From the bewildered fingers of Chuq
It is another weekend and another day of trying to put last week behind me…..today I want to touch on some US history…..
Nope this is not about some silliness that is occurring in the great state of Texas…..I am referring to a program being aired on the History Channel (or as it was called years ago…the Hitler Channel) about the history of the state and its run up to statehood from independence…….a well worn subject that any yahoo that attended a American History class knows all too well….from the Mexicans to the Alamo to Quanah Parker, and so on……is it a good story? Sure it is. And Hollywood will throw some total BS in there to make it more entertaining. But there are equally good stories that most Americans do not know. Why not take the opportunity to educate the viewers on some missed American History?
The one that most readily comes to my mind is the Republic of West Florida……a story that began about 1804 and until it declared itself independent in 1810……more history can be found here in a post I did about 3 years ago…….
http://lobotero.com/2012/09/22/the-republic-of-west-florida/
This is history that should be told…it may not be all the glamor of swashbuckling daredevils but it is an important part of US history that needs to be told……..it has everything that Americans crave……….action, intrigue, deception and games played by politicians.
I didn’t watch Texas Rising for the same reasons. I saw the promos and thought…”Now there’s a story that hasn’t been told before!”
Despite being on the History Channel, I knew it would be full of the same old Rah-Rah-Americah bullshit. In fairness, I’m sure it was more historically accurate than most Hollywood versions. But that ain’t saying much. The Alamo is the most celebrated, but incorrectly remembered, event in human history. Most Americans think America beat the Mexican army there. Not only did Mexico kill everyone defending the Alamo, America wasn’t even involved in the war.
It’s sad to see how dumbed down the History Channel has become. At best, it’s the Hitler Channel. On average, it’s Reality TV pretending to have mild historical/cultural significance. Now they’re getting into outright fiction. Granted, Vikings kicks ass and is fairly historically accurate (at least as far as we’re capable of knowing).
But you’re right, that West Florida thing is something I haven’t heard of before. It could also be very interesting to learn about. Unfortunately, that will never happen because:
1) Almost nobody gives a shit about history. In an era where the average attention span has shrunk below that of a goldfish, last week’s Ebola outbreak that killed off half of America is “ancient history”, important only to the “boring losers” who still communicate in complete sentences. Easier to stick with shows about pawn shops and loggers.
2) Nobody, not even people who give a shit about history, know about this historical event. People respond to the familiar. Even folks who like to think they’re experimental and “ahead of the curve”, tend to travel on the same old paths. (Those who don’t remember history….)
3) It’s really complicated and requires a decent base knowledge of regional & global politics of the day. That’s a huge double whammy.
4) It happened in a small region that nobody gives a shit about today. The Republic of West Florida’s territory isn’t even under one jurisdiction. In comparison, Texas is. Texas is big, important, influential…and smells like victory!
If you would like more then there is a book , The Rogue Republic, that is a great place to start……there was so much happening in that small space of time…..
Not a movie, nor a TV show, but a book -eh? Yeah, that figures.
Them there “book readers” is the only peoples with the attention spans to absorb them there complimacated thingies. Everybody else is too busy getting their information force fed to them by The Twit Zone, Loserbook, Insta-idiot and the like. Just think of all the super-significant, life changing, “epic” moments people might miss if they looked away from their phones for even just 1 minute. Never mind for an entire hour long documentary.
I mean, like, who has time for that? You might as well be reading one those heavy, papery, thingies. Whatever!
(I’ll make a note of that book, for the next time I’m looking to kill time in the public library.)
Great synopsis…..yep I am one of those…..I have in the neighborhood of 3000 books and not one of them is fiction…..and I have read them all but the last 3 I just bought…..
It is an excellent read if you can find it……chuq