Is it me or is WW2 just one huge cultural cliche

[Moggy]

I have the History Channel on at the moment (UK version).

Currently the documentary is about the discovery of dinosaurs in Egypt in the early 20th century. Of course the bones were lost in WW2 to Allied bombs.

So even dino docs are about WW2 really.....

 

[stalin006]

rename thread to "why i hate the history channel, it should be called teh WW2 channel"

 

[thestonesfan]

I was watching a show on Cain and Abel the other day. They kept saying how this sad event led up to the inevitable, World War 2.

 

[mordhiem]

I find the History Channel in the UK quite well rounded. In terms of time period it's maybe 15-20% WW2, which although not ideal, is not too bad. Sure it's warfare orientated (most popular history is), but at least we watching programs about Austerlitz and the Kahn's rather than constant re-runs of Stalingrad or something.

 

[mordhiem]

Originally posted by EdwardTking
I know the feeling.

There is a distinct dearth of non violent histories.


In the UK there is a program called Time Team which
tries to put you in the context of archaelogists and
then though their eyes in a medieval village looking
through the eyes of the people then and explaining
their perspectives as much as we can understand them.

I'd like to see a more series giving "a day/week in the life of" with
a different person each week from a different culture and different occupation.

The bottom line is war sells.

And if you throw in revolutionary technology, groundbreaking tactics and (to use an overused phrase) 'immense human bravery' (as if there wasn't any pre-1939) you will sell craploads.

 

[Ozz]

To be honest the WW2 movies are
the only thing that THC sells that
I want. Anything else I would rather
read in a book.

I like watchin' a WW2 flick satuarday
night. If they cut WW2 watch their
business go down the dumper.

 

[Loaf Warden]

Originally posted by PinkyGen
The joke is the H in History Channel really stands for Hitler Channel

I thought that was my joke. Guess I'm not the only one who can be clever.

Seriously, though, it is annoying. I'm not saying World War II wasn't a majorly important thing, or that it wasn't hell for anyone who served in it, and that it didn't seriously affect the lives of even Americans, who were (by and large) not even living in the war zone. It would be absurd to say any of those things. It can't be denied that World War II was all those things and more. But still, enough is enough. How many times can you hear about the same thing before it starts getting monotonous and you want to hear about something else? Personally speaking, I'm not interested in modern warfare. More to the point, I'm usually bored by programs that deal only with warfare anyway. To me, laundry lists of the names and dates of battles accompanied by explosions and black-and-white footage of marching soldiers gets tiresome very quickly. I would be far more interested in that "daily life of regular people" idea Edward mentioned. I think it would be fascinating to find out what daily life was like for a Roman laborer, or an Inca trader, or a Japanese fish merchant. That would be more interesting--to me--than yet another list of kings and battles.

Unfortunately, I don't represent the masses. Authors of books are pretty free to write about whatever they want, but television producers have to make what people will watch, or they'll lose money and the station will suffer. Which means that if people are so obsessed with World War II that they'll be glued to their seats by a documentary on Hitler's wardrobe, then that's what they'll produce. Which is why I very seldom watch the History Channel.