If You Could Ask Ken Burns To Make A Documentary For You, What Topic Would You Choose?

[mso489]

I like the idea of a documentary on currency, which would touch on the whole concept of money. One of Ken Burns strong suits is elucidating subjects that are frequently way too esoteric and making them accessible without dumbing them down, finding sources who can do that. Civil War buffs will drive you crazy with minutia, yet Burns drew out some essential themes and got pretty good marks for historical correctness too. He did miracles with still photography, panning across them and using quick takes, plus finding a fiddle tune not even of the period that perfectly captured the sentiment and sorrow of the time. History is always told by "someone," but if it is done well, the many facets soon surface. "The Best and the Brightest," on the Vietnam War, is so multifaceted it is difficult to see the point of view once you get through the book, so many possibilities are presented. The anti- and pro- is buried in the situation. Someone should get this whole thread to Burns.

 

[brandaves]

He already did baseball...so I'll echo what others have said with tobacco. Aside from pipe smoking as a hobby the history of that leaf is fascinating and multifaceted enough to cover a multi volume set.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Condorlover, perhaps you mean shovels & spades?

i think that's what Eric Olthwaite collected ;-)

Regards,

Jay.?

 

[litup]

Might be too niche for a broad audience, but I'd love to see a documentary on the literary group called The Inklings which included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

 

[mso489]

If Ken does tobacco, he needs to interview Kevin.

 

[docpierce]

+1 docpierce - that would make a very interesting documentary. It would have a very broad scope though since you have theatre and movie industry, science and medicine, finance, literature. Thinking about it that would probably be a 4 volume set but certainly interesting to watch.

And they're simply beautiful people too. Just look.

 

[mso489]

This isn't meant in a snarky way, just an observation, that until Ken Burns was into his fifties, he had the affect of a wide-eyed breathless middle schooler. Never mind, he made it work for him, and produced the results that made him part of documentary film history. Then suddenly, into his fifties (I'd guess it was) he suddenly stopped gasping and purring and started speaking like an adult, which was a relief to me. I always like to know what he thinks, but it unnerved me to have him keep channeling Timmy from the "Lassie" series. Gosh that sounds mean, or envious, but the guy's had an amazing career and bestowed it on us all. I greatly respect his work.

 

[mso489]

Oops. Just read the Ken Burns bio. He lost his mom at age 11, so that may have crimped some of his motivation to age forward in life. Who knows, but it changes the picture.

 

[condorlover1]

Condorlover, perhaps you mean shovels & spades?

i think that's what Eric Olthwaite collected ;-)

Regards,

Jay.?

Thats Ripping Yarns! 'It was always raining on ........ and the rain gauge was about normal!'

 

[condorlover1]

For those of you that had a deprived childhood here is Ripping Yarns ...

 

[aquadoc]

1. History of Fried Foods....fried green tomatoes, fried okra...
2. History of Shrimp....baked shrimp, boiled shrimp, raw shrimp, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan-fried, deep-fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That, that’s about it.
3. History of College Football (or simply the best conference, the Southeastern Conference).
4. History of BBQ, as in pit BBQ from Texas to North Carolina and everywhere in-between. NOT hotdogs and hamburgers
5. History of American Regional Accents
6. History of Marbles
7. History of anti-intellectualism

 

[saltedplug]

Drunken Irish Poets

 

[docpierce]

1. History of Fried Foods....fried green tomatoes, fried okra...
2. History of Shrimp....baked shrimp, boiled shrimp, raw shrimp, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan-fried, deep-fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That, that’s about it.
3. History of College Football (or simply the best conference, the Southeastern Conference).
4. History of BBQ, as in pit BBQ from Texas to North Carolina and everywhere in-between. NOT hotdogs and hamburgers
5. History of American Regional Accents
6. History of Marbles
7. History of anti-intellectualism

Don't forget: History of Anti- History and History of Anti-Forgetting.

 

[litup]

Drunken Irish Poets

That's redundant times three!

 

[saltedplug]

Not all Irish poets are drunks.
Not all poets are Irish,
Not everyone is a poet.

I'm sure I don't understand, but I don't see the redundancy.

 

[greeneyes]

I would like to follow each type of mail and parcel across its journey through the various postal services of the nations of the world.

Who knows, perhaps my pipes might turn up as well.

 

[cornedbeef]

A history of the American middle class. It's rise and decline. The strength or quality of a democracy is often measured by the size of its middle class.