The First Lady

 We have seen stories about prominent politicians, their struggles and their impact.   The First Ladies were conceived as a sort of decoration, perhaps a tool to help their husbands get elected.  Ambitious men create problems for their spouses, but some women are also ambitious. For this series the focus is on Eleanor Ford, Betty Ford and Michelle Obama all with interesting stories.  They each had to endure White House staff attempting to control their duties and they all rebelled.

 

Each presidential candidate had serious obstacles to overcome.  

Franklin Roosevelt had the credentials, but his polio was something he had to hide. His mother was against his proceeding, but Eleanor thought he was strong enough. Barrack Obama was the first major black man and was the first candidate to get security before even declaring. Michelle was not very happy, anticipating endless scrutiny.  Betty Ford also was concerned about the disruption to her life.  Gerald Ford was the house leader, making him third in line.  Spiro Agnew was ousted for crimes and Nixon famously was likely to be convicted.

Betty Ford had been in an unhappy marriage prior to Gerald Ford and divorced.  Eleanor Roosevelt was a take charge person and did not consider First Lady a job, just circumstance, an obstacle to her desire to be an activist.  Michelle was identified as an asset, but was very reluctant.  She anticipated racism and lots of scrutiny.

Their lives were followed through courtships, marriages, struggles, campaigns, failures and triumphs.

Eleanor Roosevelt reacted against husband's adultery and wanted a divorce, but her mother in law forbade it  Eleanor accepted that they would sleep separately and she would continue to be involved with the government.  Later a lesbian affair developed with a reporter  that attracted attention of J. Edgar Hoover.  Franklin refused to press on the issue.  

Betty Ford, upset about the Nixon pardon which she identified as her husband's undoing.  She developed troubles with addiction to pain killer and alcohol.  One upsetting incident was after she had a mastectomy and the film showed her scars (and her husband's supportive reaction).  After leaving the White House her alcoholism and pain killer addiction alarmed her family who coerced into some very trying rehabilitation.  She was so grateful that she campaigned to build a treatment center.  

Michele was scrutinized, but also was very popular.  Some wanted her to run for political office, but wanted nothing to do with that.  Throughout the series we see racism.  Her brother got an athletic scholarship to Princeton, but she was advised she really was the Princeton type.  She did in fact go there and initially encountered some racism.

Politics is very visible.  There is always a conflict between doing what is right and the necessities of     getting elected.  Often the wives are frustrated that their husbands cannot do enough for things they believe in.

The last two episodes refer to Donald Trump.  As one character stated his own words should disqualify him, however too many voters liked what he says and others overlook his deeds and words.  I believe the series would have gotten (and deserved) higher ratings if it was not so negative on conservative Republicans, especially Donald Trump.

The film is a step forward explaining the role of First Ladies to help us understand them as humans.  For most of us the first ladies were of secondary interest while some thought merely decorations.  The series represented a mammoth effort involving a lot of professionals.  Below are listed only a few.

Aaron Cooley created the series, wrote for it and was an executive producer.  A graduate of the Yale Theater Studios.  He has 7 film credits.  He has also written two novels.

Susanne Bier is the director and executive producer.  An international award winner including an Oscar and Emmy.  The acting in this series is top notch due in small measure to her skills.  Her career started in Denmark.  She has 22 credits as director, 7 as producer and 13 as writer.  Her films include "Brother" (2004), "After the Wedding" (2006 and one of my very top films), "Things We Lost in the Fire"(2007), "In a Better World" (2010) and "The Undoing" (2020),   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/01/the-undoing.html

 Geoff Zanelli provided the music.  A guitar player got a big boost after meeting Hans Zimmer.  An Emmy award winner with 56 composing credits and another 49 music department,

 Amir Mokri handled the cinematography.  He has 37 film credits including "The Joy Luck Club" (1993).

Lindsey Woodward was an editor.  She has 30 film credits including "Shetland" (2016), "Grantchester" (2016),  "Big Little Lies" (2019),  "The Undoing" (2020) and "Sex Education" (2023). 

Sarah Finn worked the casting and was a co-producer.   She has 160 credits for editing and 19 as a producer including "Coach Carter" (2005), "Seven Psychopaths" (20112), "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missiouri" (2017) and "Everything, Everywhere all at Once" (2022).

Viola Davis played Michelle Obama and was also an executive producer.  She has 90 acting credits and 19 as producing including "The Help" (2011), "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" (2011), "How to Get Away with Murder" (2014-2020), "Fences" (2016), "Widows" (2018), "The Unfogiveable" (2021), "The Woman King" (2022), and "Air" (2023).  With "Air" Michael Jordan made only one casting request and it was that Viola Davis play his mother.  Check:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/05/air-jordan.html

Michelle Pfeiffer played Betty Ford.  She has 69 film credits including "People Like Us" (2012), "The Family" (2013) and "Murder on the Orient Express" (2017).

Gillian Anderson played Eleanor Roosevelt.  She has 67 film credits including "The Last King of Scotland" (2006), "The Fall" (2014--also the producer), "Sex Education" (2019-2023) and "The Crown" (2020).

Kiefer Sutherland played Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  His Grandfather Tommy Douglas was Premier of Saskatchewan and later head of a national political party, the New Democratic Party.  His father is Donald Sutherland.  He has 106 credits as an actor and 13 as producer including "Stand By Me" (1986), "A Time to Kill" (1996),"Melancholia" (2011), "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" (2012) and"Designated Survivor" (2016-2019).  

I was struck with the personal details that illustrate the stress political figures endure.  Politics is a dirty business, but some good is occasionally done.  During the series a brief reference to Nancy Reagan illustrates that some women just want to be an enhancement.  In recent news a political commentator suggested that Melania Trump just wanted to be a trophy wife, but recently she made a speech against her husband's immigration policies.  I would like to have seen Rosalynn Carter who I am sure will inspire her own share of films. 

I watched this series off a DVD borrowed from my local library.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.

Into the West

For awhile there was a lot of news about Critical Race Theory without really explaining about its scope other than some whites were quite upset and others frustrated that the truth was being restricted.  I am reminded of the controversy regarding American history.  Too many Americans seem to overlook the role of slavery in their history and many more unaware that before the Europeans came there were already humans living on the land.

 In truth, the America we know to-day is the result of much human conflict with much cultural interchange and genetic mixing.  The makers of "Into the West" (2005) made a reasonable effort to capture the truth and there certainly are a lot of details.  They came up with 9 hours of film boosted with a special features disc that gives further insight into the history and the film process.

 The story starts in the east with a family of skilled workers.  The main skill is as wheelwrights.  Throughout the series we are reminded of the role of the wheel in colonizing.  One son looking for something more for his life takes off toward the west. Soon he joins a group of men headed west.  They keep pushing and encounter indigenous people, eventually he forms a relation with an indigenous woman. 

Over time more family members move west and move through historical events.  We are made aware of the Gold Rush, the building of the railroad, the Civil War, but most of all with conflicts.  The story includes a free black family who encounter prejudice, but make it west.  We also are given a glimpse of Chinese immigrants who also face severe discrimination, but are respected for being "reliable" workers who do intermingle with the indigenous with common interests.

The violence is prolific and spurred by ignorance, fear and hate.  The Europeans feel they are civilized and look down upon the indigenous.  At one time it is pointed out if the natives had intelligence they would have discovered the gold and made their fortune.  Still some Europeans make sexual alliances with natives and there is some respect for each other's culture.  Immigrants flowed from a Europe where their dreams and ambitions were stifled.

The Gold Rush illustrated the drive for an "easy" path to wealth drawing thousands from the east and even Europe.  For some it was easy, but for the vast majority it was doomed.  Others made their fortune off the gold diggers.  The Chinese participated, but were prevented from prospering.  The indigenous commented that the yellow metal made the whites crazy. 

One aspect of the relationship that I did not notice was the role of disease.  There was a brief scene regarding cholera among the whites.  Indians were defeated by superior technology and overwhelming numbers, but a key element was disease that wiped a high percentage of the indigenous.  

The indigenous were quick to adapt some aspects.  As Europeans spread around North America, the Indians learned about horses and with their natural affinity with nature were able to find their own ways to harness the power.  We don't hear about Easterns so much as Westerns have become part of the American culture.  The indigenous had developed agriculture so that we now forget the contributions of corn, potatoes, tomatoes and maple syrup.  

Towards the end of the series the topic of residential schools arose.  The intention of some was to help the natives to adjust to the American culture.  First though, children had to be separated from their parental influence and their language and culture suppressed.  In Canada we now know the residential schools led to sexual abuse and premature deaths.  The film didn't go that far, but it seems likely American indigenous suffered more extremely.  There is more appreciation we are our background.

The wheel is one technology that allowed the Europeans to spread their culture and was almost as critical as the gun.  The series concentrated on the Wheeler family and their ability to contribute wheels for wagons that carted families to seek their fortune out west.  We take the wheel for granted.  One scene shows an indigenous having bartered brought a wheeled cart back to show others who had mixed reactions.

Most battles resulted in the natives losing, but the Europeans became arrogant.  Custer's Last Stand was labeled  a massacre, but for awhile energized the natives.  In the end Sitting Bull was killed and resistance died down, but never quite disappeared.

At the end we see older men explaining to grandchildren what they have been through.  One phrase sums up the series "The only history man knows for certain is the small part he owns for himself."  There are many ways of trying to understand history, but this series made an honest effort.  Other versions do exist, some dishonest.

This was truly a massive project and it would be impossible in a short blog to do justice for all its contributors.  Here are a few of the cast and crew that helped to make it successful.

Starting with Steven Spielberg who has been associated with many winning films.  He is the  executive producer.  He is likely the most famous and richest of Hollywood film makers as a director, producer and writer.  Winner of 3 Oscars plus a multitude of other awards.  His film credits include "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial" (1982), "Schindler's List" (1993), "Amistad" (1997), "Saving Private Ryan" (1998), "Munich" (1995), "Lincoln" (2012), "Bridge of Spies" (2015) and "The Post" (2017).  Check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/05/bridge-of-spies.html

William Mastrosimone writer, co-executive producer.     His last project was as writer and producer for  ""Benedict Arnold:  A Question of Honor" (2003).

Larry Rapaport, the producer has been producing movies since 1987.

Michelle Wong was a  co-producer.  She had formal training at the National Film Board of Canada.  She was the first Chinese Canadian to direct a film in the history of the NFB.

Geoff Zanelli, the composer won a Prime Time Emmy for this effort. 

The series used two cinematographers.  Alan Caso,  whose credits included  "Six Feet Under" (2001-2003). William Wages has won 3 awards from the American Society of Cinematographers.  The series was filmed mostly near Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. 

Huge cast spread over several decades.

Tonantzin Carmelo played Thunder Heart Woman and won a few awards for that role.

Irene Bedard played Margaret Light Shines in four of the six episodes.  She is probably most famous for being the voice of "Pocahantus" (1995).  Other credits include "Smoke Signals" (1998) and "The Tree of Life" (2011)

John Terry in four episodes plays the older Jacob Wheeler and delivered the quote above.

Sheila Tousey played the older Thunder Heart Woman.  Her film credits include "Skinwalkers" (2002), "A Thief of Time" (2003) and "Coyote Waits" (2003).

Russell Means was the first national director of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and was heavily involved with the standoff with the U.S. government at Wounded Knee in 1973.  His film credits include "The Last of the Mohicans" (1992).

Keith Carradine played the well intentioned Captain Pratt who helped start residential schools.  Keith comes from a theatrical family and has performed in "Hair" and later as Will Rogers.  He won a song Oscar for "I'm Easy."  His film credits include:  "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971), "Nashville" (1975), "Coyote Waits" (2003), "Fargo" tv series (2014-15) and "The Power of the Dog" (2021).

David Paymer played Daniel Royer,  a man who tried to stomp on the Ghost Dance.  Among his film credits are "City Slickers" (1991), "Quiz Show" (1994), "Amistad" (1997), "The Hurricane" (1999) and "The Good Wife" (2009-2016).  Also played supporting roles in dozens of tv. episodes.

Graham Greene played  Conquering Bear.  Born in the Six Nations Reserve, Ontario.  He has been on stage at the Stratford Festival.  His film credits include "Dances with Wolves" (1990), "The Green Mile" (1999), "Skins" (2002), "A Thief of Time" (2002), "Coyote Waits" (2002),  "Wind River" (2017)  and"Molly's Game" (2017).  He has also appeared in dozens of supporting roles in tv. shows.

Wes Studi played Black Kettle.  He spoke only Cherokee language until grade school.  His film credits include "The Last of the Mohicans" (1992), "Geronimo:  An American Legend" (1993), "Skinwalkers" (2002), "A Thief of Time" (2003),"Coyote Waits" (2003), "Avatar" and  2009).

As I write this, Russians are justifying their invasion of Ukraine with the idea that really the people are part of Russia.  One culture self righteously trying to take over another that feels distinct.  Man can be very arrogant thinking they are the center of the world, but nobody is and we are all inter-connected.  If we use our intelligence we can all benefit by relating open mindedly with our fellow humans.  "Into the West" does point to a better future if we can learn from the past and some are making the effort.

"The first mention of movies I have seen are bolded.