January | 2015 | Civil War Pop

Film, Gone With the Wind, Lost Cause, TV, Women

On Women in Civil War Pop Culture

Gallery | Posted on January 31, 2015 by Christian McWhirter

Before shifting away from historical fiction for a few weeks, I want to make a few observations about women in Civil War pop culture. After reviewing Point of Honor and Cold Mountain (heck, even after The Beverly Hillbillies), it occurred to me that stories about the Civil War much more prominently feature female characters than fiction about other American wars. Sure, the Civil War has more than its share of guys-only stories (I don’t think there’s a single woman in Gettysburg, for instance) but it seems to me women are central to the way the Civil War is popularly represented and perceived. Indeed, the most popular and significant fictional treatment of the war, Gone With the Wind, has a strong female protagonist. Read More

Entry 3: Scarlett Gets a Makeover

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Christian McWhirter

Cold Mountain. Written and directed by Anthony Minghella. Based on the novel by Charles Frazier.

Release Date: December 25, 2003.

In his book on the Civil War in popular culture, Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten, Gary Gallagher argues that Cold Mountain is, in part, a revision of Gone with the Wind‘s take on Confederate women. I decided to focus on this as I re-watched the film for the first time since it came out in 2003. It didn’t take long for me to realize this is, in fact, the only way to watch Cold Mountain. This movie is all about the ladies. Read More

On Selma

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Christian McWhirter

So, I finally saw Selma this past weekend and have a few comments about Civil War images and symbols in the film. I think it’s worth considering how it uses them and what that tells us about their current and historical associations. Read More

Entry 2: The Trials of a Confederate Abolitionist

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Christian McWhirter

Point of Honor, “Pilot.” Directed by Randall Wallace. Written by Carlton Cuse and Randall Wallace

Release Date: January 15, 2015.

Available: Amazon Pilots

I have a slight soft spot for Randall Wallace’s breakout film, Braveheart (I still remember seeing it at the old Gateway 6 in Brampton, Ontario, as a teenager), so I was determined to remain objective going into Point of Honor. One negative review had already appeared by the time I fired it up on Amazon last night, and both Kevin Levin and Keith Harris had justifiably slammed the trailer. Unfortunately, it only took about ten minutes for me to realize this thing is a train wreck, both historically and artistically. Read More

Entry 1: Granny vs. Grant

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Christian McWhirter

The Beverly Hillbillies, “The South Rises Again,” Season 6, Episode 13. Directed by Joseph Depew. Written by Paul Henning and Buddy Atkinson.

Release Date: November 29, 1967.

Some of you may think The Beverly Hillbillies is a strange choice for my first review, but it makes perfect sense to me. Watching this episode in afternoon syndication is one of my first memories of the Civil War in popular culture. Critics generally think Season 6 is when The Beverly Hillbillies “jumped the shark” because it began with a woeful multi-episode trip to England, but it does contain this gem. I call it a gem because most of the jokes are still funny. What’s more, they’re Civil War jokes—and Civil War jokes (at least good Civil War jokes) are not easy to find. Read More

On Point of Honor

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Christian McWhirter

Just wanted to note that I only recently became aware that Amazon is launching a new series, Point of Honor, on January 15. The narrative centers on a Virginia planter family who join the Confederacy but also free their slaves. Ta-Nehisi Coates has already voiced some fair criticisms of the premise on twitter but I’m going reserve judgment until I see it for myself. I’ll try to work in episode-by-episode reviews alongside the things I’ve already planned to cover over the blog’s first few months.

Greetings Fellow Civil War and Pop Culture Geeks!

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Christian McWhirter

Available as a t-shirt from LUCON!C

Welcome to my first blog, Civil War Pop. Here, I’ll examine a different piece of popular culture from or about the Civil War every week or so. I am a professional historian and an amateur critic, so my posts will primarily focus on how a film, song, game, story, etc. holds up against current historical consensus (or non-consensus) and how it reflects America’s popular memory of the Civil War Era (roughly, 1850-1876). Read More

Civil War Pop

Exploring Music, Film, Games, and Literature from and about the Civil War.

Month: January 2015