Andrew Hazlett // This page is a notepad for ideas, links, and things of interest to me and probably few others. My Internet home-base is at http://www.TheOccasional.org.
I am establishing a cultural commentary and curation website called The New Modern. Visit http://www.TheNewModern.net for more information.
The New York Times reports on two new documentaries featuring remarkable, recently rediscovered footage from World War II. A surprising amount of stunning film in these cable television documentaries was shot originally in color. The Smithsonian Channel will feature "Apocalypse" and History will run "WWII in HD."
Oddly, in a desperate-sounding attempt to capture the attention of "younger audiences," the Smithsonian Institution's cable channel "colorized" more than 2/3 of the footage in its program.
I find it interesting that the commercial History program is adhering to higher documentary standards than the public/non-profit Smithsonian "brand."
...that stance is responsible for the rare (and therefore especially grating) heavy-handed and patronizing touches in an otherwise nuanced drama... [a] stance evokes and encourages the condescension of posterity; just as insecure college students feel they must join the knowing hisses of the callow campus audience when a character in an old movie makes an un-PC comment, so Mad Men directs its audience to indulge in a most unlovely—because wholly unearned—smugness. As artistically mistaken as this stance is, it nonetheless helps account for the show’s success. We all like to congratulate ourselves, and as a group, Mad Men’s audience is probably particularly prone to the temptation.For fans of the show, who always love to talk about its twists and turns and period details, Schwarz's critique is food for thought and conversation. Read more about the virtues and flaws of Mad Men at the Atlantic.
