Culture Show Abraham Lincoln Special

LeftCentral Review

© Image US National Archives Photostream

It was Abraham Lincoln`s birthday last week, the Culture Show celebrated with Steven Spielberg, Daniel Day Lewis and assortment of special guests. The Show was not a trailer for the film though the last ten minutes descended into a movie promotion. Spielberg pointing out this is the first film about Lincoln for over seventy-years. Henry Fonda who played Lincoln in the 1930s compared the assassinated President to Jesus Christ and Lincoln`s assassination on Good Friday helped secure political sainthood. However, the broadcast was no hagiography, examining Lincoln from a variety of historical perspectives, encompassing both orthodox and revisionist views. Lincoln was forensically scrutinised and Bonnie Greer one of the guests, outlined that his legacy is a complex nuanced one, while she reasonably affirmed that Lincoln was the greatest President. Greer made a significant contribution, speaking about her own background, pointing out that for people of her generation (and her parents); Lincoln was viewed as the Liberator of the enslaved. This orthodox view has been critiqued by those who consider Lincoln a white supremacist, given that he supported the plan to remove African-Americans through a colonisation programme. Those who share this interpretation of history, according to Bonnie Greer, argue that Lincoln freed the slaves because it was just a deal to get what he wanted.  Read more of this post