John adams HBO mini series

[Johnnyappleseed]

This is probably  but it came up yesterday at piru .
not sure who , but someone strongly recomended the series as really good and accurate etc .

Admttitedly I have a bias against it ,because HBO is 5th column and rarely if ever gets important stuff correct.

One of the biggest glaring errors in HBOs John adams was part 3 where the John and Abigale are cleaning up the White house . Leading the viewer to the conclusion it's former occupants were pigs ( as was brought out by an AS -- the WH was under construction when Adams's moved in and it was never occupied .

this same HBO missed the part about the current WH being thrashed - even to the point of computers being sabotaged by having Ws removed .

Of course I did nothing to correct the misconception of HBO mini series .
However after the promo - I thought ,a good time for TV target 

[Kaylee]

Hrmm.. it's been a while since I've seen it, but as I recall they were clear on the White House thing. Or maybe I just filled in the gaps in my head and didn't think about it. :\

For the most part though  the series stuck pretty close to the real history I think. The only real complaint I have is the tar and feathers scene, which pretty much turns the John Malcolm story completely on its ear, and portrays Sam Adams as a bloodthirsty nut. The Chris Seider shooting is left out, James Otis and Writs of Assistance are left out, dissolving the local governments and the Crown taking over the pay of the local judges is left out, the Black Robe regiment is left out, so forth and so on.

Since the whole lead up to the Revolution is compressed in time with so many of the pokes in the eye not mentioned in the story, you don't get much sense why people were fed up enough to start stockpiling arms in the first place.

All that said, a lifetime can't be squeezed into a few hours, so lots of important stuff is going to have to be ignored. It was closer than most Hollywood history, and I still wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

The "that's my family doctor" scene with Abigail though still gets me.

[dragonfly]

Part one was ok, part 7 was good. It was hard for me to watch, especially the way they portrayed Ben Franklin as a lazy old fart. Probably didn't help that the same actor that played  Gen. Cornwallis in The Patriot played Franklin in John Adams  .

+1 on the TV target 

D

[GEmanuel]

Kaylee, I agree with many of your points. However, wasn't the movie about John Adams? He certainly had all of the events you mentioned swirling about him, and in fact was quite involved in many of those. Given the time constraints which the video was produced under I feel they did an excellent job of conveying the "flavor" of John Adams. I recall Adams' expression as he witnessed the tar and feathering as one of displeasure and sadness, but it has been a little while since I watched it.
I do not recall whether David McCullough was involved as a consultant, (I know his book was used as the basis for the series) but if he was I would trust that the facts as far as they went at least were correct.
Johnny Appleseed, my recollection was that much construction was in progress as John and Abigail Adam' carriage approached the White House, and felt immediately that it was under construction. I was however taken aback at the condition of the interior, and questioned if it was as yet suitable for habitation for the President. It didn't look like anyone had even swept the floors! A more recent resident and their disrespectful conduct upon leaving the residence are reprehensible, on that we can all agree.

[Johnnyappleseed]

K
thank you for your thought provoking post .
The negative parts of the series to which your post refers had escaped me , good to have some reminder why I disliked this production.

I think lots  of the negatives i felt were because of the music at certain times .

The question I have is ,will it be easy to overcome the negatives in this series at an AS?


Imagine reading a Sam Adams quote , while an attendee focuses on as what was said "A bloodthirsty nut"
Or should we avoid Sam Adams all together?

In the movie , I recall the battle road quote and Fred's paraphase of same.
It can be honestly said that I have never  heard this powerful quote done as poorly as it was in the HBO series .

When I compare "The Patriot" also done in a much shorter time frame than  HBO, I come 2 different agenda's .

Any thought on the contrast between these two films ?

[Kaylee]

GE -  you may be right.
I had remembered Sam as having more of a gleeful look in his eye as he does in that scene - seeing it again, I think I agree with you.

(For those wanting context, we're talking about the moment at about 3:00 in this scene, where John is asking Sam "Do you approve of this?!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFWZ925zK0A
warning - GRAPHIC)

The scene does leave out that the feather-ee had caned a child in the street the previous day, so people were a bit riled up.
I honestly don't know - if there's even a record - of whether the pine tar was hot enough to be injurious, or just humiliating. Could have been either. It certainly wasn't an "execution" as the uploader is calling it. :\

All that said, I do think the Adams miniseries did convey at least John with reasonable fairness, and agree there's only so much that could have been squeezed in. The only real place I think agenda may have come in was that the religiosity you see in both John and Sam's writing was largely missing.

Regarding "The Patriot".... I think it was perfectly timed for what it was, and a good dramatic historically-inspired movie.
As history it was a mess - the lead characters are only loosely based on the real people that inspired them, and the real events mostly vaguely alluded to and set into the background for the sake of the narrative. I'm not certain that was even avoidable - I'm not certain you can squeeze that many years of conflict and drama and contesting visions of mankind into a few hours and have it make any sense at all, especially to a modern audience that only vaguely remembers the Revolution.

But it's a fun movie, and a great one for whetting the appetite to learn more.

... besides, it has some great words to say on marksmanship.

[Johnnyappleseed]

well said 

[GEmanuel]

Kaylee,
I followed your link and upon watching that scene again I really wish they had Sam say something in response to Johns' question. His expression I think is one of disgust as I said, but I am a  bit concerned that when pressed by John he stood mute.
Your remarks on the Patriot are spot on. It conveyed the essence of the period and the place but made no claim of historical accuracy. Though I must say I can imagine Cowpens as the main battle unfolded in the movie. I guess since that is as close as I will ever get to that event, I am thankful for their effort, trying not to be too judgemental about areas where we can all find it lacking.
Thanks for provoking thought, JA you too, you always make me smile, or set the ole think pot to smokin'

[Johnnyappleseed]

I sure appreciate al the input in these threads 

All you folks keep me thinking too, something my small mind has to really work at, picture the spinning ball on your computer !hahaha