On Thu, 24 Jan 2002 20:18:13 -0500 John Bird <[log in to unmask]> > > I for one would like to hear a few more (dozen) reactions to the > Burns film OK. I have kept my mouth shut here because (1) I am an enthusiast, not a scholar, and (2) after watching the Forum the next day I suspected that my view might not be welcome. Watching the first night, I was entertained, but I was also very disturbed at the emphasis on race. Twain wrote about the human condition, and I found Burn's doting on his racial attitudes showed a very personal and canted view. I felt he was not out so much to show MT to the world as to use MT as a platform for his own agenda. After having watched the buzz on the Forum leading up to the broadcast, I couldn't wait to log on the next morning to see the reaction. And that reaction was ... nothing. Not a word. Not a single word. Why would a group of devoted Twainiacs who had been salivating about the prospects of the PBS documentary suddenly be rendered mute? I may well be wrong, but I suspected it was because others may have felt as I did and did not know quite how to approach it in this PC world. It was two days before someone broke the ice and the discussion began. MT created the modern American novel, an earthshaking literary event and surely his greatest achievement. He characterized the gilt of the Gilded Age with a keen sight that few other contemporary observers could muster and that has guided historians ever since. He suffered in ways that bring tears to the eyes of anyone who reads Susy's headstone. But to hear Burns tell it, he spent most of his life doting on the post-Civil War condition of blacks. Yes, he did that, but he did so much more. There has been talk here about how nice it was that Burns spent so much time on the formerly obscure story of Auntie Cord. Frankly, I don't think this was near his best writing and, limited to four hours, hardly worth mentioning. Why not spend that time popularizing The War Prayer? Or some of the razor-sharp pieces from Letters from the Earth? Did I like it? Sure. Because I like anything about Mark Twain. Would I recommend it to others? Of course. But as a documentary giving a balanced view of MT's life and work, I give it a C minus. D ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.