John Adams Part III
I watched part III last night (thanks to Mary Lou for alerting me to the HBO special menu) and reached the end of the episode confused. The program was devoted to Adams’ visit to Europe, how hard it was to leave his home, and how he hadn’t hit it off well with Franklin. Chief episodes included a chase and fight with a British ship, the amputation of a crew-member’s leg, and the general debauchery of the French Court.
I was puzzled because Adams’s trip to Europe involved the bloodless capture of a British ship (not the ghastly mess depicted) and because the writers seem to have rolled his two trips to Europe into one, thus compressing the political intrigues into something that seemed rather sketchy at best.
I’m not sure that I was able to learn anything worthwhile from the time I spent in front of the TV, unless one counts that time I spent checking my history books in disbelief.
To relate the story of Robin Hood with such freedom from accountability to history is, I suppose, permissible. No one has any proof that Robin ever existed. But we have ample proof that John Adams did, and some of his history deserves to be told straightforwardly. After all, he did help to create the USA; he was a president and a vice president; and his son was also.
How can we assess anything accurately if we don’t have a credible account to work from? How can we revisit that terrain when a newer account seems hell-bent on subverting all that went before?
Ah well - that’s entertainment.
on April 12th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Alas, Allan, after your comprehensive comments about HBO’s John Adams, I have pretty much decided never to return to Part One - where I left off.
It sounds as though too much fictionalization of history has distorted the story. With the time saved, I shall read a good book instead. Perhaps Melvyn Bragg’s Remember Me (if I can get it.)
If you’ve read it, I’d be most interested in any comments you might have. I heard an interview with Bragg about autobiographical fiction which I daresay left me better enriched than HBO’s enterpise.
MLou
on April 13th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Dear Mary Lou,
Yes, I’d advise ditching John Adams. I always hate to say that about any program that is overall competent, broadly respectful, and well executed. Alas, though, mere excellence in writing is never enough if the subject matter has been badly falsified (which puts me in mind of some recent “memoir” scams we’ve witnessed).
I tend to ask myself certain questions after watching programs like this. The first is always “Am I any wiser after watching this for the last 90 minutes?” This is closely followed by “Have I learned anything I didn’t know before?” and then “Did I simply get my prejudices reinforced?”
The present version of John Adams is like second rate Restoration melodrama, where certain set pieces are rolled out so that we the audience can have predictable reactions. Scene one ‘the sad leave taking: wife brave but resolved, husband sad but strong’ (get out your hankies). Scene two ‘the battle at sea. brave sailors and loud explosions’. Scene three ‘the horrors of naval life, amputating a leg’ (this one is mandatory, but really only allows third graders to say ‘was it really like that?’ and dad to sit back in his chair and nod sagely….) It is a series of tableaux, and if we’re not careful we respond just to the artistry of these static scenes and miss the fact that they drain all richness and complexity from the story itself. This sort of history has as much value as Venice Las Vegas has compared to Venice Italy. It’s more convenient, and it gives the right general impression, but you can walk away from it in five minutes. It is not really the same experience, and we know it. But many Americans love theme parks, and I’m partial to them myself.
After all, having lived in England for the first thirty years of my life I was used to tourists of all kinds seeing me as an extra in their theme park visit. I liked them, and I recognized that their experience was remote from mine even though we stood on the same streets interested in the same things.
Imaginative engagement requires more than this….
As ever, Allan
on April 13th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Dear Administrator:
Henceforth I shall envision a lanky, young Allan in a Barbour of loden astride a verdant hillside dotted with sheep. Cheers. MLou