Admittedly when I read this I was a bit intimidated by the prompt/ idea. Perhaps that is because I have not read much "literature" to draw from here. So I decided to take a different perspective. When we consider remixing stories, I think perspective needs to be considered. As I am knee deep in my analysis of Band of Brothers for my final paper I think its only appropriate to consider some revisionist history for this idea. Much of the 20th century has works from the perspective of soldiers, lay people, you know "normal people"... whatever that means. I think there is a need to look at pre-20th and even 19th century history and attempt to tell the stories of the ordinary people. Everyone knows about The Sun King or Peter the Great. But the perspective of people living in those time periods that were not influential has largely been omitted. I think this is the perfect time for a work in historical fiction. There may not be enough specific research or writing to make it completely accurate as it appears Band of Brothers attempts to be. Instead writers could draw from many of the classics and consider the themes we have discussed through the class to tell plausible stories about common people. While that may not be the most riveting idea on the planet as we tend to not be overly drawn into the normal, I think there is a need to recognize those people as a part of history.
On an unrelated note, the idea of a mini series based on the classic stories works really well. I just recently finished Outer Banks on Netflix and the Romeo and Juliet themes work. The rivalries between the opposing sides, the lovers who shouldn't be interested in each other but choose love over everything else. It is easy to say that this course has changed how I view modern entertainment for the near future.
Historically-based remixes always get me excited. It would be great to see a production like this with the emphasis outside the ruling class. I, for one, would love to take this idea to early contacts in the Americas. The main characters could maybe be an Iroquois family when the Europeans first start to appear in their daily landscape. To tell the story of colonization from the perspective that has too often gotten excluded from the narrative. If the idea is to use our literary classics as inspiration, there would probably be more material to tell a story about the "normal" people in Europe. But I think the idea applies well to other historical periods and places.
ReplyDeleteI think your idea would definitely be a successful one, as it seems as though there are many war-based movies out there that were released recently (1917 and Jojo Rabbit are the first that come to mind) and I think history is just a topic that people are really interested in. While we love to watch shows and movies about the notable and wealthy royalty of years past, I think it would be really interesting to see the same events through the perspective of a "normal" person. I do think that the person's life would have to be altered by whatever event you decide to retell, like Sanya Grace's suggestion of the Native Americans.
ReplyDeleteSidenote, I haven't watched Outer Banks yet, but I have heard very good things about it!
Yes, I am all for historical fiction that focuses on the "less obvious" characters rather than the Big Names in History. How do big historical events affect people whose names we'll never know? There was a trend for awhile retelling history from the POV of women rather than men and I think this is a good extension of that.
ReplyDeleteI think now more than ever people appreciate the idea of what is "normal" or even "ordinary." I have had many conversations recently discussing what "normal" life looked like during various eras of strife. One excellent way to access normal life is letters and diaries. Perhaps this could be the starting ground for a project like this? Maybe it could even have a similar concept to the Star Wars remix where the writers make social media requests for letters that people have from their families. For example, I am luck enough to have a few diaries and a lot of letters from my great grand parents during WWII.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea of a twist to highlight "normal" life would be fabulous! I really like the idea of this as a mini-series as well. Like Dr. M-B, I like the idea of moving past the "big" figures and looking at history from the common person.
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