The U.S. is a big nation with a sprawling, often contentious story. With the documentary “America: The Story of Us,” the History Channel tried to encompass the nation’s promise in 12 episodes. The series is out on DVD.
Clearly, the makers hedged politically with voices from both sides of the aisle. President Obama offers an introduction and Newt Gingrich is a commentator along the way. Other talking heads include the insightful Louis Gates, Jr. and the self-important Donald Trump. Although there is nothing wrong with Michael Douglas, his presence as a talking head has more to do with celebrity status than academic credentials. Aaron Sorkin is a brilliant screenwriter, but his commonplace comment that the U.S. was born in rejection of government (i.e. the Boston Tea Party) neglects to add that the next thing America’s revolutionaries did was organize a government. They were aware that forming “a more perfect union” couldn’t be left entirely in the hands of private interests.
At moments, “The Story of Us” treads close to the old lie that North America was once a virtually empty continent with a few pesky savages lurking in the forest, but pulls back just in time. The French role in the Revolutionary War is acknowledged but underplayed. And yet, “The Story of Us” offers a revelation never taught in high school history. Baron von Steuben, the Prussian advisor to George Washington, was gay? Perhaps don’t ask, don’t tell was in force in Washington’s army. Despite the triumphal tone and videogame graphics (musket balls in slo mo), “The Story of Us” often deftly synthesizes important anecdotes, pairing the famous with the obscure. Pocahontas is mentioned in the Jamestown segment, but so is a murderer burnt at the stake and the arrival of 19 slaves from West Africa.
All in all, the series is capable of awakening interest in our nation’s past for viewers who found history dull going in school.
