Ken Burns' "The War"

[zootsaxismyaxe]

B
I just finished watching Ken Burns' "The War" documentary that premiered on PBS this past fall.  I had missed it when it was shown on TV for various reasons, but the local library had the full set of DVDs.  The premise of it was to show the Second World War from a primarily American perspective--somewhat like an American version of the incredibly

Comments

[annihsia]

I do care, for a couple of reason. First, I don't have, yet, a strong interest in the details/facts of wars so it'd be difficult for me to evaluate the documentary as you have. Second, I have (so far) an observer's interest in documentations and teaching tools/information as they form society. Given the first reason, your review was quite relevant to my second reason. So thank you.

[zootsaxismyaxe]

Truth be told, I probably am harsher on this documentary than I should be, but I feel that since this was so highly anticipated and that the earlier Civil War documentary seems to have become a classroom standard they should have really held themselves to a higher standard...and it irks me when documentaries and the like stray from their stated purpose when it doesn't supplement that purpose or otherwise enrich the film

[annihsia]

Ahaha, I did not intend it to be documentation/documentary-and-other-tools/information-as-they-form-society, a noun. It was more documentation-and-other-tools/info (noun): because they greatly influence (and can shape) the societies they inform (in this case ours).

I have, in my short life, read and been told of various books on the relationship between information and people in general. You know. Copyright laws, manipulation of public information/perception and the media, the ability or inability of people to actually recognize and/or understand PR ploys (or just compliance techniques) for what they are. And their implications. Not to say that I fully absorbed much of it. For the time being, I can merely provide titles, most of which are staples already :) I am very casual and scattered. Are you generally focused on propaganda in older media and related implications?