Posted on 01/10/2010 12:29:00 PM PST by Reagan Man
Director Oliver Stone's upcoming Showtime documentary miniseries "Secret History of America" promises to put mass murderers such as Stalin and Hitler "in context."
"Stalin, Hitler, Mao, McCarthy -- these people have been vilified pretty thoroughly by history," Stone told reporters at the Television Critics Association's semi-annual press tour in Pasadena.
"Stalin has a complete other story," Stone said. "Not to paint him as a hero, but to tell a more factual representation. He fought the German war machine more than any single person. We can't judge people as only 'bad' or 'good.' Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history and its been used cheaply. He's the product of a series of actions. It's cause and effect ... People in America don't know the connection between WWI and WWII ... I've been able to walk in Stalin's shoes and Hitler's shoes to understand their point of view. We're going to educate our minds and liberalize them and broaden them. We want to move beyond opinions ... Go into the funding of the Nazi party. How many American corporations were involved, from GM through IBM. Hitler is just a man who could have easily been assassinated."
The controversial director's 10-part documentary series for Showtime promises to focus on events that "at the time went under-reported, but crucially shaped America's unique and complex history of the last 60 years." Subjects in "History" include President Harry Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan and the origins of the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
"You cannot approach history unless you have empathy for the person you may hate," Stone said during the show's trailer, which promised to put historical villains "in context." "I don't want to put out conventional History Channel product where it's easy to like it."
"He's not saying we're going to come out with a more positive view of Hitler," emphasized professor Peter Kuznick, the lead writer on the project. "But we're going to describe him as a historical phenomenon and not just somebody who appeared out of nowhere."
Stone said that conservative pundits will dislike the show.
"Obviously, Rush Limbaugh is not going to like this history and, as usual, we're going to get those kind of ignorant attacks," said Stone, who also also compared the experience of sympathizing with war criminals to making his "W" movie about George W. Bush. "I'm trying to understand somebody I thoroughly despised."
Stone also warned that the same military industrial complex forces that he's explored in movies such as "JFK" and in "Secret History," are now corrupting Barack Obama.
"You can understand why Obama is following in Bush's footsteps in Afghanistan," Stone said."Obama is very much trapped, we believe, in that system. And so that's what we're going to try and show you -- the way it works."
The project will also show lesser-known positive aspects of American history and unsung heroes. Stone eventually hopes to send "Secret History" to schools as a teaching curriculum.
"It would be a very different counterweight to what they're learning," Stone said. "Nobody is going to force it down anybody's throat."
A critic also asked Stone "the Sarah Palin question" of what he likes to read.
"My father was a voracious New York Times reader," he said. "We consider that in The Middle. Sarah Palin would disagree."
“You cannot approach history unless you have empathy for the person you may hate,”
Oh. OK. I thought this article was satire at first, but apparently not. This is sounding bizarre even for him.
I can't imagine, but possibly the ultimate in conspiracy theory books is Guido Preparata's "Conjuring Hitler -- How Britain and America Made the Third Reich."
If I remember right, his basic idea is that Hitler was simply an agent of British and American policy, sent to destroy Germany.
I don't remember Preparata mentioning Prescott Bush, but pretty sure such an omission would be "corrected" by Oliver Stone.
So, let me guess: It was really IBM and GM that were responsible for Hitler, right? And maybe they pushed him to invade Poland and kill those 6M Jews?
Hey, Stone: why don’t you do an expose of how much Joe Kennedy was an apologist and enabler of Hitler? I bet that’s one thing that won’t ever be put in “context”.
So, let me guess: It was really IBM and GM that were responsible for Hitler, right? And maybe they pushed him to invade Poland and kill those 6M Jews?
Hey, Stone: why don’t you do an expose of how much Joe Kennedy was an apologist and enabler of Hitler? I bet that’s one thing that won’t ever be put in “context”.
He’s run out of ideas...sad really.
They started over 40 years ago as they began the take-over of universities and media.
Sad thing is most conservatives underestimate the power of intellectuals, thinkers, writers, movie-makers and those that are part of that "liberal" world. I can hear the scoffing even now.
And yet our culture is nearly completely controlled by them and they control the thinking of the next generation.
And the few intellectual conservatives out there trying to make a difference are met with derision by many conservatives.
The leftists almost winning by default and we're losing by suicide.
Maybe this is an updated version of “Springtime for Hitler”
You are correct.
It’s obvious what Oliver Stone is doing here. He’s playing out the plot from the producers.
“It’s springtime for Hitler...”
For some people, I think it’s okay to look behind the mask. With Hitler, that quickly turns into humanization, something that should never be done with a villain of this level.
This guy was a vile planetary criminal, more worthy than just about anyone else to be cast against a super hero character.
And in the end, he took his own life, rather than stand up and defend his actions like a man. Just a pathetic excuse for a man, a man supposed to have exceptional vision according to his fellow travelers.
And then people like you -- Oliver -- would be lamenting Hitler's assassination just as they lament Mossadegh in Iran, Allende in Chile, and any number of other petty radical socialists. If, that is, Hitler had been killed in say, 1935.
I think the answer to that is self-evident. Just look at his films.
And you'll have to wait in line for 4 hours and pay $8.25 to urinate on his memorial.
Many say WWII saved us from the Great Depression. That may be so, but I think a lot can be said for the notion that it saved us from FDR.
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