my problem with WAR documentaries !!!
07-09-04, 01:34 PM
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my problem with WAR documentaries !!!
It is a known fact that a good percentage of "minorities" fight for America in wars. However in almost all of the war documentaries I have seen the only people i see interviewed are white males. This is a very strange phenomenon considering the amount of "minorities" in war. Is it because they want to portray that only white males fight for America in war? I would really like to know the reason for this. If anyone has seen war documentaries with various etnicities interviewed I would like to know. Has anyone else noticed this?
07-09-04, 01:42 PM
#2
DVD Talk Legend
I've seen a few on the Tuskegee Airmen, and have met some of them in person.
Check out the DVD
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...v=glance&s=dvd
Check out the DVD
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...v=glance&s=dvd
07-09-04, 02:27 PM
#4
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I just hate it how all they tend to talk about is war and stuff. I mean where's the bright side? why do they have to concentrate on all the dead people and bombs and shit? Why can't they show a more balanced picture of war and the good stuff that happens when you bomb a city, or step on a land mine, or get shot by your own men, or set fire to a village? They're just so biased!!
07-09-04, 02:28 PM
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Originally posted by brizz
I just hate it how all they tend to talk about is war and stuff. I mean where's the bright side? why do they have to concentrate on all the dead people and bombs and shit? Why can't they show a more balanced picture of war and the good stuff that happens when you bomb a city, or step on a land mine, or get shot by your own men, or set fire to a village? They're just so biased!!
I just hate it how all they tend to talk about is war and stuff. I mean where's the bright side? why do they have to concentrate on all the dead people and bombs and shit? Why can't they show a more balanced picture of war and the good stuff that happens when you bomb a city, or step on a land mine, or get shot by your own men, or set fire to a village? They're just so biased!!
07-09-04, 02:31 PM
#6
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Re: my problem with WAR documentaries !!!
Originally posted by inkblots
It is a known fact that a good percentage of "minorities" fight for America in wars. However in almost all of the war documentaries I have seen the only people i see interviewed are white males. This is a very strange phenomenon considering the amount of "minorities" in war. Is it because they want to portray that only white males fight for America in war? I would really like to know the reason for this. If anyone has seen war documentaries with various etnicities interviewed I would like to know. Has anyone else noticed this?
It is a known fact that a good percentage of "minorities" fight for America in wars. However in almost all of the war documentaries I have seen the only people i see interviewed are white males. This is a very strange phenomenon considering the amount of "minorities" in war. Is it because they want to portray that only white males fight for America in war? I would really like to know the reason for this. If anyone has seen war documentaries with various etnicities interviewed I would like to know. Has anyone else noticed this?
07-09-04, 02:32 PM
#7
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That's because they're all dead. Haven't you ever seen a war movie? The minorities are the "red shirts" of war. They always are the first to die, usually after showing a picture of their "girl" to the main character.
07-09-04, 02:37 PM
#8
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interestingly...i just noticed this:
http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/523/523790p1.html
Freeman in WWII Film
Story of a black combat unit.
June 16, 2004 - In a career move that hearkens back to his role in 1989's Glory, actor Morgan Freeman will star in a film about the first black armored unit to enter combat in World War II. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film will trace the 761st Tank Battalion, who were also known as the Black Panthers. They arrived in France in November 1944 to help Gen. George Patton and spent the rest of the war on the front. The unit was also instrumental in the Battle of the Bulge.
"The 761st was the tip of the spear before the Third Army," Freeman told the trade. "The Third Army spearheaded the push through France. Patton had run out of tanks and men. The 761st had been training for years, and he specifically asked for them."
As in Glory, the film will be told from a perspective that has not been previously presented in popular entertainment. "There are no stories of heroic black soldiers," Freeman said. "For all intents and purposes, there are no stories of blacks in World War II. The world has no idea that there were black units in the war. I want to focus on the heroism of these men, to highlight the input of these men, how well they fought and how well they did."
The script for the DreamWorks-based project will be written by Gregory Allen Howard (Remember the Titans).
As THR says, the narrative centers on "the relationship between two men – one a fearless black soldier from the streets of Detroit, the other a Yale-bred white officer – and their struggle to prove their worth to each other."
Freeman in WWII Film
Story of a black combat unit.
June 16, 2004 - In a career move that hearkens back to his role in 1989's Glory, actor Morgan Freeman will star in a film about the first black armored unit to enter combat in World War II. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film will trace the 761st Tank Battalion, who were also known as the Black Panthers. They arrived in France in November 1944 to help Gen. George Patton and spent the rest of the war on the front. The unit was also instrumental in the Battle of the Bulge.
"The 761st was the tip of the spear before the Third Army," Freeman told the trade. "The Third Army spearheaded the push through France. Patton had run out of tanks and men. The 761st had been training for years, and he specifically asked for them."
As in Glory, the film will be told from a perspective that has not been previously presented in popular entertainment. "There are no stories of heroic black soldiers," Freeman said. "For all intents and purposes, there are no stories of blacks in World War II. The world has no idea that there were black units in the war. I want to focus on the heroism of these men, to highlight the input of these men, how well they fought and how well they did."
The script for the DreamWorks-based project will be written by Gregory Allen Howard (Remember the Titans).
As THR says, the narrative centers on "the relationship between two men – one a fearless black soldier from the streets of Detroit, the other a Yale-bred white officer – and their struggle to prove their worth to each other."
07-09-04, 02:40 PM
#9
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Originally posted by brizz
I just hate it how all they tend to talk about is war and stuff. I mean where's the bright side? why do they have to concentrate on all the dead people and bombs and shit? Why can't they show a more balanced picture of war and the good stuff that happens when you bomb a city, or step on a land mine, or get shot by your own men, or set fire to a village? They're just so biased!!
I just hate it how all they tend to talk about is war and stuff. I mean where's the bright side? why do they have to concentrate on all the dead people and bombs and shit? Why can't they show a more balanced picture of war and the good stuff that happens when you bomb a city, or step on a land mine, or get shot by your own men, or set fire to a village? They're just so biased!!
07-09-04, 02:47 PM
#10
DVD Talk Legend
Originally posted by Iron Chef
I've seen a few on the Tuskegee Airmen, and have met some of them in person.
Check out the DVD
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...v=glance&s=dvd
I've seen a few on the Tuskegee Airmen, and have met some of them in person.
Check out the DVD
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...v=glance&s=dvd
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...video&n=896902
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...video&n=896902
and more generally....
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...video&n=896902
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...video&n=896902
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...video&n=896902
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...video&n=896902
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...video&n=896902
07-09-04, 03:12 PM
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I hope that someone is going to make a documentary or movie based on this book: Brothers In Arms : The Epic Story of the 761St Tank Battalion, WWII's Forgotten Heroes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar , Anthony Walton
from amazon.com
I believe it is time for America to meet the men of the 761st, common men who grew to become heroes, black men who fought for a country that often hated them, stalwart men who overcame social injustice to become men of colorblind valor. This first-of-its-kind book will…help them take their place as member of the greatest generation.
—Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
With these brief, moving words, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sets forth the feelings and the goals that inspired him to recount the courageous story of the 761st in Brothers in Arms. Jabbar first learned the story from his high school mentor and friend, Leonard “Smitty” Smith, a veteran of the Battalion. Working with acclaimed writer Anthony Walton, they interviewed the seventy surviving members of the battalion as well as battalion members' descendants to weave together a page-turning narrative based on their memories and stories, from basic training through the horrors of the battlefield, to their post-war experiences in a racially divided America. By the end of the war, the 761st—which Patton initially spurned, claiming Blacks weren't quick enough to maneuver tanks in battlefield situations—liberated some thirty towns and villages, as well as a concentration camp.
Known as “The Black Panthers,” the 761st Battalion was the first all-black tank battalion to see combat in the war. While most American units fought on the front for one to two weeks before being rotated back, the courageous men of the 761st served for more than 183 consecutive days, fighting under Patton's Third Army at the Battle of the Bulge, helping to turn back the German offensive and cut off German supply lines. They were in the vanguard of the American troops that liberated the concentration camp at Mauthausen—an effort that eventually won them recognition from the State of Israel. All this was accomplished despite a casualty rate that approached 50 percent and an extreme shortage of replacement personnel and equipment.
The unconscionable racism that shadowed these intrepid fighters during the war (black combat units were sometimes referred to as “Mrs. Roosevelt’s ******s” because of her efforts to persuade the military to allow them to serve in combat) and the prejudices they faced when they returned home is never far from the surface of Brothers in Arms. What shines through most of all, however, are the bonds that united them as soldiers and brothers, the bravery they exhibited on the battlefield, and the quiet dignity and patriotism that defined their lives.
from amazon.com
I believe it is time for America to meet the men of the 761st, common men who grew to become heroes, black men who fought for a country that often hated them, stalwart men who overcame social injustice to become men of colorblind valor. This first-of-its-kind book will…help them take their place as member of the greatest generation.
—Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
With these brief, moving words, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sets forth the feelings and the goals that inspired him to recount the courageous story of the 761st in Brothers in Arms. Jabbar first learned the story from his high school mentor and friend, Leonard “Smitty” Smith, a veteran of the Battalion. Working with acclaimed writer Anthony Walton, they interviewed the seventy surviving members of the battalion as well as battalion members' descendants to weave together a page-turning narrative based on their memories and stories, from basic training through the horrors of the battlefield, to their post-war experiences in a racially divided America. By the end of the war, the 761st—which Patton initially spurned, claiming Blacks weren't quick enough to maneuver tanks in battlefield situations—liberated some thirty towns and villages, as well as a concentration camp.
Known as “The Black Panthers,” the 761st Battalion was the first all-black tank battalion to see combat in the war. While most American units fought on the front for one to two weeks before being rotated back, the courageous men of the 761st served for more than 183 consecutive days, fighting under Patton's Third Army at the Battle of the Bulge, helping to turn back the German offensive and cut off German supply lines. They were in the vanguard of the American troops that liberated the concentration camp at Mauthausen—an effort that eventually won them recognition from the State of Israel. All this was accomplished despite a casualty rate that approached 50 percent and an extreme shortage of replacement personnel and equipment.
The unconscionable racism that shadowed these intrepid fighters during the war (black combat units were sometimes referred to as “Mrs. Roosevelt’s ******s” because of her efforts to persuade the military to allow them to serve in combat) and the prejudices they faced when they returned home is never far from the surface of Brothers in Arms. What shines through most of all, however, are the bonds that united them as soldiers and brothers, the bravery they exhibited on the battlefield, and the quiet dignity and patriotism that defined their lives.
07-09-04, 03:15 PM
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Originally posted by brizz
I just hate it how all they tend to talk about is war and stuff. I mean where's the bright side? why do they have to concentrate on all the dead people and bombs and shit? Why can't they show a more balanced picture of war and the good stuff that happens when you bomb a city, or step on a land mine, or get shot by your own men, or set fire to a village? They're just so biased!!
I just hate it how all they tend to talk about is war and stuff. I mean where's the bright side? why do they have to concentrate on all the dead people and bombs and shit? Why can't they show a more balanced picture of war and the good stuff that happens when you bomb a city, or step on a land mine, or get shot by your own men, or set fire to a village? They're just so biased!!
07-09-04, 03:29 PM
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Originally posted by brizz
interestingly...i just noticed this:
Story of a black combat unit.
June 16, 2004 - In a career move that hearkens back to his role in 1989's Glory, actor Morgan Freeman will star in a film about the first black armored unit to enter combat in World War II. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film will trace the 761st Tank Battalion, who were also known as the Black Panthers. They arrived in France in November 1944 to help Gen. George Patton and spent the rest of the war on the front. The unit was also instrumental in the Battle of the Bulge......
interestingly...i just noticed this:
Story of a black combat unit.
June 16, 2004 - In a career move that hearkens back to his role in 1989's Glory, actor Morgan Freeman will star in a film about the first black armored unit to enter combat in World War II. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film will trace the 761st Tank Battalion, who were also known as the Black Panthers. They arrived in France in November 1944 to help Gen. George Patton and spent the rest of the war on the front. The unit was also instrumental in the Battle of the Bulge......
note to self "must read the posts before posting"
07-10-04, 01:59 AM
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Re: my problem with WAR documentaries !!!
Originally posted by inkblots
It is a known fact that a good percentage of "minorities" fight for America in wars. However in almost all of the war documentaries I have seen the only people i see interviewed are white males. This is a very strange phenomenon considering the amount of "minorities" in war. Is it because they want to portray that only white males fight for America in war? I would really like to know the reason for this. If anyone has seen war documentaries with various etnicities interviewed I would like to know. Has anyone else noticed this?
It is a known fact that a good percentage of "minorities" fight for America in wars. However in almost all of the war documentaries I have seen the only people i see interviewed are white males. This is a very strange phenomenon considering the amount of "minorities" in war. Is it because they want to portray that only white males fight for America in war? I would really like to know the reason for this. If anyone has seen war documentaries with various etnicities interviewed I would like to know. Has anyone else noticed this?
07-10-04, 11:32 AM
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Just an aside fact regarding Vietnam: while minorities may have been inordinately drafted (although that's been a debating point since the war), statistically, more whites served in combat units. Black and Hispanic soldiers were more likely to be sent to rear-echelon units.
It's more applicable to say that "Working Class" men were more likely to be drafted than painting it by race. A good book on the matter is "Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers & Vietnam" by Christian Appy, although there are some questionable points in that title as well.
It's more applicable to say that "Working Class" men were more likely to be drafted than painting it by race. A good book on the matter is "Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers & Vietnam" by Christian Appy, although there are some questionable points in that title as well.
07-12-04, 11:45 AM
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Re: Re: my problem with WAR documentaries !!!
Originally posted by greenknight
75%+ are caucasian in the U.S. Military.
75%+ are caucasian in the U.S. Military.
07-12-04, 12:12 PM
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The Rebels & Redcoats documentary I reviewed recently does a nice job of showing the roles of the black soldiers (as well as Native Americans) in the war, though those groups have been often forgotten in most representations of the American Revolution. Obviously there could be no interviews, hehe, but the re-enactments are pretty representative.
07-12-04, 09:34 PM
#18
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One of the things that you have to keep in mind is that many of the documentaries out right now (with interviews) are about older wars i.e. WWI, WWII, Korea. At that time race played a larger role in decision making then now. Therefore, most of the more successful military men were white. Of course most people want to hear what the officers and pilots and generals have to say about it.
That is just my opinion on the matter. I think it will be more reflective in years to come.
That is just my opinion on the matter. I think it will be more reflective in years to come.
