Slaver's Rebellion

[4thofeleven]

Doing a unit on the American Civil War this semester - part of it's covering media representations of the war and post-reconstruction Civil War narratives. Thinking I might do my essay on that. Anyone got any recommendations for good novels or movies set in or immediately after the war?

Comments

[sunnyskywalker]

Well, there's Gettysburg (I think it's the 1993 one based on the Jeff Shaara novel Killer Angels), which is just about that battle. It's long, so make popcorn.

Um... oddly, the only other ones I can think of at the moment are Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind. Which will certainly be useful for evaluating media representations and public opinions.

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

We're actually covering Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind specifically in class. Birth is weird to watch - the ideology it presents is so alien and repulsive it takes incredible effort to interpret it in the proper context.

And even for a silent movie, it seems overly fond of title cards. I'm convinced that of the three hour running time, at least half an hour is title cards.

[sunnyskywalker]

Oh yes, the title cards. It's like a script with way, way too many stage directions. Also, the final sequence with the last stand at the cabin and the "cavalry" riding in to the rescue is totally ripped off from Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, with the groups swapped out.

Come to think of it, the Gettysburg movie has a sequel, Gods and Generals. I haven't seen it, though.

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

My favorite is when the title cards exist to explain things like a character is sad or angry... Personally, I'd have thought that's the sort of thing that can fairly easily be conveyed through acting, sound or no sound.

I guess when your intended audience is would-be Klansmen, it doesn't pay to overestimate their intelligence...