Monday, March 17, 2008

John Adams

Last night husband and I watched the first two parts of the HBO special on John Adams.

Adams was the second president of the United States and one of the first members of the Continental Congresses, which approved the Declaration of Independence and began the United States.

The show is well done and we're looking forward to watching the remaining segments. What a relief to have some decent television to watch for a change.

My husband was quite caught up in the show. During one scene early on, Adams was lecturing to a crowd in a church.

"That looks just like that church we saw in Williamsburg," husband said.

"They filmed a lot of this in Williamsburg," I replied, having read that online somewhere previously.

After that, he watched even more intently, searching for buildings and structures he remembered from our two trips to Colonial Williamsburg. He delighted in pointing out the buildings to me.

When the show ended, husband was wound up. "Look at what all they went through," he said, referring to scenes of smallpox. "Look at how little they had. We're a bunch of softies now, aren't we."

I agreed. Indeed, we are quite pampered and toil seems to be beneath us, each and every one.

"We're also getting stupider," my husband declared. He noted how learned Adams and his compatriots were. They knew lots of stuff. Philosophy and religion and the law.

"People today just know what's on at the movies," husband said. "They don't know anything real or important."

It took a long time for him to wind down and go to bed.

The series obviously did its job for him.

4 comments:

  1. I was going to watch that program but I missed it :-(

    luv your blog :-)

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  2. My son and I watched it. We really enjoyed it too. In fact the boy asked when the next installment is on, so it's nice to spend quality time with a teenager and have a discussion afterwards. Of course, my daughter was annoyed I didn't watch Flavor of Love with her. From one extreme to the other!

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  3. I missed it. I heard that his wife was pretty amazing. I want to watch just for the fact that he lived in Quincy Massachusetts where I was born.

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  4. "They don't know anything real or important." That is so true. I am sick and tired of poeple making excuses for the young and their ignorance of what is real and important. Okay, so they know all about how to programme videos and play internet games and mess with computers and all about airhead celebs like Brittney Spears - their heads are stuffed with such facts. But can anyone call such things "real and important"? Only if they are prepared to be mocked as old fashioned and elitist, I fear. Our consumer society has to destroy any notion of worth and significance if it is to boost consumption, I suppose.

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