Provocative excerpts from primary and secondary sources (some with audio glosses). Read the rationale behind these sound bites for more information.

661-670 of 734 Sound Bites. [show all]

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661) America has had a relatively short, but productive, history. A lot has happened to this nation of ours, some good, some bad. Sometimes we seem to forget the bright spots in American history, and so we twist these not-so-great events to make them seem better than they actually are. We cannot face history. So many of these films focus on some of the darker times of our history: the beginning of colonization, slavery, moving Native Americans from their homes, war, the violence and hatred of the Civil Rights Movement. But what about the good things from our nation? We have fought for freedom, in our country and for others, since our country was established. We abolished slavery. We pulled together during September 11th against the tragedy. We have made so many movements in the right direction. Instead of focusing on the dark events of America’s past, why can’t we show the bright spots? Maybe because it does not give us a satisfactory film. As viewers, we want to see catastrophe and chaos, not happiness and beauty. We would rather see bad things happen to good and innocent people, cheer for the underdog. What conflict does a happy story bring? It does not provide enough of a plot for the American movie-viewing public. (Caitlin Prozonic, Lehigh University) [SoundBite #2523]

662) The burden to make this a unified country lies as much with the complacent majority as with the sullen and resentful minorities. (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. 19) [SoundBite #370]

663) The past is a foreign country. (old saying) [SoundBite #380]

664) "History," writes James Baldwin, an unusually astute observer of twentieth-century American life, "does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do." (qtd. in Foner ix) [SoundBite #1359]

665) Historical films do not just allow us to see what has happened in the past as if we were there, but they encourage us to reflect on our past experiences through an emotional level that would be otherwise unreachable. (Derek D'Anna, Lehigh University) [SoundBite #2528]

666) Slotkin's acknowledgment that there is a fictive element even in rigorous academic histories displaces this mode of historical writing...and re-positions it alongside other forms of "writing" that also claim to tell us something about the past. Re-conceived in this way, it becomes clear that scientific history is not a form of transcendental "truth," but a product of the material, historical conditions that have facilitated its development. (Mike Chopra-Gant 57-58) [SoundBite #1261]

667) Nowhere did European colonists settle and live in complete harmony with those who occupied the land previously. America is part of this tradition. It was born out of conflict, and though colonization is over, the powder keg of that culture war is still here. Accordingly, films about "us" are often wrought with questionable representations of ourselves and one another. But this is part of the American tradition. To create a genre of American film making about which we are all in agreement is itself a kind misrepresentation of American history. (Erin Thorn, Lehigh University) [SoundBite #2530]

668) National leaders try to control the collective memory in order to forge a civic identity, while other groups in society recount particular stories to build solidarity, often in defiance of those seeking a shared past. (Joyce Appleby et. al. 155) [SoundBite #410]

669) The history of a nation is, unfortunately, too easily written as the history of its dominant class. (Kwame Nkrumah 63) [SoundBite #420]

670) Though I had never realized how much is factually altered in many “historical” films, I understand that this is usually to create a better movie and to make the United States seem more like the country that we think ourselves to be. We want to cover the black spots, conceal them so that we can try to forget the bad events of the past and try to move onto a better future. But we are only human. We will fail again, and film will be there to capture every faltering moment. (Caitlin Prozonic, Lehigh University) [SoundBite #2524]