Oliver Stone's 'Secret History' to put Hitler 'in conte

[Flashermac]

TCA -- Director Oliver Stone's upcoming Showtime documentary miniseries "Secret History of America" promises to put mass murderers such as Stalin and Hitler "in context."

 

"Stalin, Hitler, Mao, McCarthy -- these people have been vilified pretty thoroughly by history," Stone told reporters at the Television Critics Association's semi-annual press tour in Pasadena.

 

"Stalin has a complete other story," Stone said. "Not to paint him as a hero, but to tell a more factual representation. He fought the German war machine more than any single person. We can't judge people as only 'bad' or 'good.' Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history and its been used cheaply. He's the product of a series of actions. It's cause and effect ... People in America don't know the connection between WWI and WWII ... I've been able to walk in Stalin's shoes and Hitler's shoes to understand their point of view. We're going to educate our minds and liberalize them and broaden them. We want to move beyond opinions ... Go into the funding of the Nazi party. How many American corporations were involved, from GM through IBM. Hitler is just a man who could have easily been assassinated."

 

The controversial director's 10-part documentary series for Showtime promises to focus on events that "at the time went under-reported, but crucially shaped America's unique and complex history of the last 60 years." Subjects in "History" include President Harry Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan and the origins of the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

 

"You cannot approach history unless you have empathy for the person you may hate," Stone said during the show's trailer, which promised to put historical villains "in context." "I don't want to put out conventional History Channel product where it's easy to like it."

 

"He's not saying we're going to come out with a more positive view of Hitler," emphasized professor Peter Kuznick, the lead writer on the project. "But we're going to describe him as a historical phenomenon and not just somebody who appeared out of nowhere."

 

Stone said that conservative pundits will dislike the show.

 

"Obviously, Rush Limbaugh is not going to like this history and, as usual, we're going to get those kind of ignorant attacks," said Stone, who also also compared the experience of sympathizing with war criminals to making his "W" movie about George W. Bush. "I'm trying to understand somebody I thoroughly despised."

 

Stone also warned that the same military industrial complex forces that he's explored in movies such as "JFK" and in "Secret History," are now corrupting Barack Obama.

 

"You can understand why Obama is following in Bush's footsteps in Afghanistan," Stone said."Obama is very much trapped, we believe, in that system. And so that's what we're going to try and show you -- the way it works."

 

The project will also show lesser-known positive aspects of American history and unsung heroes. Stone eventually hopes to send "Secret History" to schools as a teaching curriculum.

 

"It would be a very different counterweight to what they're learning," Stone said. "Nobody is going to force it down anybody's throat."

 

A critic also asked Stone "the Sarah Palin question" of what he likes to read.

 

"My father was a voracious New York Times reader," he said. "We consider that in The Middle. Sarah Palin would disagree."

 

 

The anti-Nazi underground didn't find Hitler so easy to assassinate.

 

 

[Redbaron]

looks interesting

[doxx]

Sounds interesting indeed. Still looking for the DVD release of "South of the border"...

[Flashermac]

Should be interesting indeed. Stone always has an agenda, but so do most producers.

 

 

[Bangkoktraveler]

Hitler was a reflection of his times. If you look at newspapers from the 1870-1880's, a lot of hatred for Jews in Russia were being reported, but nobody cared.

 

USA citizens hated Jews as much as Germans did before the war. Even after the war there was still hatred in the USA toward Jews.

 

As far as the USA being symphathetic toward Jews during the war: the country allowed only one ship to port carrying Jews. Those Jews were interned for the duration of the war in a camp near the Canadian Border.

 

Sure, some Jews were allowed in the country but they got into the country not as a Jew.

[Guest lazyphil]

euro filth invaders of the majestic america hated lots. slaves, indians, mexicans...oops they're euro filth invaders too!

[dave32]

Could be interesting. Stone is an artist and not an academic -- though he likes to assume that mantle, but he's done some good work (and some bad work).

 

He seems to place a lot of weight on a shadowy military-industrial complex controlling world history with people as pawns, and while there's probably some truth there -- it also exonerates responsibility and throws everything into a 'different shade of grey' area.

 

 

[Flashermac]

His nutty film on the military-industrial complex murdering JFK was a bit over the top.

 

 

[Old Hippie]

There was just an interesting documentary that explained why he and his conclusions were full of shit. Frankly, I liked some of his stuff, but then it seems he turned into a self inflated toss bag.

[Flashermac]

Success does that to some people - but not stalwart citizens like us!