MovieChat Forums > The Untold History of the United States (2012) Discussion > America needs to look itself in the mirr...

America needs to look itself in the mirror

posted 8 years ago by Freedom1981
5 replies | jump to latest

This is not an objective or unbiased documentary. It's as one-sided as anything else Oliver Stone has produced.

However, since so much of the Western news media is one-sided, it's refreshing to get a different point of view of US history.

The thesis of the series is basically that Capitalism, not the spread of Democracy and Freedom, has driven US foriegn policy in the post-WWII era. I challenge anyone to argue that there is no truth to the idea that there have been Capitalist motives behind nearly every war the US has been involved in.

[–] Kompressor_Fan 8 years ago

I sort of looked at it that way. We have all gotten the "official" version in high school....and an expanded version of the same in college. Personally, I am loving this so far (finished the 3rd episode last night.) Does it have a slant? Sure, but so was the version we all learned in the past. If anything, some of the detail brought up is stuff I have never heard before, and has gone a way to shed some light on areas of history and made them make more sense.

[–] Freedom1981 8 years ago

I sort of looked at it that way. We have all gotten the "official" version in high school....and an expanded version of the same in college. Personally, I am loving this so far (finished the 3rd episode last night.) Does it have a slant? Sure, but so was the version we all learned in the past. If anything, some of the detail brought up is stuff I have never heard before, and has gone a way to shed some light on areas of history and made them make more sense.

I see it more as, we in America are taught history from our biased point of view. This documentary seems to be more from the point of view of the way the rest of the world views America's policies.

I definitely think Stone may be a bit too harsh on some of the US Presidents. In one way or another they all felt they were doing the right thing even if it seems like bad judgement now. But still, we can't learn from history if all we know is the Hollywood version of American history.

[–] Whiskey-Jack 8 years ago

"Lions don't write about the hunt." ~ African saying.

History is written by the winners, not the losers. Sometimes the "Hollywood version" of history is more accurate than the winner's version. Being Canadian I was taught the whitewashed versions in school, written by historians heavily influenced by their British and American colleagues. Stone's take on American history is not in itself entirely original as many of us doubted the veracity of what we were taught primarily because it so thoroughly demonized America's foes.

Nothing is black or white in world politics. It's good that Stone illuminates the fact that Russia lost over 20 million people in WW2, or that Japan was being strangled by an oil embargo put in place by America, or that Ho Chi Min was blatantly lied to and played for a fool, facts that many, if not most Americans don't know or don't care about, among many, many others. I learned a long time ago that whenever America demonizes someone, it's because that someone has either told America to keep its hands off that country's resources or its nose out of that country's political business, or both, and has told America to go to hell.

Cognitive dissonance is a bitch. Americans can't handle the facts as they are. They can't look in the mirror.

[–] m1rock 8 years ago

Just kinda browsing the comments and I just got to say that the embargo would not have been so strangling had the not took on thier imperial quest of raping China. The Japanese needed oil for their war they had been fighting since the 1930s.

[–] kmags84 8 years ago

Yes but HOW Stone slants his "Version" of History is just as foolish as anyone else. The 20 million lost in Russia for example, it's absolutely Horrific and both World Wars are definitely misunderstood by many Americans(Although I learned those numbers in Grade School, so I can't understand how so many people aren't aware) but where Stone loses me is when it comes to people like Stalin... The man starved MILLIONS... ON PURPOSE... And Stone breezes over such atrocities. Far too sympathetic to other (Especially Socialist and Communist) Global Leaders... While ripping apart American Presidents for doing the same thing. Don't get me wrong, I think Stone put a spotlight on a lot of Truths that have been ignored by the US Govt and these are absolutely ESSENTIAL if we as a Society are to make any progress. However, he also shows his insanely Biased and Hypocritical Political Leanings throughout the series. If we are to understand History, it must be completely neutral. Stone would have people believe that Democrats have done nothing wrong. Only when succeeding to Conservative Force have they contributed to any "Global Wrongs" so to say... And that's 100% False