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| 'The War' uses archival film to reexamine World War II. Courtesy of U.S. National Archive |
Ken Burns's 'The War' as seen through teen eyes
We convene a panel of young viewers to watch the epic PBS documentary.
By Gloria Goodale | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the September 14, 2007 edition
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Sherman Oaks, Calif. - War may be the work of elder statesmen, but it is more often the dirty, daily grind of the young who are sent to fight. Fittingly, documentarian Ken Burns focuses on the youthful hopes, dreams, and often painful memories of veterans and survivors in his latest opus, "The War," a seven-part series on World War II from the American perspective. It debuts Sept. 23 on PBS.
But while World War II stories still reliably move older audiences to both tears and Academy Award nominations – and both Hollywood and historians seem never to run out of them – the Monitor wondered how today's teens relate to what is now the conflict of their grandparents' generation. We invited a small group, two boys and two girls, to view and then discuss the first episode of the film in the paper's Los Angeles bureau.
"It was terrifying," says 17-year-old Lauren Vally, referring to a photo of dead bodies, many of them young. As the group moves from the TV to a pizza-laden table to sit and talk, she receives swift agreement from 14-year-old Julian McLean, who says he had no idea so many young children died. The series does not trade on the shocking. Rather, Mr. Burns opts to paint a picture of the home front through interviews with veterans and their families, specifically focusing on four small towns across America.
He weaves these reminiscences in with archival wartime footage from the US and Europe, some never seen before. The intense loyalty of the home-front folks shines through, as does the unswerving devotion of the troops called to fight. Indeed, one soldier recounts the jubilation he felt when he finally received his draft notice.
Despite the age-gap, the teens all respond to these emotions. They say they relate more to World War II than the war in Iraq, or even 9/11, for a simple reason: this is the last war everybody agreed on.
"It was really clear why we were fighting," says 17-year-old Soraya Sadeghpour. All four shake their heads over the words "war in Iraq," trading sotto voce quips lumping Iraq and Vietnam together for the ways both wars divided the country. "Why are we even there in Iraq? I don't think people are even sure they know anymore," says 17-year-old Alex Regalado, who looks around the table finding solemn agreement in the three other faces.
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