I channel surfed and channel surfed. I Googled and surfed technologically. I couldn’t find any movie or documentary about the Revolutionary War on the 4th of July.
My quest started earlier that week-end. Surely on Saturday or Sunday The Patriot would be showing. Over and over again like Shawshank Redemption. Perhaps the History Channel would take us back to pre-Constitution Convention. A & E might have One if By Land and Turner Movie Channel – well surely they would conjure up Ben Franklin or Thomas Jefferson.
I could find nothing. The History Channel cruised through the 1700’s on its way to covering all 240 years in a day. By nightfall on the 4th, D.C. and NYC had concerts and fireworks. I hardly think that Pitbull and some scantily dressed in red dancers, constitutes the history of the 4th of July.
We bemoan Gen X and Gen Y about their lack of a “good education.” They can’t spell because they use spellcheck, they can’t add because they use their smartphone’s calculator. Who can we blame because they don’t know history?
Not that TV should take the place of a good history teacher. A 3 day weekend was such a great place to at least learn Hamilton-like history
Last weekend Gone With the Wind re-played. Although not remotely accurate in its Civil War depiction, at least it gives us a Hollywood perspective of an event that changed the world and changed our world.
TV didn’t even give us a false perspective; it didn’t give us any perspective this holiday weekend. I am not a big Mel Gibson fan. Mel in The Patriot reminds us of loss and sacrifice. Couldn’t we all have benefited from remembering those lessons this 4th of July?
