Ed Zwick’s Glory - An Exemplary Model for Historical Films
“History, I am convinced, is not just something to be left to the historians.” - Warren Susman
[1] From a critic’s point of view, what is there not to scrutinize when a white, Jewish filmmaker is responsible for a historical film about African-Americans during the Civil War? One which happens to have a brave young Boston Brahmin as the supposed leader of a colored battalion? Surely he does not have the license to create a film based on a heritage with which he has no affinity. Director Ed Zwick was apprehensive with the task and struggled with his entitlement to create such a film.
I was afraid initially that a young, white, liberal, Jewish director would be presuming a lot to talk to them [African-American actors] about their slave antecedents. In fact, what I discovered in rehearsal and everyday shooting was that they approached the situation with extraordinary humor and generosity. And I realized that if I was to act out my ancestors in the shtetl in Poland, that I would approach it in a similar way.
In retrospect, it is both fortunate and honorable that Zwick overcame his misgivings and came to this realization, because the finished product can serve as an exemplary model for future historical films. While not entirely perfect in form or substance, reputable critics ultimately praise Glory’s end result.
[2] James McPherson, author of Pulitzer Prize winner Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, analyzed Glory with the crucial understanding of its role as a film and not a documentary. Accordingly, McPherson had this to say about Zwick’s work: “Glory is not only the first feature film to treat the role of black soldiers in the American Civil...
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The 1989 film Glory is a classic Civil War film based on the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. The film focuses on the courage displayed by the first black regiment in the Civil War, also known as the “Fighting Fifty-fourth.” The regiment headed by the admirable Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, Matthew Broderick, must overcome an enormous amount of adversity during the war. The film was daring for filmmakers Zwick and Fields because it was a film not only with, “vivid and frightening battle scenes and finely etched dramatic characters, but a film that shattered the great Civil War taboo-it told a story of African Americans(Chadwick). Many articles and texts leading up to the film failed to mention the participation of African Americans in the Civil War. In fact, the participation of African Americans helped turn the course of the war and nearly 300,000 fought for the North.
The film observes and analyzes the origins and consequences of more than one-hundred years of bigotry upon the ex-slaved society in the U.S. Even though so many years have passed since the end of slavery, emancipation, reconstruction and the civil rights movement, some of the choice terms prejudiced still engraved in the U.S society. When I see such images on the movie screen, it is still hard, even f...
Glathaar, Joseph T. Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers. New York: The Free Press Inc., 1990.
In James McPherson’s novel, What They Fought For, a variety of Civil War soldier documents are examined to show the diverse personal beliefs and motives for being involved in the war. McPherson’s sample, “is biased toward genuine fighting soldiers” (McPherson, 17) meaning he discusses what the ordinary soldier fought for. The Confederacy was often viewed as the favorable side because their life style relied on the war; Confederates surrounded their lives with practices like slavery and agriculture, and these practices were at stake during the war. On the other hand, Northerners fought to keep the country together. Although the Civil War was brutal, McPherson presents his research to show the dedication and patriotism of the soldiers that fought and died for a cause.
During the Civil War, there were people who were extremely prejudiced against the 54th regiment because the soldiers were all different colored skin and the people where used to the idea that different color skinned people worked as slaves. In “Glory,“ Colonel Montgomery, the Sargent that trained and prepared them for war, and the colonel that was in charge of distributing necessities, served as the people who discriminated the African American soldiers. When he was teaching the soldiers how to march, some of them couldn’t tell the difference between left and right. He acted as if all African Americans were uneducated and they were hopeless to teach. Shoes were an essential part of training. Many of the African American soldiers didn‘t even have decent shoes when they enrolled for the war. Naturally, after all the training, their shoes wore down. If the 54th regiment were composed of white soldiers, the department that passed out shoes would already have prepared extra shoes for them. But since the 54th regiment was composed of all African Americans, the regiment was discriminated and there were no extra shoes for them. The other white generals thought the 54th regiment would never go on a battlefield and even if they did, they probably would all die. Therefore there were no extra resources for them. Another fact that there were some racist sentiments was that the African American soldiers only got a $10 pay while the white soldiers got $13.
Cloran (n.d.) suggest teachers need to have a broad understanding of giftedness and learning disabilities, a variety of identification measures and the ability to modify the curriculum and implement differentiated teaching strategies to meet the unique needs of all students. A graduate teacher recognises that students learn in their own way and should understand and be able to identify a number of teaching strategies to differentiate and meet the learning needs of all students. They may create groups based on previous assessment results and set clear or modified instructions for each group based on ability or learning styles. To address the specific learning needs of all student abilities, multi-sensory strategies using charts, diagrams, outside lessons and videos, as well as posters around the room or information on the desk could be used. Tomlinson (1999) suggests that differentiated instruction aims to build on student’s strengths and maximize their learning by adjusting instructional tasks to suit their individual needs. Ensuring teaching and instructions are clear, revising and prompting students during lessons and providing templates and assisting student in breaking down tasks into achievable, systematic chunks are some additional examples. Lucas, (2008) suggests highlighting key vocabulary within the text to focus students on the central concepts within the text. Quick finishing students should be provided with the opportunity to extend themselves with extension tasks that have a specific purpose and
The American Civil War is perhaps the most important event in U.S. history since the American Revolution. Over half a million men would perish between the Union and Confederate Armies. It is important to know that Ulysses S. Grant was an important figure (perhaps the most important behind Abraham Lincoln) in the war. Many will see him as the hero of the American Civil War. Nevertheless there were others who would play an important role to help the Union win the Civil War. The implementation of black soldiers was crucial to the Union in order to achieve victory against the Confederate Army. Yet, the contributions and accomplishments of black soldiers during the Civil War were overlooked for nearly a century following the Civil War. However, within the last 30 years, many scholars and historians have begun to publish books on the history of black soldiers and their contributions to the Civil War. During the Civil War, free blacks were permitted to serve in the Union Army. But it was not until 1863, that black soldiers would see combat and charge against the confederate armies. It is estimated that around 186,000 African American served the Union Army throughout the war, with the creation of 163 colored regiments. My research paper will focus on the Black regiments of the American Civil War and their importance to U.S. history. Some of the important issues that will be discussed in this paper will include the struggles of black soldiers during the Civil War, from their wage earnings (where most made less money than white soldiers); the clothes they wore (most had no uniforms at all). Also, many of these soldiers had trouble getting the basic necessities like shoes, socks and soap. Other areas I will discuss will be the discriminatio...
Choate, Joyce S. (1997). Successful Inclusive Teaching- Proven Ways to Detect and Correct Special Needs. Massachusetts: Allyn& Bacon.
Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were the only way for African-Americans to express the deep pain that the white population placed in front of them. Singing, dancing and acting took many African-Americans to a place that no oppressor could reach; considering the exploitation of their character during the 1930's-1960's acting' was an essential technique to African American survival.
Electronic waste, or any waste for that matter is an inevitable part of an economic system where the destruction of an ecosystem is the primarily source of resources that are used to create the product. The waste that occurs from this process has to be disposed of in some way and more often than not, it is disposed of carelessly with out consideration to the affect it would have on the environment or the very people that create and let capitalism live on, “The political economy approach also defers progress on environmental issues to a pint after economic ones are solved” (Robbins et al. 2010, 114). And if this continues there may be no place left for the excess waste created by capitalism.
For decades the focus of special education has been to “fit” students with disabilities into a program that has not provided them the tools necessary to further succeed in life. Educational standards for students in special education programs are often lowered, and students are not challenged to think critically and expand their knowledge above and beyond these lowered expectations. The implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) began to challenge this standard and demanded free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment for students with disabilities (Sands, Kozleski, & French, 2000).
The first social issue portrayed through the film is racial inequality. The audience witnesses the inequality in the film when justice is not properly served to the police officer who executed Oscar Grant. As shown through the film, the ind...
Inclusion in the public school classroom has benefits for all students involved but obviously still has kinks that need to be worked out. Incorporating children with disabilities into the general education classroom has a lot of different aspects that need to all fit together to make it a successful feat. With the 3-dimension plan and taking all the cons into account, inclusion in the classroom will prove to be beneficial to all.
The movie glory is a movie based on real life events that took place during the Civil War. Although a lot of the scenes are inspired on real life events many details are replaced to make the movie more dramatic. The movie glory is based upon the 54th regiment which was the first unit consisting of African American soldiers. This was a very controversial and was an event that the public kept a close eye on.
The story leads up to the summer of 1863, during which the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment led an unsuccessful attack on the Confederate’s Fort Wagner in South Carolina. The 54th regiment was the Nation's first black regiment and because of their skill, courage, and determination, they were credited with paving the way for the successful entry of other black soldiers into the ranks of the Union. In addition, these brave men demonstrated that black men were willing to fight and die both for their country and for their freedom. The setting was primarily outdoors and on the battle