The Demise of History
on TV
by Jeff Hendershott
Maybe the title of this article
is a little misleading. Maybe it should read "Do You Notice It,
Too?"
I'm a lover of reading good
history. I believe with all the technology available today, there still
is no better way to satisfy our intellectual hunger for history - or any other
subject for that matter - but with a well-written book (yeah, those are
becoming tougher to come by too, but that's another story).
However, I can remember not all
that long ago the excitement I felt when our little community's cable service
was adding The History Channel to the menu! Having little, no, make that NO
patience for what passes for "entertainment" on the boob-tube these
days, I was looking forward to programming from a channel that actually
included ME in their demographics. I was starting to really wonder if
there actually was a demographic group that I could fit into anymore!
To the nub: OK, I can't
dis the History Channel across the board. When they started out, they
were offering a wide-range of programming to interest the lover of
history. And pretty well-done, too, getting the "leading"
academics (whose books no one typically reads) to chime in on the topic at
hand, decent period reenactments, nice on-site visuals and educational
relevance. Even now, they can offer some of the same.
But that's the problem? The
programming often leaves me scratching my head and wondering "What the
hell does THIS have to do with history?"
I guess there is an audience for
"Engineering Disasters" and "Modern Marvels."
Granted, you can make a reach and tie it into "history." Walk
into a public school history classroom and you'll see teachers tie some pretty
bizarre stuff into history (I know of a history teacher who showed the movie
"The Breakfast Club" in their class! If you can tell me what
THIS movie had to do with history, I really would like to know!)
Then somewhere not long ago,
someone opened up the vaults to the zillions of miles of World War II
footage. Yes, we just celebrated an anniversary - rightfully so - of
significant World War II events. But like a friend says, "I don't
even want to do what I LIKE all the time" fits here. If I were a
World War II fanatic, I would have been in a state of bliss with the History
Channel. But there's little doubt they played this card way too
far. When I started calling it "The World War II Channel," I
was happy to find that others were calling it that too. Hey, I'm not that
cynical and crazy after all! Others see it!
I'm a huge fan of R. Lee Ermey
as an actor, and I know I'll draw boos and hisses for this (remember, just an
opinion), but "Mail Call" irritates me. It's too
"MTV-ish." But objectively speaking, it's probably the only
regular programming that serves the historian on a regular basis - providing
you love military history only.
But the real problem as I see it
still is the almost pathological obsession with Adolph Hitler. Why, as I
write this, on the air right this very moment is a History Channel program
titled "High Hitler," documenting Hitler's chronic drug use. Okey
dokey! We need to know this? As a footnote to history, maybe?
I don't know. But this pales in comparison to their recent installment
about Hitler's sex life. You can interpret the historical importance of
this. I just don't get it.
Well, I do "get it,"
in context maybe, to the times in which we live. Sex sells. Hitler
sells! Indeed, for better or worse, Hitler is one of those Charles Manson
personalities so twisted and bizarre, yet "attractive" in a weird way
to read about or even have a cursory interest in. I guess in short, the
History Channel has more or less "sold out" to the trends, the
ratings, in order to survive.
Your other channels that propose
to "entertain your mind" like the Learning Channel and the Discovery
Channel have also dumbed-down. Their programming, at least initially too,
was quite interesting. Now, it's the place to go to watch car crashes and
cop chases, some big bruiser showing how to fix a Harley Davidson, or your
"reality" programming where people invade another person's home and
give it an "extreme makeover." Natural disasters are big these
days too on cable TV. Actually, were talking bottom line here. This
stuff is INEXPENSIVE to produce! It's trendy. But don't expect too
much ducation.
Don't get me wrong - I don't
stand on a self-righteous stump here and believe that America should spend its disposable
time watching nothing but "brain food" (as if TV ever was intended
for that purpose). Yet I'd submit to the channels who claim to be
"educational" to at least come forward with the truth and change
their names. Where's the history? The discovery? The
learning?
Alternatives? PBS?
Ahhhhhh.........OK. I think they still try the hardest. Their
"American Experience" series is very good. Hmm. After
that, I'm hard-pressed to come up with any more alternatives to please us
"history nuts."
Hollyweird occasionally
"gets it right" too. Occasionally, mind you. I believe
the best period-piece to come out of Tinseltown lately was "Master and
Commander." I don't know enough about naval history during the early
1800's to critique the story's accuracy, but I was enthralled with the
attention to detail of naval warfare (what little I know about it) and by God,
it wasn't a chick flick! Bravo!
Well now, no, come to think of
it, here an alternative! Sorry Jonah, we part company here (Jonah doesn't
"get" the Stooges). As a major league fan of the Three Stooges,
there's an alternative to get your fix of "history TV." Aside
from the two episodes the boys did on the Civil War, there's episodes where
they mock Nazi Germany. "I'll Never Heil Again" features Moe
Howard as the first person ever to parody Hitler on film (and who says JonahWorld!
isn't educational?) Larry, Curly and Moe revive the act in "You
Nasty Spy," both these short features made during World War II. And
if Moe doesn't make a great Hitler when he dons the half-comb mustache, no one
does (OK, Charlie Chaplin maybe....).
So, when you get weary of
watching "Gods and Generals" (which took me one painful viewing), and
get fed up with "educational TV" programming showing 20 foot tidal
waves, five-car pile ups and the finer points of tuning up a motorcycle, check
out the Stooges! And keep checking out or buying those books and read,
brothers and sisters in history. Technology has already flat-lined when
it comes to satisfying our passion.
