Just in time for Independence Day comes a DVD release for the popular History Channel series “America: The Story of Us." As with many recent cable shows of its kind, flashy computer graphics largely take the place of archival visuals. Period recreations enact the narrative, which cuts away for soundbites (“Technology has built America!”) from the distinguished as well as the dubious. Celebrity blowhard Donald Trump found time during his hunt to disprove Obama's U.S. citizenship to expound on the virtues of America. On the other hand, Colin Powell speaks knowingly of the '60s Civil Rights Movement as “the second Civil War.” And Michael Douglas? Well, he must have been added to brighten the marquee of big names.
The ADD editing insured a large popular audience while enhancing the program's sense of gushing triumph. The presence of several academics sometimes serves to counteract a tendency toward sweeping overreach. “Conquering the wilderness required extraordinary people,” the narrator intones, only to be reminded by one of the professors that the wilderness was home to Native Americans, who had every reason to view pioneers such as Daniel Boone as invaders. Almost as an afterthought comes the admission that one member of Boone's party was the great frontiersman's slave.
Occasionally, the series brings up little known, telling details. The U.S. economy didn't collapse immediately after the Stock Market crash of 1929. The trigger was pulled a year later by an unidentified Bronx businessman who withdrew all his money from the Bank of United States, causing a run on the branch, a riot on the street (flash mobs are nothing new) and the eventual bankruptcy of many financial institutions in a time before federal deposit insurance. The series also reminds Tea Baggers of the good work of the New Deal, whose legacy of public works (would a private company have built the Hoover Dam?) was funded by the federal government and often executed by private enterprise.
“The Story of Us” more or less ends with 9-11 but with a startling coda. Since then, at least 10 million immigrants have arrived in the U.S., giving support to one of the most perceptive celebrity soundbites in the series. Tony Bennett reminds us that America became a creative powerhouse because it's a place where many philosophies and culture converge.
Each of the six 92-minute episodes has been packaged separately on a DVD.
