The Disneyfication of American History the Hijacking of Memory © 2001 Philip Ernest Schoenberg, Ph.D. Who are the great historians? Gibbons? Parkman? Commager? Schelessinger? None of the above. The anonymous programmers of A & E, the Biography Channel, the Discovery Channel, the Disney Channel, the History Channel, the Learning Channel, and PBS. Some of the leading producers are Walt Disney, Greystone, Atlantis, and CBS News as well as various foreign companies. And let us not forget cinematic epics: Ted Turner who produced the epic, "Gettysburg," or John Wayne who produced, directed, and starred in "The Alamo," or Oliver Stone's epics on the JFK Assassination and Nixon's political life. Every night more people watch these programs than read books in a year. These programs are recycled from one station to another. Thus, the accuracy and bias of one channel is a common denominator for all. Ms. Raven, a spokesperson for The History Channel, was typical in the recent promotion on "The History Channel," in claiming such programs as the "Founding Fathers" were carefully scripted on the facts, had a wide variety of commentary by leading historians, and were carefully checked for accuracy by scholars in residence. As the Romans used to ask, "Who watches the guardians?" It dawned upon me how often I had to explain the simplifications, the omissions, the errors, and the biases of interpretation of each program that my college classes watched. Most people watch these programs without ever questioning their veracity or interpretation. There is no quality control. 1. In the interest of time condensation, facts are omitted and condensed to the point of error. In a "Most" presentation on Anastasia, it was announced that her supposed father Czar Nicholas II had been overthrown by the Communist Revolution instead of the Communists overthrowing the Democratic government. 2. Frequently there is no equivalent of "proofreading" or verification of facts through checking or rechecking. In a "Most" segment, the narrator quoted Will Rogers commenting upon the death of Henry Ford in 1947. This is especially interesting since Rogers had died in an air crash more than a decade earlier. A & E Modern Marvels recycled an earlier "Machines at War" epic, "Uboats," and created an error. In one of the announcements before an advertising break, there was a statement that 1170 Uboats were built by the Germans of whom the majority, 390, were built in Hamburg. In my math, that doesn't add up to be a majority. 3. Attributions can be quite erroneous. William Frassianato, a specialist in the photographic history of the Civil War, especially on Gettysburg criticized the PBS series produced and directed by Ken Burns on the Civil War. Frassianato criticized the use of photographs "as if they were interchangeable stage props" without any effort to check for accuracy or they were suitable for the point being made. 4. Information is simply missing for no apparently logical reason. An old "Biography Program" from the 1950s that was shown on A & E television carried the history of Harry S. Truman through his reelection in office. It omitted Truman deciding to drop the Abomb and the firing of General MacArthur. 5. "Made for TV" Movies take license with the facts and interpretations. "Al Capone's Lost Brother" was not lost; he was financially subsidized by his brother and visited him on a regular basis. Who had heard of William Chamberlain before Turner produced "Gettysburg"? Did he really save the Union at this battle? Was Pickett being selfserving when he criticized Robert E. Lee for launching the charge? 6. Programs dramatizing history can distort history or highlight an interpretation of the history that is off the beaten path because it makes good television, not good history. A good example is "In the Search of" series narrated by Leonard Nemoy. An unusual theory makes a better story than the truth. 7. Hidden biases occur. In a recent "History's Mystery" documentary that examined the downfall of the Concorde air plane, some footage is devoted to a "Senator from New York" trying to hold hearings to prevent the Concorde landing at JFK Air Port, suggesting the sonic boom as a major objection. The documentary gives his name as "Proxmire." Senator Proxmire was the U. S. Senator from Wisconsin State. Boeing was no longer in the running to build a Concordtype air plane and had its own 747 in competition. I would strongly infer that Proxmire was using his political muscle to protect the turf of an important constituent. PBS and CNN have been accused of having a liberal or leftwring bias. 8. Facts can be distorted or twisted. In a Modern Marvel Episode, "Air Force One," Franklin D. Roosevelt is mentioned as the first president to fly when for security reasons, he flew to the Casablanca and Yalta conferences instead of going by boat. It is also stated that he hated to fly. In reality, Roosevelt flew to the Chicago convention in 1932 to accept the Democratic Party nomination. He wanted to show he was on the cutting edge of technology, vigorous, and physically capable despite being a polio victim. 9. Information can just plain wrong. PBS had to withdraw from the American experience documentary on Blacks liberating Jews from the extermination camps because of problems of accuracy. CNN had egg on its face when an expose of a secret army program to execute deserters turned out to be false. CNN had gone ahead despite warnings that the information that it garnered was false. The promise of high ratings proved to be too tempting. Peter Arnett, the narrator, was fired as the fall guy and the producer fired but the higher ups who approved kept their jobs. 10. Then we have A & E's programs on "Our Haunted History," At what point, do we have an accurate recreation of the facts for purposes of dramatization or creative fictionwriting to fill up the hour? Do we put in our history books that Lincoln's ghost haunts the White House? There are also some positives. 1. A & E and the HistoryChannel are to be commended for "Movies in Time" in which movies are analyzed for history and interpretation. The History Channel's series on "History vs. Hollywood" showed how history can take liberties with the facts in the interest of dramatization This should be applied to the documentaries. 2. The History Center of the HistoryChannel provides a lively forum for historians to discuss a current historical issue or movie. A sample of some recent forums included the assassination of JFK, Abraham Lincoln's racism, and Pearl Harbor. The History Center analyzed Thirteen Days, directed by Roger Donaldson, written by David Self. The movie does take some dramatic liberties with the facts. Even when the dialogue is based on the actual transcript, the original intonation of JFK was changed from a jocular, "I guess we're in the same boat," to relieve the tension to a more dramatic rendering to make the movie even more suspenseful. 3. Hardcover of the HistoryChannel and Booknotes of CSpan provide an opportunity for historians and other authors to be interviewed about their books. 4. The various channels popularize the study of history local subjects, history museums, and historic sites. The videotapes provided by local museums to the history channels varies in quality and imagination. 5. A & E is to be commended for its uplifting, positive, informative biographies of people who are in the public eye such as Oprah Winfrey and Judge Ito. A & E has avoided the National Geographic approach in its treatment of such tyrants as Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein. HistoryChannel's History's Mysteries showed that Albert Goering, the brother of Hermann Goering, and Schemeling to be no Nazi lovers. 6. Many of these television stations and cable programs offer the access on Internet to provide additional information about the historical topic discussed. Again, we also have the same issues: What are the strengths, limitations, biases, etc., of this source of information? A whole separate issue is the quality of scholarship, bias, and interpretation found on the Internet in which crackpot and pseudohistorians "prove" the Holocaust never took place. Conclusion: These distortions, facts, fuzzies, fictions, truths determine what we will believe in. Popular culture is being shaped by this. George Orwell's dictum in his book 1984 states that he controls the past will control the future. We need to educate people to become critically aware of what they view on television, see at the movies, and access on the computer. Philip Schoenberg, PhD, is professor of American Government and History at the College of Aeronautics, a consultant to the PBS program on The American President, and an expert on the presidents. He has his own website on the presidents, www.presidentialexpert.com. (888) 377-4455 drphil1@aol.com He also gives walking tours on the presidents. ©1998-2005 Presidentialexpert