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TNetflix’s home page describes The American Experiment for viewers who don’t want to read more than four words like “Dedicated. Notes “Okay, well, is it this, that and that! Five, hour-long stories about the founding of the United States of America to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding are as authentic and informative as you could wish for.
Ken Burns fans can have this. This is not the time for extremes and fantasy. It’s time for a great TV show starring Tom Hanks who is so meticulous, so aware of the dots in the history of the country, so grounded in every way he can think of, that it feels like a TV show already eating a smoothie on the way back to the good.
By the end of the second session you may feel that The American Experiment is doing you some mental and moral good. It should be. You haven’t been told this much information and celebrity history or been so settled since you were in school. And if, like at school, you sometimes find yourself tired of being tired or bored – that’s the price you have to pay to get a respectable education.
We open in 1753, when the 13 British colonies that surrounded the Eastern Seaboard of the New World are beginning to wonder if being ruled by a king is too much. From there, director Brian Knappenberger moves quickly. At the end of the first two parts we have analyzed why and why the war of independence was started, with the help of a large number of experts, involved in every picture and reality. We have met many characters (whose characters are spoken by actors in accordance with the dignity of each, which makes it difficult to know whether Martin Sheen has been given the honor of being George Washington or the other way around). We have seen more and more demonstrations and fights again (“No tribute without a representative!” Old songs, the sound of musket balls and the cry of “Urgh” at the end). In addition, the audience around the world had the opportunity to find out what the oh-so-familiar names of people, tourist places and phrases mean (General Dunwoody! Fort Necessity! “The shot was heard around the world!” That was the first shot at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which started the revolutionary war in America. Don’t let JFK or the Archduke visit Ferdina).
We’ve also heard a lot of comments about American quality from some of the biggest names. On the red side, there is Trump’s former VP Mike Pence; Trump’s nemesis turned admirer, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz; and fellow Kentucky native Rand “If you think you have a right to health care you’re saying I’m your slave” Paul. In the middle of the blue side is Hillary Rodham Clinton who won the vote (as of this writing), former VP Al Gore, speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi and presidential candidate Kamala Harris. If you noticed that these are four Blue names to three Red ones, I can assure you that Harris is no more supportive of the Democratic cause than before. “There is freedom to,” he says, as if imparting new wisdom to us, “it’s freedom from.” It’s a difficult moment, all right, but not for what he thinks. But there is enough political and social information elsewhere to welcome this safe haven into your brain for a while.
The extra five hours don’t fly (unless you’re already in US history, which is breaking it but this is designed for mass communication and not preaching to the choir). But as it goes, you will discover – the time given to the dangers and frauds of different chapters in American literature even – that the founding fathers were working in a metaphorical and almost unknown part of how they thought the world would be the best, they created empty laws and built a union between 13 countries. And for many of the last 250 years, this place has been pursuing justice. A little bit into it now, thoughts. But that’s a five-part series for another day.
