The History Channel has gotten considerably more innovative with its programming lately, and America: The Story of Us is its most ambitious venture yet. Conceived as a latter day Roots for the American people as a whole, and probably meant to capture the zeitgeist engendered after the election of Barack Obama (who provides the introduction here), America is an epic retelling of our nation’s history from its earliest beginnings as a haven for religious dissidents up until the present day. But for all its pomp, energy, and good intentions, America is precisely that: a retelling, rather than a discovery of any kind. It is always engaging and cohesive (no small feat for such a huge timeline), but it’s more than a little lacking that most American of qualities, piss and vinegar.
America is divided up into 12 segments, each of them about forty minutes in length. With names like “Heartland,” “Cities,” and “Superpower”, America reflects back on 400 years of history in terms of big movements, themes, and events; predictably, three major wars are all given their own segment. Lacking a singular narrative to connect all of these disparate events, the series seeks to unite them through a common characterization of the people who created them. Aided by interviewees from virtually every walk of public life (including newscasters, actors, performers, and politicians from both sides of the aisle), the show gradually builds a portrait of America’s people as innovators, iconoclasts, and pioneers who are constantly bucking the dominant trends of their respective eras.
As the nation has become more polarized politically, lengthy histories of this country have tended to fall into one of two categories: defensive treatises that seem to imply that everyone would be better off had social history stopped progressing some time around 1948, and stridently accusatory pieces that readily place blame for nearly every ill of the past three centuries on elected officials and corporate magnates, largely portrayed as greedy and idiotic. To its great credit (and clearly at no small effort), America manages to avoid both camps, instead stressing that we are all, at center, possessive of the same ideas, goals and heritage, no matter what form it may take. Taking cue from Obama’s campaign (having him introduce the series is but the first step; the whole series is redolent of his campaign’s themes), America promotes a philosophy of inclusion for all citizens and malice towards none, with the crimes of our nation’s history fully acknowledged, but not dwelled upon, and certainly not in a way meant to draw parallels with figures or organizations in the modern day. After a decade of partisan nastiness and a social climate more conducive to groundless accusations than effective progressive, it’s rather refreshing to see a program that welcomes the input of Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton (both featured here). Though that more than likely could have provided yet another forum for gross exaggeration, every one appears to be on their best behavior here.
But the flip side of conciliation is appeasement, and it is here that America sidesteps being a truly notable work. In its herculean effort to bring the American people together in a way that nothing save E.T. has ever done before, America sacrifices its ability to form a true identity of its own, simply because it’s so determined not to be disliked by anybody. Even if a case could be made that numerous culturally and politically opposed groups do share the same intrinsic values and purpose (and it easily could), it’s hard to do so effectively (or interestingly) without alienating a large number of people. America seems so afraid of doing so that it also loses its ability to surprise, invigorate, or provide a new perspective on historical events with which you are already familiar.
The program cannot be faulted for its intelligence, scope or energy, as it chooses its subjects well, and it provides more than enough narrative heft to carry it across the many hours of its running time. But it will at no point shock, aggravate, or offend you, no matter what your political stripes, and at some point, you can’t help but wish that it would, because then it might better embody the rebellious spirit that it so seeks to memorialize.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
These discs also contain sequences that were cut regarding "American Revolution", "Declaration of Independence", "George Washington", "Civil War", "Transcontinental Railroad", "Statue of Liberty", and "Henry Ford and the Model T".
"America: The Story of Us" is on sale September 14, 2010 and is rated PG. Documentary. Directed by Jenny Ash, Clare Beavan, Andrew Chater, Nick Green. Written by Ed Fields. Starring Buzz Aldrin, Leiv Schreiber, Daniel Webb, David Baldacci, Sheryl Crow, Tom Brokaw, Henry Louis Gates, David M Kennedy, Colin Powell, John Lasseter, Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump, Al Sharpton, Melissa Etheridge, Brian Williams, Barack Obama.
