Hispanics Demand WWII (K Burns) TV Series include Hispanics.
Burns Says Hispanic Demands for WWII Film Have Been Met
July 13, 2007
Hal Boedeker -- The Orlando Sentinel, Fla.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Filmmaker Ken Burns said Wednesday that he planned no additional changes to The War, his epic about World War II, after meeting an agreement with Hispanic groups to include Latino veterans in the PBS series.
"This is as far as we can go," he said. "We're coming up on this broadcast."
The War, a seven-part series, will premiere Sept. 23 and unfold during two weeks.
Burns added sections at the end of the first and sixth episodes about two Hispanic soldiers. The War also incorporates an American Indian story.
The new material runs about a half-hour in an epic that lasts 15 hours and is joined seamlessly to the film that Burns completed 1 1/2 years ago.
"We've not only lived up to it, we've doubled the number of scenes," Burns said of the agreement.
Burns, speaking to television critics who are here previewing the fall season, said he didn't know whether the additions would satisfy groups that had complained about the omissions.
"There are a lot of different people with a lot of different agendas and a lot of different concerns," he said.
"We listened as hard as we could and tried to hear beyond the rhetoric and the politics."
Paula Kerger, president of PBS, called The War "the centerpiece of next season's PBS lineup."
She added that the Hispanic groups' concerns "remind us that in public broadcasting, we will always be held to a higher standard."
The film focuses on four towns: Waterbury, Conn.; Mobile, Ala.; Sacramento, Calif; and Luverne, Minn.
"We made a film in which we were not attempting to find out what made people distinct and different, but what made them the same," Burns said.
"We were looking for specific combat experiences. We weren't trying to get every single group lined up."
A soldier's haunted face will be used to promote the film. Burns said the veteran had the pain of the war with him constantly and died in his 60s.
"It comes down to us again as this good war. It wasn't," Burns said.
"It can't be that sanitized, morning in America, Madison Avenue version of war all the time."
Source: Copyright (c) 2007, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
Re: Hispanics Demand WWII (K Burns) TV Series include Hispan
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdillon1172
She added that the Hispanic groups' concerns "remind us that in public broadcasting, we will always be held to a higher standard."
And that a little PC extortion and arm-twisting goes along way at PBS!
More commentary on the Mexican demands regarding WWII
The Mexican intrusion into America's history and culture should anger all Americans.
Their demands will never cease as long as America continues a timid policy of appeasement.
Diversity has, throughout history, destroyed every country and civilization in which it was attempted.
Please read the commentary on the Mexican demands regarding WWII at the links provided below. Marge
“Take a bow, Hispanic activistsâ€
