Talk:The War (miniseries)

Hispanics

Shouldn't someone put something in here about the whole-lack of Hispanics thing? It's on the Ken Burns page itself --Jordanus maximus 20:07, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Neutrality?

"Both PBS and Burns have been criticized for a history of ignoring Latinos."? That needs a citation, big time. RegBarc 03:06, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

First, in Baseball, Latinos are not ignored. Second, what other "cultures" have been ignored? Will every ethnic or cultural group have the right to "demand" time? I absolutely love Ken Burn's work, but I don't like everything I see and hear. Not seeing or hearing something can be bothersome also; being a life-long Detroit Tiger fan, I've watched Baseball at least 5 times and I still get angry that the 1968 World Series focused on Bob Gibson, whose team LOST to the Tigers, and the 1984 World Series was ignored! I have constrained myself from crying "Bias!" If you don't enjoy the film...don't watch it. There are plenty of other World War II documentaries available. Droebuck 02:00, 1 May 2007 (UTC)droebuck

Droebuck,

I agree about "Baseball." I have been a Tigers fan since the fifties. Whe I was a kid I got pretty sick of the Yankees and the Dodgers, then the Yankees and the Red Sox. I stopped watching "Baseball" when we saw how amazing Bob Gibson was without mentioning that his team lost the World Series. The more I watched, the more I felt that if you weren't a Red Sox or Yankees fan, you just didn't count. I am watching "The War" and I am disappointed to see no mention of the "Red Ball Express", African-American and Native American truckers who supplied Patton with fuel and supplies. He would never have been able to win in Europe without them. I likewise expect to hear very little of the war in the Pacific. Since so many reporters were in Europe, the Pacific war got little press at the time.--W8IMP 02:59, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

I did see much mention of the racism during WWII, but little of the "Red Ball Express", but I will take back the comments about the Pacific War. I thought it was well-covered.--W8IMP 02:29, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

I agree, it's a "just because we can" criticism section typical of Wikipedia. --Haizum μολὼν λαβέ 02:24, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, this article is unfairly dominated by a discussion of this Hispanic controversy, which is, imho, a bit ridiculous. I suggest reduction in the size of the hispanic controvery section, and adding more detail about the doccumentary--such as how successful (critically and otherwise) it has been. 75.17.60.150 03:49, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

It's an utterly stupid and manufactured controversy, but unfortunately it's been a part of nearly every interview I've heard with Burns and/or Novick. Once the article has more content about the documentary itself, it should definitely be pared down to a single paragraph at the most. It's really not interesting enough to merit an entire painfully detailed section. 71.186.180.228 05:06, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

I heard Ken Burns give an interview in which he was asked about the omission of Hispanics. He explained that the movie followed four pre-selected towns representing different geological areas of the United States, and there simply weren't many Hispanics in those towns at the time, nor did any show up for interviews. It was not an intentional omission, just they was things turned out. That's why the documentary starts each episode with a disclaimer that we can't possibly tell every persons story of WWII. The idea that there was a larger Hispanic population in 1940 was a result of viewing the past through modern day glasses. The census data backs him up.

Here's a similar interview with Time. The section on the controversy should stay, but it should be rewritten. All we need is a consise explanation of the issue (the lack of Hispanics in the documentary) and Burn's response (what he said, and the supplemental film in included). Right now there's no reaction from Burns in the section, which seems to violate NPoV. Mingusboodle 00:03, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

I added a to the final note under controversy about "The War" starting in 1941. But on second thought, I think I'll delete it. Did anyone really not understand that this Documentary wasn't about WWII as a whole, but rather the American contribution? At any rate, if anyone has evidence that this controversy actually took place, go ahead and restore the line. Louiebb (talk) 16:16, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Removal of "Publicity" Section

The "Publicity" section looks as if it was built in drips-and-drabs in the years and months leading to the completion and release of the film. It consists almost entirely of accounts of Burns presenting pieces of the uncompleted film at various high school and college locations. Now that the film has been released, the section feels like an unnecessary distraction. I am removing it now, but will paste it into this space for archival/discussion purposes.

Here it is:

--Publicity--

On March 27, 2007, Burns spoke at Brigham Young University and presented parts of the film as well as a song by Norah Jones entitled "American Anthem," which is included on the film's soundtrack. On March 29, Burns spoke at the United States Military Academy and also presented parts of The War along with the song, "American Anthem." On April 12, 2007, Burns presented a one-hour short composite of the film to an audience in Durham, North Carolina, arranged by WUNC, the Chapel Hill PBS affiliate.

Burns appeared at Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota on September 5, 2007 to promote the documentary and elaborate on his motivations in making the film and the effect that the production had on him and other collaborators and workers. There were many World War II veterans in the audience, which at one point Burns requested they stand to receive an ovation from the rest of the crowd.

On September 6, 2007 Burns attended a mini "premier" at the Palace Theatre in Luverne, Minnesota. In addition to the premier he also attended a reception for Pioneer Public Television and spoke to students at Luverne High School about the film and about the war.

--End section-- —Preceding unsigned comment added by Astanhope (talk • contribs) 18:12, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

References

West Africa Campaigns vs. African Campaigns

West Africa Campaigns is too limited, and generally omit the important fighting in Tunisia. Unless/until those articles are merged (I am aware of the suggestion to merge on those articles' pages) we should stick with "African campaigns." --AStanhope 20:07, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Infobox Tag

Infobox tag has been removed as article already has one. If you have any problems with this please post a message on my talk page. RWardy 13:46, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

release dates? international release?

any info on that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.31.100.82 (talk) 23:09, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

review and reception

can we put anything about critical review and reception? let's start thinking of ways to do that. --Steve, Sm8900 14:18, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

"FUBAR" - Joe Medicine Crow

The segment about Crow tribe member Joe Medicine Crow, was this added before or after the initial airing of the special? Because PBS is re-airing it right now, its the "FUBAR" segment. He's being interviewed... was this shot as part of the original material or was it post-controversy? Amazing story. He was born in 1913 so he'd have been about 94 when his segment was filmed. --RThompson82 (talk) 07:03, 4 June 2012 (UTC)