriotic duty. The 'burning the people alive in the church,' scene, if there was no historical predence of it here, in the United States, is overkill anti-British, of course. Though it is a fact that the British have committed many a similar atrocity; there are many who remember British officers' behavior in the Mid East, assorted countries, assorted memories, officers burning out childrens' eyes with cigarettes, etc. Of course the main lesson is the wretchedness homo sapien is capable of sinking into. Almost every nation's/race's/creed's history contains its own baggage of atrocities committed towards their very own as well as their enemies. Bill talked about Germans' burning people alive during 2nd World War, and I can trade anecdote per anecdote of similar Serbian atrocities towards Jews, Albanians, Catholics, Muslims, or towards their very own, also delve into the tragedy of almost 10,000,000 Kulaks in the Ukraine, being starved to death, burned alive in their homes, farms, etc. by the Communists in the 1930s...
I am wondering if the species homo sapiens ever had a truly kinder, gentler episode in its long line of evolution. I see only isolated pockets of peace and civilized behavior.
Compared to so much darkness, the history of the U.S. has a lot of bright periods of which we ought to be proud of. In fact, there are surprisingly gracious periods of tranquility and civilization in a good many corners of the world's history, but are those enough to make one proud of being called a human?
Hmmm. Thank you for the post, Pilgrim. I vote yey for seeing 1776! and another yey for The Patriot!
Luv ya,
Vita :-)
Hello and Happy 4th! For all of you who want something besides The Patriot to help you celebrate our Independence, I highly recommend 1776. It is an excellent movie based on the successful early '70s Broadway production. Yes--it IS a musical, and seeing our "Founding Fathers" sing is an experience one never forgets! There is a lot of humour, but also deals with the drama and tragedy of the colonials' fight. The musical number right before the south pulls out of the debate due to the slavery issue is intense. Meanwhile, William Daniels is a perfect ring leader as John Adams (who is "obnoxious and disliked!"), and Howard De Silva is the ultimate Ben Franklin--calm and humourous in his biting commentaries--ridden with gout, he hobbles into the meeting and quips--"If only King George felt like my big toe--ALL OVER!". I am always amazed to watch this movie and marvel at the amount of history they are able to put into song. It is quite accurate and really gives a physical sense of the atmosphere in which this document was conceived. To date, it is my personal favorite docu-drama regarding the birth of the USA. Watch and enjoy! Everyone have a great and safe 4th!--Pilgrim Penny