What are you watching & why? (splain)

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Watched Gettysburg (extended director's cut) over the course of a few nights. Genuinely great movie and good depiction of period combat. The makeup department kinda botched the beards, but I couldn't do any better so I shouldn't gripe.

I had a thought though: is there still a healthy living history/reenactment community? I remember seeing footage and articles about literal armies of hobbyists who meticulously researched uniforms, gear, tactics, literature, etc regarding both sides of the civil war (and revolutionary war, Texas Rangers, etc) and was impressed with their dedication to accurately depicting major historical events on an annual basis. I understand that lots of directors heavily relied on these reenactors to depicting battles and such in movies. Then, starting in 2020, I recall reading several articles about these reenactments being canceled because about half of the reenactors just-so-happened to depict confederates, which was deemed by some as unacceptable. Have these reenactments resumed or are they gone forever? It would be a shame if the living history resources vanished forever.*


*Not making any political statement, just asking a factual question. History is complicated, I have ancestors on both sides of the line. Everyone loses if that link to the past is gone forever.
 
oldmanwilly said:
Watched Gettysburg (extended director's cut) over the course of a few nights. Genuinely great movie and good depiction of period combat. The makeup department kinda botched the beards, but I couldn't do any better so I shouldn't gripe.

I had a thought though: is there still a healthy living history/reenactment community? I remember seeing footage and articles about literal armies of hobbyists who meticulously researched uniforms, gear, tactics, literature, etc regarding both sides of the civil war (and revolutionary war, Texas Rangers, etc) and was impressed with their dedication to accurately depicting major historical events on an annual basis. I understand that lots of directors heavily relied on these reenactors to depicting battles and such in movies. Then, starting in 2020, I recall reading several articles about these reenactments being canceled because about half of the reenactors just-so-happened to depict confederates, which was deemed by some as unacceptable. Have these reenactments resumed or are they gone forever? It would be a shame if the living history resources vanished forever.*


*Not making any political statement, just asking a factual question. History is complicated, I have ancestors on both sides of the line. Everyone loses if that link to the past is gone forever.
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Though I have not done Civil War re-enacting in a number of years, I still have all my kit and somewhat stay up to speed with current efforts. There is still a living history community but a lot of folks are aging out and/or passing away, and there are not a lot of younger folks coming in and filling those shoes. My old unit over here in Oregon doesn't even exist anymore, many of the members have died or moved on to other things. If a civil war reenactment group is doing things right, it's a pretty physical endeavor and unless you have a lot of younger folks to do the heavy lifting, it's not sustainable.

I couldn't maintain the hobby all those years ago because I was working full time and volunteering as a Reserve LEO. I couldn't commit the additional time. Some of my last events though involved many of our members throwing on a grey jacket just to boost the numbers of the Confederate side. That side started to see a decline in numbers before the blue side did, for whatever reason.

Living History that presents a specific conflict in history requires a portrayal of both sides in said conflict. This is an argument as old as the living history hobby itself. If you are portraying a Confederate solder or a German soldier (in WWII re-enactments), does that make you a horrible person? I suppose if one is making that their identity outside of their role as an "actor", then yes, maybe one needs to reevaluate their life. But otherwise, no, it isn't problematic because showing a Civil War or WWII battle without Confederates and Germans (or Italians, Japanese, etc.) is a pretty boring experience, as well as doing a disservice to education in general.

Living History is about education, not protecting feelings. Spectators need to understand that these are actors/educators, not actual Nazis, Confederates, etc.
 
Watched Predator: Badlands last night. Decent movie. Nothing particularly groundbreaking. I did like Prey and Killer of Killers a lot more.

But it's nice to see the Aliens universe (not necessarily the aliens) mix more with the Predator universe.
 
toker said:
Watched Predator: Badlands last night. Decent movie. Nothing particularly groundbreaking. I did like Prey and Killer of Killers a lot more.

But it's nice to see the Aliens universe (not necessarily the aliens) mix more with the Predator universe.
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I watched it last week and found it fun, but nothing special (Prey was indeed far superior). It felt like a Marvel movie; in fact, I commented to my buddy at the end that it felt like the setup for a new Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
 
Pàdruig said:
Though I have not done Civil War re-enacting in a number of years, I still have all my kit and somewhat stay up to speed with current efforts. There is still a living history community but a lot of folks are aging out and/or passing away, and there are not a lot of younger folks coming in and filling those shoes. My old unit over here in Oregon doesn't even exist anymore, many of the members have died or moved on to other things. If a civil war reenactment group is doing things right, it's a pretty physical endeavor and unless you have a lot of younger folks to do the heavy lifting, it's not sustainable.

I couldn't maintain the hobby all those years ago because I was working full time and volunteering as a Reserve LEO. I couldn't commit the additional time. Some of my last events though involved many of our members throwing on a grey jacket just to boost the numbers of the Confederate side. That side started to see a decline in numbers before the blue side did, for whatever reason.

Living History that presents a specific conflict in history requires a portrayal of both sides in said conflict. This is an argument as old as the living history hobby itself. If you are portraying a Confederate solder or a German soldier (in WWII re-enactments), does that make you a horrible person? I suppose if one is making that their identity outside of their role as an "actor", then yes, maybe one needs to reevaluate their life. But otherwise, no, it isn't problematic because showing a Civil War or WWII battle without Confederates and Germans (or Italians, Japanese, etc.) is a pretty boring experience, as well as doing a disservice to education in general.

Living History is about education, not protecting feelings. Spectators need to understand that these are actors/educators, not actual Nazis, Confederates, etc.
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Thanks for that response, I completely agree with your closing points. It would be sad to see the hobby vanish entirely but that may be inevitable; I know that I have zero spare time to invest in similar activities so I can't complain if others are equally unavailable.

When I was a kid a distant relative hosted on his property a reenactment of certain battles on Iwo Jima. It was a huge production using period correct uniforms, guns, vehicles, etc. There were a whole lot of American reenactors depicting the American side and the Imperial Japanese forces were depicted by Japanese reenactors who travelled all the way from home to participate. It was fun to watch as a spectator but, goodness, it took tremendous effort and resources to organize. After the event, all of the participants camped out on the premises, drank beer and ate bbq together. No hard feelings, no arguments over who was right or wrong, winner or loser, or otherwise; just people sharing an interest and respect for history.
 
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