I'm still playing catch-up as far as the picture of the day goes. Here's a shot from HBO's John Adams, with Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. I'm hooked on this series--as are plenty of friends and family members! But I'll save the full review for when the series is over...
6 comments:
I'm hooked on this series too. I love the subtlety of it - I'll have to look for David McCullough's book in the library.
But just in terms of acting, I love Paul Giametti's realistic portrayal of John Adams' personal flaws and virtues. I got quite a shock when I realized he and Abby were actual, dyed-in-the-wool Puritans - I don't know why it surprised me, I think that was Massachusett's reputation in those days? I enjoyed the contrast with Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson during the time in Paris.
Canadian history lessons always tend (well, tended in my day) to play down the heroic aspects of the Revolutionary War, and emphasize the terrible price of revolution. So we didn't learn very much about e.g., the Constitution. It's fascinating.
And once again the above was me, Francine. Sorry, I'll get used to it!
Francine, I thought the scenes between John Adams and Benjamin Franklin in Paris were hilarious! Poor Adams was not a good fit for that city--at least not initially.
I'm a little upset with the show's portrayal of Alexander Hamilton (one of my heroes)--but I remind myself that we're seeing him through John Adam's eyes. Unlike Adams, I prefer Hamilton to Jefferson, though of course they both had their strengths and weaknesses.
Rosemary, I don't know very much about Alexander Hamilton at all - I was thinking we might see another side to him in the next episode.
During his conversation with Adams, Jefferson implied that Hamilton was intriguing against Adams, but we didn't actually see this for ourselves. I thought maybe it was actually Jefferson who had encouraged Pinckney (sp?) for the purpose of splitting the vote - or would this have been impossible/unlikely for some reason?
Sometimes I can't evaluate the events in the show accurately, due to not knowing any of the actual history/politics and the subtle way in which they're portrayed. But that's part of the attraction :)
It's so nice to have a conversation about this with someone - I don't know anyone else who is watching this show.
Francine
Of course, I'm probably totally wrong because I don't know anything about the historical persons involved.
Hmmm...I'm ashamed to say that I don't know the answer to your question. Obviously we need more research!
I can tell you that Hamilton and Jefferson despised each other, lol. They were idealogical opposites. Just for starters, Jefferson envisioned us as a nation of farmers--Hamilton pictured the industial nation that we became.
I think, overall, the show is quite accurate--I have some minor nitpicks, but nothing major.
At any event, I can't wait to see Sunday's episode!
Ooh, that's good info. Thanks Rosemary.
Can't wait to see what the next episode brings.
Francine
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