While I am a big fan of raw entertainment of all sorts as far as film and TV is concerned, every now and then I like to learn a thing or two while I am watching. Documentaries are the obvious way to go when pursuing this, but unfortunately most of them are very dry and boring.
Like a lot of Americans, I was brought up being forced to memorize certain moments in history and if I thought anything other than what was being prescribed by the teacher or professor, it was considered "wrong" and I would get a bad grade if I didn't agree with what they were telling me.
The Untold History of the United States is very much an expose into the things that were were either misled about in our education, or at the minimum, we were probably intentionally not told certain things about it because doing so might prevent us from being good little patriotic automatons.
This documentary caught me off guard, and when you consider that one of the greatest directors of all time was very heavily involved in the creative process, you are basically guaranteed a good time
This show is presented as being "controversial" but to me, what is controversial about pointing out intentional omissions from history classes?
History is written by the victors
I am only currently 2 episodes in of this 10 episode series, but I am learning so much. Now I suppose that there is always a chance that Stone and Peter Kuznick could be throwing in their own personal opinions as well, but unless they are simply making things up, a lot of what they are saying, which is backed up by documents and video that they present on screen, don't seem to indicate that.
I find it far more likely that we were intentionally lied to as kids in order to glorify the United States and her allies, especially in relation to certain global conflicts. I think that as we get closer to modern times such as Nixon onwards that things could end up getting a bit more biased, but the episodes I have watched so far have involved WW1 and WW2 and I don't think there is any real benefit for anyone personally for lying about this anymore.
We get an insider's view into the lives of the people that were the heads of state during those times and a great deal of focus is put not on the prepared statements of those officials at the time who likely,just like today, had statement written for them, but statements from the people that worked around them about what the true "feeling of the room" was at the time.
For me, the thing I have found so interesting thus far is the certain reasons why the Axis decided to do the things that they did such as Japan invading areas south of them for the sake of taking their natural resources in an effort to expand their own territory. Japan would have been incapable of doing this based on their own country's natural resources, so there you have it!
Maybe to someone a bit better versed in how actual war tactics worked would be better able to already know this, but from an American's point of view such as my own, that part of it all is just kind of glanced over as we were only taught about how Pearl Harbor was really bad and how it was just downright mean.
Well, as it turns out Japan had a plan to take over everything south of them and feared the USA would quickly put a stop to this. Therefore, the destruction of the US Navy at Hawaii was absolutely necessary to achieving this end.
Maybe I am just a moron but I never really thought about it this way.
Obviously they are going to focus on things like the atom bomb attacks but they also dig really deep into how initially the US government was completely disinterested in funding this prospect until several high-profile scientists penned letters to the President basically begging him to have a change of heart and how if the Axis were to acquire this knowledge first, it could have disastrous implications for the rest of humanity.
I also learned several other things such as Hitler's reluctant alliance with Japan, who he personally saw as racially inferior and how if he had coordinated with them more closely during the Russian invasion, that the Soviet Union almost certainly would have fallen because they lacked the manpower and equipment to possibly fight on two fronts.
One thing the my own education never focused on was that the Soviet Union, not the United States, was the primary reason why the German war machine was crushed.
Certain aspects of the war effort that never really gets taught but are so important to understanding war is how when Russia was nearly on its knees that they rapidly began manufacturing of war materials in southern areas that are now independent countries such as Kazakhstan. I don't think I was ever taught anything about that at all but the way that Oliver Stone presents it shows that this was essential to the eventual Soviets overpowering the Germans in Stalingrad. The absolutely massive loss of life on the part of The Soviet Union also showcased the incredible resolve of the Russian people and how, whether due to their own decision for country over life, or because they were kind of brutally forced into this including thousands that were shot for desertion, presented the Germans with a battle that honestly, couldn't possibly be won.
In USA we were taught that America saved the say and while that certainly was a factor with D-Day and what not, had it not been for the resolve of the Soviet Union, that particular World War might have had a very different outcome.
I'm not trying to tell anyone how to think or to suggest that every single word of this doco is true, but it was really nice to see something other than "USA number 1!" presentation of the events that transpired during that time.
I think that anyone that has a sort of interest in the vast scale of WW2 will find this absolutely enthralling.
The use of war footage that has been remastered and sound bites that have been enhanced must have been a monumental undertaking and it is presented in such a way that keeps the audience glued to the screen. As always, I use the "how much did I look at my phone during the time it was on" as a gauge as to how well something is made and it wasn't until the first hour was over that I realized my phone wasn't even in the room with me.
That's how good this is
Should I watch it?
Normally I would recommend things based on their artistic or entertainment value but I am going to get out there and say that this is important to open your eyes to how much of what you think you know might actually be wrong. I'm not saying that all that Oliver Stone says is factually correct (and I also think he should have hired a better narrator because his voice is quite boring) but I do think it is nice to see and hear that a lot of what you think you know, has another side to it entirely.
It's a bit ask for people to commit 10 hours to anything I know, but this isn't a series per se, it is just something that is entertaining while at the same time educating you on things that you were likely intentionally not told as a youth.
this can be legally streamed almost anywhere, including full episodes that are legally available on YouTube. Streaming services that have all episodes include Amazon and MGM, but I am sure that since it seems to be freely distributed, that is is available a lot of other places as well