Posted on 06/29/2004 10:45:43 AM PDT by BluegrassScholar
At first I thought it must be a joke, some TV critic geekoid friend's idea of leg-pulling in the highest order.
But who would pretend to be Deadwood creator David Milch?
For those of us who follow TV, Milch is a famously flawed legend. A writer on the legendary cop drama Hill Street Blues, he co-created NYPD Blue and let his demons grow to the point that he wasn't even writing out scripts but telling the Blue actors what lines they should say on the set just before filming scenes.
Most recently, Milch has developed HBO's super-real western drama Deadwood, basing his profanity-laced, explicit characterizations on an actual mining town in South Dakota's Black Hills just after Custer's defeat at Little Big Horn.
And he was calling this particular critic to discuss a June 12 article in which I and Sideshow columnist Sharon Fink disagreed over the quality of his show.
But Milch wasn't concerned with my criticisms on too-slow storytelling, aimless characters or dense language. He wanted to talk about race, specifically the notion that Deadwood unfairly excludes black characters.
Milch's defense: Deadwood was a mining town that didn't attract the black cowboys who learned to work the cattle industry during the Civil War.
"The only guy I could find in my research in the first year of the camp was a guy who called himself Deadwood Dick," Milch said. "His real name was Nat Love, and he published his autobiography. But it was all lies and fabrications, and nobody has been able to verify . . . that he was actually there."
Next season, Milch hopes spend more time with a proud black character named Hostetler that viewers saw in one scene last season, bringing him together with another character called the N--- General, a subservient black man who dresses in a stolen war uniform and runs errands for white people.
(He's hoping to workout a deal with longtime comic and comedy writer Franklin Ajaye to play the "General.")
"I just wanted to take a moment to explain that it was not that there had been African-Americans there and I had chosen not to represent them," Milch said. "Specifically, in the first year of the camp, several researchers had made the point that none were there."
He made a good point, and I had to admit to enjoying the show more toward the end of its run.
But after hearing about at least one of the black characters Milch has planned for next season's Deadwood, I was left wondering if I shouldn't be more careful what I wish for in the future.
I like the era, the subject matter, and the accuracy. I am gonna check it out. (by the way, if that's "bluegrass" as in the music, I am a big Tony Rice fan, myself. )
Actually, the word is much older than that. Shakespeare made puns on both the "F word" and the "C word."
Deadwood is built around a "realistic" impression of Western dialogue. The notion being that the kind of people who pioneered the West were not the sort of people to watch their mouths. Makes sense to me, though I haven't actually watched any of it.
the season finale was so good, i was extremely dissapointed i won't be able to watch it for so long seeing as HBO is on a 15 month season schedule.
I knew Shakespeare punned the "c word," but I had no idea he used the "f word."
I'm here to learn.
:)
The Merry Wives of Windsor. He makes a pun on the "focative case" (it's "a good root").
Not a great pun, but they seldom are, even in Shakespeare.
Deadwood ping...
http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/fuck.htm
I hope this doesn't offend...it's the etymology of the "f word."
If the address above doesn't show up, it's because the "f word" is the four letters before the ".htm" at the end of the address.
I'm LEARNING IN FREEREPUBLIC!!!!!
If it stays true to history, Bullock's partner, Sol Starr, will be elected to the territorial legislature.
Wrong. Fortuncation Under Carnel Knowledge was a Court Marshel offense in the British Navy dating back to colonial times.
I'm learning!
:)
The Chinese are well representd on Deadwood and critical to many of the plot lines. There was one episode where the principle story line was the murder of one of the opium traffickers and Mr. Wu's attempt to leverage Swearengen for justice.
As for the profanity, Milch claims it's historically accurate. It's obvious in watching the show and then reading about the real Deadwood, that he's done his homework. But it's not just the profanity, it's the syntax used in the scripts that I find equally striking.
I don't get HBO...but I do appreciate authenticity.
I'm under no delusions that those in the Old West were dainty or well-mannered! Life was harsh!!! They were missing half of their teeth, they were skinny, and their lives were short.
I'm glad that the show is realistic. I'll have to see it when it comes out on dvd's.
:)
The old-timers that I have met often cursed a blue streak.
These were rough times, with rough people.
What's a "deadwood"?
Deadwood is a small mining town in the Black Hills of South Dakota, about 35 miles NW of Rapid City. It is in the same basic area as Mount Rushmore and Devil's Tower, WY.
It is currently a gambling town with many of the original wooden buildings remaining on Main St.
Well at least it won't be like harry potter, where they made a point to put black kids in nearly every scene... for no real discernable reason other than PC pandering.
No . . . it certainly wasn't . . . and procreation was strictly forbidden!
ARE YOU SERIOUS???
What's he going to do for a girlfriend?
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