[safisoft]

I'll be taking my family to the preview here in Charlotte on Tuesday. I know people from all over who will be going to see this fine movie dressed in 1860's garb (blue or grey, although mostly grey) in honor of our ancestors and our heroes.

Deo Vindice!

[cyborg]

I plan to see the movie. There were slaves who were devout christians who put the love of others above their own selves. That sounds sick to some but it's true. Pierre Toussaint, a black slave up for canonization, decided to remain a slave and take care of his master's family after his master died. I guess people don't understand that concept of selfless love of others too much. What's wrong with showing both sides? I think Gods and Generals will be a great movie in terms of showing a more balanced portrayal of these men's lives.

[jlogajan]

I'm not sure which is more pathetic -- the southerners who want to forget that the south fought to maintain slavery, or the black leftists who think they are owed reparations.

Well guess what, the past is the past. The evils were committed and those that did it and their victims are all long dead and gone.

Get over it.

[TomServo]

Dixie Bump! I can hardly wait for the movie to play here..

[laotzu]

"..it's been necessary to downplay the issue of slavery"

We used to have slaves?!! Oh...that's right. You just never hear about the slavery that once existed here.

"Historians have been debating for decades whether the South and North came to blows more because of slavery or state's rights"

The South could have peacefully seceeded, without resistance from ther North; if only they had freed their slaves.

Yea...sure.

It was about individual & states rights vs federal government rule. The North prevailed, and we have been sliding into socialism ever since.

Why does the North call it a "Civil War" when the South had no interest in ruling them?

After forcibly dragging the South back into the fold, why does the North refer to this country as "United"?

Such total deceptions of history serve a purpose. What purpose is served? Why do liberal socialists almost never admit to being such. Hmmmm....

[j_k_l]

I must admit my ignorance here. I often wonder if the common soldier on either side knew what they were fighting for. Information and education were scarce. I could imagine that the confederates for the most part, were defending their homes and protecting their families.
My heritage is Native American and Irish so both sides of my family knows what it is to fight for your land and be less than successful.

[Pahuanui]

It was true in 1939, when Gone With the Wind looked back on the antebellum South as an unrivalled period of grace and beauty never to be seen again.

I'm glad it's never been seen again; what utter saccharine tripe.

[rwfromkansas]

This is a MUST MUST MUST see movie. I have great respect for the director, as he is trying to avoid just blanketly criticizing the south or presenting the north as saints.

In fact, there is a scene where Stonewall Jackson breaks down in front of a little girl when she asks him if her daddy will be coming home; he responds all the daddies will be going home (some to heaven is a definite undertone here knowing Jackson).

It is clear that this director (he directed Gettysburg also) is adament on being fair. I hope Freepers will flock to the theaters in droves.

The history department of my college is going to take a field trip to watch the movie (an evening sometime), so I can't wait.

This is a MUST SEE film.

Slavery played a great role in the war, but so did other factors such as high taxes on the south compared to the north (plus earlier, the nullification crisis also helped influence the war later). I am glad to see a film not be afraid to go beyond elementary school history.....which unfortunately, some anti-south Freepers believe.

[RightWinger]

It would be nice to see a fair & balanced movie for a change.
Can't wait to see it here in Charleston, SC, where the War began.

[Ligeia]

I found this article in the WP interesting and though you might as well.

Putting a New Face On a Confederate Past

John Wayne Holland was one of the thousands disappointed when Alexandria's George Washington Birthday Parade was canceled for today. He would have been wearing a Confederate uniform in public for the first time, representing his great-grandfather, who went to war as a slave in 1863.

"Next year, I will be there, most definitely," he said.

A new member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Holland, 48, tried on his uniform for the first time last week with the help of the great-granddaughter of the man who enslaved his great-grandfather Creed Holland. Hazel Holland Davis, 62, fussed with the long line of brass buttons on the butternut-colored jacket.

[wizzler]

This is all fine and well -- can't wait to see the flick -- but the Revolutionary War is much more interesting, particularly the Southern campaign that led to Yorktown. More movies like "The Patriot," please!

[Aurelius]

BUMP

[sonofron]

woooooo dowgy!! cain't wait to see this movie.

[Non-Sequitur]

I'm looking forward to seeing it and I'll even overlook the southern bias while doing it. And BTW I hope that Turner's money holds out long enough for him to film 'The Last Full Measure' and complete the trilogy. It would be interesting to see the two great military leaders of the war in the same movie. Assuming that he can get Duval again for Lee, who do you think would make a good Grant? Tom Hanks would probably do it, although I vote for Tommy Lee Jones.

[k2blader]

Bump for later read.

I'm interested in seeing this movie despite the fact Robert Byrd (?) is in it.

[PJ-Comix]

It was true in 1939, when Gone With the Wind looked back on the antebellum South as an unrivalled period of grace and beauty never to be seen again.

Actually the theme of Gone With The Wind was how Scarlett O'Hara changed and triiumphed in the new post-war society. The people who continued to live in the past of the antebellum South and were unable to adjust, such as Ashley Wilkes, were looked on with scorn.

[Conservative til I die]

This thread should be titled "Myth of a noble South."

[R. Scott]

It is true that the Confederate military was defeated, but the South was not.

[Centurion2000]

bump

[Western Patriot]

I saw "Gods and Generals" last night in York, PA. I was plesently surprised to find a large group of re-enactors all dressed in civil war era garb going to see the movie. The movie, was one of the best I have ever seen. Historically accurate, and in many ways about as close to the truth as you are going to come. The south was portrayed as a land being invaded and the confederates as defending that land, however it was also clear that as far as the slaves were concerned they wanted to be free. The moral conundrum of a religious man facing the obvious injustice of slavery which he was fighting to preserve was definately communicated to the audience. If you have seen the movie Gettysburg you will recongnise many familiar faces and this give the movie a continuity which was delightful. I would strongly recommend this movie to all freepers. It is bound to become a classic.