jazzeum
Four Star General
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2005
- Messages
- 38,439
The following article by Kate Masur in the New York Times, Lincoln's Passive Black Characters, including her comment that somehow Speilberg should have somehow tried to fit in Frederick Douglass, has attracted a lot of attention.
Here are some reactions:
In the blog site, African American War Memorial, Hari Jones, Curator of the Museum, writes:
"Professor Masur’s recommendation that Frederick Douglass be portrayed in the movie is an interpretive choice that would have made the movie less factual. The focus of the movie was on the passage of the 13th Amendment. Douglass did not have a role in getting the amendment passed in January 1865. His monthly had even ceased publication by then. The professor’s review was essentially an admonishment to Hollywood to do what Glory did and make history fiction in order to get the token Negro in the inner circle of the film’s main character. And, of course, when it comes to contemporary Civil War scholarship at our finest institutions, Frederick Douglass is the affirmative action inner circle Negro. Fortunately, Spielberg did not lend his talents to such fiction."
Jones' article is excellent and I recommend a read.
Here are the comments from Dead Confederates and it's an excellent article.
Here is the view from Battlefield Back Stories.
In Civil War Memory, Kevin Levin called the opening scene silly and I thought it was hokey. This was a common feeling. However, Bjorn Skaptason from the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop had a very good comment that makes a lot of sense. It is posted here at Civil War Memory.
Here is Kevin Levin's review of the movie, again well worth reading.
Kevin also has some other good articles on the movie at www.cwmemory.com/blog
Here are some reactions:
In the blog site, African American War Memorial, Hari Jones, Curator of the Museum, writes:
"Professor Masur’s recommendation that Frederick Douglass be portrayed in the movie is an interpretive choice that would have made the movie less factual. The focus of the movie was on the passage of the 13th Amendment. Douglass did not have a role in getting the amendment passed in January 1865. His monthly had even ceased publication by then. The professor’s review was essentially an admonishment to Hollywood to do what Glory did and make history fiction in order to get the token Negro in the inner circle of the film’s main character. And, of course, when it comes to contemporary Civil War scholarship at our finest institutions, Frederick Douglass is the affirmative action inner circle Negro. Fortunately, Spielberg did not lend his talents to such fiction."
Jones' article is excellent and I recommend a read.
Here are the comments from Dead Confederates and it's an excellent article.
Here is the view from Battlefield Back Stories.
In Civil War Memory, Kevin Levin called the opening scene silly and I thought it was hokey. This was a common feeling. However, Bjorn Skaptason from the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop had a very good comment that makes a lot of sense. It is posted here at Civil War Memory.
Here is Kevin Levin's review of the movie, again well worth reading.
Kevin also has some other good articles on the movie at www.cwmemory.com/blog
