A Generation Unable to Narrate
The other day I was watching Ken Burns being interviewed about his new documentary, "The War," about World War II. I'm a big fan of his. I've bought both "Jazz" and "The Civil War" and I think he is one of the greatest filmakers of our time. Hell, we even coin "The Ken Burns effect" after him (that zooming in and out of photos thing). Even better, I feel he has always strived to bring the story of the underpriveleged (not necessarily minorities) to the forefront.
What threw me off about this interview was that he looked pissed. Unlike previous interviews regarding other docs he's done, he looked like he just faceplanted into a pile of dog poo. Why was he mad? Because certain groups feel offended by him not necessarily including their contribution in the war. Funny thing is, they hadn't even seen the thing. They just complained, protested, and threatened a boycott. Never mind that these groups equated to about 1.6% of all American troops sent over. Never mind that Burns covers the African-American and Asian-American subplots incredibly well. Never mind that Burns' own narrator is a minority. He ultimately had to change the doc so he could include more stories of other groups. So where does it end? I suppose those Irish-Americans are pissed they didn't get a full interview. How about the Chinese-American troops? What about the... it could go on forever. And that's the point. He could have gone on forever and this would end up being a 100 hour snorefest, instead of well filmed, well directed, and well written documentary.
But in his response to this, Burns shared an insight that I had been clawing at in the back of my head, but I couldn't place. He agreed with his critics - that there is always more to tell. However, what they wanted him to tell, was a version of their opinion. They don't want the story as it is/was. They want opinions, layered upon more opinions, founded upon passionate opinions. In his mind, we've lost the art of narrative - telling an event the way we remember it, as devoid of opinion as possible. Narrative in itself is an art. We just don't want to hear, see, or say it.
Look at blogs. Look at ESPN. Look at any news show. What you get is a decrease in narrative and an increase in opinion. Not only that, but we want opinions now! As a society, we look to TV and the internet to find allies or sniff out foes. We don't find the middle ground. The middle ground is now deemed too naive. Too dispassionate. A moral dead sea if you will. Either you're with me or you're against me. Its one way or the other.
Even if we are into facts, its usually sensationalism or completely irrelevant to society's function. Do I really need to see all of the Hollywood craplets mess up again?! How does this add anything to my life?
The point I'm trying to make is this. We need to come back to narration. We need to find a moderate ground to agree upon. Extremism needs to be practiced by the extreme people of the far left and far right 5% of the bell curve, not 75-90% of us. Because in the end, most Americans agree on basic principles and basic rights. We're just being told that we're not by TV, by the internet, and by others.
This all leads to the future direction for my blog. Narration. Moderation. Common Sense. I'll look at events or issues and see if I can shed some light on it. Something not extreme. Something maybe most of us think, but few of us express... because a few % of people have controlled the media and our opinions. I think its time we take it back.
What threw me off about this interview was that he looked pissed. Unlike previous interviews regarding other docs he's done, he looked like he just faceplanted into a pile of dog poo. Why was he mad? Because certain groups feel offended by him not necessarily including their contribution in the war. Funny thing is, they hadn't even seen the thing. They just complained, protested, and threatened a boycott. Never mind that these groups equated to about 1.6% of all American troops sent over. Never mind that Burns covers the African-American and Asian-American subplots incredibly well. Never mind that Burns' own narrator is a minority. He ultimately had to change the doc so he could include more stories of other groups. So where does it end? I suppose those Irish-Americans are pissed they didn't get a full interview. How about the Chinese-American troops? What about the... it could go on forever. And that's the point. He could have gone on forever and this would end up being a 100 hour snorefest, instead of well filmed, well directed, and well written documentary.
But in his response to this, Burns shared an insight that I had been clawing at in the back of my head, but I couldn't place. He agreed with his critics - that there is always more to tell. However, what they wanted him to tell, was a version of their opinion. They don't want the story as it is/was. They want opinions, layered upon more opinions, founded upon passionate opinions. In his mind, we've lost the art of narrative - telling an event the way we remember it, as devoid of opinion as possible. Narrative in itself is an art. We just don't want to hear, see, or say it.
Look at blogs. Look at ESPN. Look at any news show. What you get is a decrease in narrative and an increase in opinion. Not only that, but we want opinions now! As a society, we look to TV and the internet to find allies or sniff out foes. We don't find the middle ground. The middle ground is now deemed too naive. Too dispassionate. A moral dead sea if you will. Either you're with me or you're against me. Its one way or the other.
Even if we are into facts, its usually sensationalism or completely irrelevant to society's function. Do I really need to see all of the Hollywood craplets mess up again?! How does this add anything to my life?
The point I'm trying to make is this. We need to come back to narration. We need to find a moderate ground to agree upon. Extremism needs to be practiced by the extreme people of the far left and far right 5% of the bell curve, not 75-90% of us. Because in the end, most Americans agree on basic principles and basic rights. We're just being told that we're not by TV, by the internet, and by others.
This all leads to the future direction for my blog. Narration. Moderation. Common Sense. I'll look at events or issues and see if I can shed some light on it. Something not extreme. Something maybe most of us think, but few of us express... because a few % of people have controlled the media and our opinions. I think its time we take it back.
posted by Richard at 2:30 AM
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