Filmmaker Ken Burns created a magnificent masterpiece. Titled “The War,” his new PBS documentary chronicles the stories of World War II veterans with a style that has made Burns very popular. But the documentary lacked the voices of the many Latinos, Native Americans and women who served in the war and the last-minute additions to the 14-hour series just seemed like a quick cut and paste solution to calm the groups that spoke up. Essentially, what Burns wanted to do with this project was to focus on the lives of the young men who fought in the battle and the families who waited back home. Vivid scenes of young men dying in the war and the touching stories of the veterans and their families almost reached this goal. We hear impacting stories of young men who witnessed family members and friends die right in front of them. Veterans from Connecticut, Alabama, Minnesota and California shared their stories with such an emotional feeling and keen details. If Burns really wanted to fully embrace all the stories, he would have worked a little bit harder to look for at least one of the 500,000 Latinos who participated in such an historical event. But to forget such an important part of history then try and fix it by adding just an extra 30 minutes to a few of the episodes and a word or two about the Native American contribution just doesn’t seem enough. The Defend the Honor campaign, spearheaded by Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, a University of Texas journalism professor, fought back and make sure that Latinos were not forgotten. “WWII was a watershed for Latinos,” Rivas-Rodriguez said in the syndicated program Democracy Now. “We felt that this should be part of any documentary about WWII, particularly one that is 14 hours long.” Popular comic strip artists, such as Lalo Alcaraz of “La Cucaracha” and “Baldo” comic strip co-creator Hector Cantu, began to focus on the issue. Cantu specifically created “Benny,” a supporting character who symbolizes many of the Latino WWII veterans. According to Cantu, if Burns wasn’t going to tell the story of these people, he might as well use the tools he had to keep these stories alive in his own alternative way. The added footage still left some of this group feeling like it was just a way to shut them up. Maybe Burns didn’t fully do his research. Real journalists don’t wait for their subjects to come to them. Real journalists are supposed to go out there and find the people who make these great stories. Burns only sort of did that.
Uncategorized
