I often wonder how filmmakers choose their images and the context for those images, especially filmmakers who produce historical documentaries. I've been thinking a lot about this lately because of the mammoth documentary on the history of American baseball that was broadcast on PBS* this past Fall. In short, I'm "ticked off" with Ken Burns.
First, let me make it clear that I am a BIG fan of Ken Burns--he's the guy who produced the American Civil War series on PBS. I had no interest in history as a kid in school. I only discovered how compelling and important history was when I started having to teach it to fifth graders (poorly, I might add). The Civil War series came a good time for me--I was hungry to know more but did not have the time to go out and do my "homework." Ken Burns brought me a compelling and thorough (at least for TV) account of the American Civil War. I've probably watched it in its entirety about four times and learned new things every time I watched it. I have actually read some history books because of it. I've also begun a quest to visit as many American Civil War sites as I can. I thank Ken Burns for his contribution. (He has also produced many other interesting films--I especially liked the one he did on the building of the Brooklyn Bridge.)
This past fall, I watched the Ken Burns' series on the history of American baseball with even greater enthusiasm and interest. You have to understand that I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where baseball has long been an extremely popular sport (OK, football is a little popular there too). At any rate, in my house, baseball was THE game. The account of Bill Mazeroski hitting the home run in the ninth inning of the 7th game of the 1960 World Series to beat the New York Yankees is sacred stuff to all Pittsburghers. Bobby Thompson's home run to win the pennant for the New York Giants is but an interesting anecdote in comparison to us. You can imagine my excitement in wanting to see how Ken Burns, the master storyteller of history in film, would approach this wonderful event--the 1960 World Series. Well, to make a long story very short, Ken Burns presented it strictly from the New York point of view: describing their grief, hearing Mickey Mantle tell how he cried on the plane all the way back to New York, and actually suggesting the ridiculous idea that the best team really lost. (Hey, we didn't cheat!) I felt betrayed!
You might brush this note aside as one person's whining about a curious bit of American "trivia" (especially our New York and non-American subscribers). But I think there's something important and relevant here to all of us who design, develop, evaluate, research, or just think about how media (instructional or otherwise) influence people, especially on topics we have a passion for (even if no one else shares that passion). I am reasonably certain that Ken Burns sincerely meant to show an objective, balanced account of the Civil War and Baseball. He does excellent work with extreme care and sensitivity. However, he failed miserably in my eyes in interpreting 1960. Rather than presenting the film footage of Bill Mazeroski's running around the bases as a metaphor for triumph, Ken Burns used it in the context of an American tragedy! We all bring our values, perspectives, and opinions to the table when we design. How we choose our "signs and symbols" to develop media that teach or help people to learn is serious and important stuff--not something to treat cavalierly or take for granted. Anyone who thinks they are not biased or prejudiced in some way is just fooling themselves. I've come to the conclusion that we all must remain ever vigilant in trying to recognize our own biases while at the same time deliberately remembering to be a bit more tolerant of other people's views.
What do you think? (I know I feel better!)
*PBS stands for the Public Broadcasting Service (AKA public television in the USA).
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