The War
So I finally got my hands on a copy of Ken Burn’s The War, thus I’ll spend the next 10 hours watching it. So far it’s very good. I especially like how Burns chose to focus on four US towns and various individuals from them with regards to their experiences rather than trying to cover the nation as a whole. It provides an insight that is little seen.
One of the more interesting aspects of the first disc is how Burns goes about portraying US isolationism. While Europe and Asia were already in the throes of conflict, many Americans went about their daily lives contented that it was a world away, and thus did not affect them. I was also glad to see that Burns delved briefly into the fact that prior to World War Two the US military was relatively small, and that following it, because of the economic prosperity the country ultimately enjoyed in its wake, the United States became the most powerful country in the world.
Over 400,000 Americans lost their lives during the Second World War, but the United States itself remained the only major power involved in the conflict untouched at its conclusion. Europe and Asia were decimated; Russia had lost some twenty million people, and yet the United States remained as it was before – intact. While not directly relatable to the content of the documentary itself; that is a fact that shouldn’t be lost on anyone with regards to the birth of the American neo-imperial mindset.
The sacrifices made by Americans (and Canadians and Newfoundlanders for that matter) in a conflict that had no outright impact on this continent are certainly admirable. But as Burns attempts to reveal in the documentary – war is not a proposition that is ultimately about right and wrong, nor the superiority of political ideologies. It is one that is an exercise in those vulnerabilities from which we all suffer, and thus the revelation that despite the reasons for conflict, the base common that must ultimately pay the price for them are, in truth, more alike than not when the uniforms come off and arms are laid down.
Though it might be hard to believe, this generation of North Americans finds itself the product of the result of that war. Our political ideology, like those of many societies that have come before us, has been overwhelmingly employed of late to justify aggression. Democracy itself has become a weapon in and of itself, one that is rarely questioned when used to justify the need for war. In such times we turn ceremoniously to its principles as if a blank cheque, and that is an unfortunate reality that was created by the outcome of a war fought more than sixty years ago. But it is not the reason why that war was fought, and that is something that should not, in the name of those that fought it, ever be forgotten.
In Addition
As an aside, I was very fond of how Douglas MacArthur was portrayed with regards to his abandonment of the forces under his command that fought a desperate rear guard action on the Bataan peninsula. MacArthur slipped away in a PT boat from Corregidor, vowing when he arrived in Australia that he world return to the Phillipines. History remembers those words as being brazen and defiant. Mr. Burns reminds us that the 70,000 men that were under his command that surrendered after he had fled faced the Bataan Death March. It’s a rather refreshing perspective.
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October 22nd, 2007 at 6:59 pm
More education such as that which you present is coming. I couldn’t help but feel that today’s events had some influence on some of what was presented in this series. It’s not the “hooray for us” that many past documentaries and movies on the subject have been.
Enjoy
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Rememberance Day - Nov 11
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Wear the Poppy
It’s becoming a lost art.
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:56 pm
I saw the first two episodes on TV recently. I agree, it’s a different perspective and one very much needed from an American standpoint. I have found in the past that most American productions on the subject tend to be rather one dimensional - by that i mean the focus is only on their contribution in a RAH RAH AMERICA sort of way. Maybe I shouldn’t compare them with BBC productions, but I find non-American films on WWII to be much more objective - the seem to equally include all nations interests. The Ken Burns series bucks the trend, I feel.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:09 pm
It’s interesting that I actually saw that episode about the Bataan peninsula on PBS just before your attending your show in Fredericton, NB. I can’t remember if it was the same day, or the day before, but I agree that it did provide a different perspective on the horrors of the situation. I’m still waiting for my copy of the presentation to arrive in the mail.
I couldn’t agree more with your last paragraph describing our generations as products of the war. The Truman Doctrine shaped the western world’s continued ideology to this date and beyond; only we’ve seen it augmented to fit the current U.S. administration’s goals. I find it disgusting when I turn on The Tonight Show and see a segment of Jaywalking where Jay asks a random person in southern California, ‘who did America fight in the Second World War?’ And then to see the thirty-five year old English teacher answer, “Uhh… China?”
To anyone who has not visited the National War Museum in London, England, I would highly suggest you make the trip.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Common fact, often forgotten. Canada, with a population of 8 milion, put 600 000 people in uniform in WWI. 66 000 of them died - more than US losses in 10 years of combat in Vietnam. Although even I would admit perhaps it would have been better for everyone had we simply waited that one out…
On the issue of Vietnam - in 2001, suicides amongst American Vietnam veterans exceded the number of US combat deaths resulting from the conflict. A tragic point, and a complex one, but perhaps a reminder that soldiers need to be sent where and only where the cause is just.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Democracy as a weapon… I like that description. Like a big shiny chrome plated spiked club with bad poetry scrawled all over it. The democracy club.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:46 pm
haha the democracy club.. i like that idea
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:55 pm
A bit off topic but you have to see it to believe it….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uEWA6wB_pE War costs thousands of dollars every second. This video is supposed to be funny but….
You can find all sorts of funny things about the war in Iraq
by doing a search for : Iraq comedy
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:20 pm
I absolutely love Ken Burns’ The War, i was just channel surfing, and i stopped on PBS and 8 hours gone. Another documentary like this that i liked was Canada: A people’s history
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:48 pm
We, too, spent a weekend watching this on TV (a couple of times). It is really a good program. It should be watched.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Ken Burns is a great film maker. He sits up in a small N.H. town and makes his magic.
October 23rd, 2007 at 5:04 am
[quote comment="30358"]It’s interesting that I actually saw that episode about the Bataan peninsula on PBS just before your attending your show in Fredericton, NB. I can’t remember if it was the same day, or the day before, but I agree that it did provide a different perspective on the horrors of the situation. I’m still waiting for my copy of the presentation to arrive in the mail.
I couldn’t agree more with your last paragraph describing our generations as products of the war. The Truman Doctrine shaped the western world’s continued ideology to this date and beyond; only we’ve seen it augmented to fit the current U.S. administration’s goals. I find it disgusting when I turn on The Tonight Show and see a segment of Jaywalking where Jay asks a random person in southern California, ‘who did America fight in the Second World War?’ And then to see the thirty-five year old English teacher answer, “Uhh… China?”
To anyone who has not visited the National War Museum in London, England, I would highly suggest you make the trip.[/quote]
I also suggest to visit the “Mémorial de Caen, un musée pour la paix” It’s in Normandie,a great place to visit as it’s main subject is peace.
October 23rd, 2007 at 5:59 am
I need to find that documentary….. or check out PBS more often….
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:30 am
hey matt…after you finish watching it ..maybe i can borrow it so i can watch it too…its a little expensive to buy at the moment…i’ll see you in brandon….what do you think ? im trying to finish my history degree so it would be educational to see it…you cant say no to that, right???????
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Well, its good to see. I’ve long been frustrated by Americans thinking they actually won that war. They did not, it was a collective effort, and one they waited far too long to join in on.
October 25th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
“Democracy itself has become a weapon in and of itself, one that is rarely questioned when used to justify the need for war.”
Here I am two days later coming back to find that line to copy out and share with my husband. What an amazing insight.