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So, I've made a decision not to include pro-Confederacy films in any fun or light list (like my silent movie map of the United States).
I thought I should clarify my reasons.
The first thing you have to remember is that pro-Confederate films did not sprint up by accident.
I thought I should clarify my reasons.
The first thing you have to remember is that pro-Confederate films did not sprint up by accident.
The early filmmaking centers were either decidedly Union or were not states at the time of the Civil War. And, in fact, early films were just as likely to portray pro-Union stories.
That changed in the 1910s and 1920s and it changed due to lobbying.
That changed in the 1910s and 1920s and it changed due to lobbying.
The Reel Civil War: Mythmaking in American Film by Bruce Chadwick discusses the hardcore lobbying efforts spearheaded by the Daughters of the Confederacy (you know, the chicks who put up all those statues).
They demanded pro-South films and backed up their claims with Lost Cause propaganda and sob sister stories of the romantic Antebellum South. With no similar pushback from the North, the American film history let the pro-Confederacy forces have their way.
This is why is never occurred to anyone involved in THE GENERAL that maybe, just maybe, they were backing the wrong side.
And I have seen the film defended due to the fact it has no big slavery scenes which is...
And I have seen the film defended due to the fact it has no big slavery scenes which is...
Forgetting those pesky slaves or portraying them as happy, smiling "servants we just happen to never pay and who can't actually leave but we never mention that" was part of the propaganda push, remember.
Do we need to remember that these movies exist. YES. They need to be discussed and studied.
But including them casually in lighter fare is normalizing their message. In other words, EXACTLY THE GOAL OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY.
But including them casually in lighter fare is normalizing their message. In other words, EXACTLY THE GOAL OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY.
tl;dr
Pro-Confederacy silents should be part of any serious film discussion and shouldn't be erased because Hollywood needs to own up.
BUT
Demanding ugly celluloid Confederate monuments be included in celebrations of the silent era is...
Pro-Confederacy silents should be part of any serious film discussion and shouldn't be erased because Hollywood needs to own up.
BUT
Demanding ugly celluloid Confederate monuments be included in celebrations of the silent era is...
I mean, I hope we all recognize the difference between serious film scholarship and goofy lists and articles designed to amuse people and interest them in the era.
You expect me to plunk a big ol' Dixie statue right in the middle of my garden? Think again.
You expect me to plunk a big ol' Dixie statue right in the middle of my garden? Think again.
To put it another way, nobody in their right mind would throw a fit if a list of Favorite German Movies were to omit pictures made between 1933 and 1945.
These pictures should be studied but one doesn't just lob them out in polite company.
These pictures should be studied but one doesn't just lob them out in polite company.
This is not "censorship" it's simply not handing an open mic over to dead weirdos who couldn't get over daddy losing a war.