C.S.A.: Confederate States of America

C.S.A. : Confederate States of America is an irreverent mockumentary exploring what life would have been like had the South won the Civil War. It is incredibly well done, and leaves the viewer (at least this one) extremely grateful that the South did not win the Civil War. The C.S.A. takes control of the United States, forming one country with slavery legal throughout. The focus is on this element, and there are even fake commercials throughout the movie showcasing everyday life with legal slavery. It's a rather disturbing thought to envision slavery still being legal in the 20th century. However, perhaps even more disturbing is a short footnote at the end of the movie stating that some of the things shown in the "fake" commercials were real products, some used up until the 1980s. One commercial showcases a restaurant that remained open well into the late 20th century, and was open in cities like Portland and Salt Lake City, not exactly bastions of Confederate pride. The last frame of the movie reminds the viewer that racism and use of slave imagery is still alive and well, stating: "Just ask Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben." This is a very interesting look at what life would have been like under Confederate power, and differs from author Harry Turtledove's vision of both a C.S.A. and U.S.A. existing after the South won the war, in his popular alternate history novels. Again, I am extremely grateful the Confederacy did not win the war, and although we still suffer from racism and prejudice, the despicable institution of chattel slavery no longer exists in this nation. (As for other forms of slavery, that's an entirely different discussion).

More about the film can be found at it's official website: http://www.csathemovie.com/

Jonah Hex

I finally got around to watching this one. I was a little hesitant, as most of what I had heard and read about the movie was negative. However, feeling it duty to my interests in how the West is represented in pop culture, I watched it anyway. While it's not going to be winning any Oscars anytime soon, I didn't think it was as terrible as many have said. The dialogue was pretty bad, but some of the action was fun, and I kept reminding myself it was based on a comic book. There were a few allusions to our current political scene, including once when Jonah Hex, being questioned on why he chose to fight for the Confederacy, mentions that he believes both sides are "hypocrites." The movie also shows how the Civil War is not over for many people, even today. I am currently reading Tony Horwitz's Confederates in the Attic and it blows my mind how people are still fighting the war, day after day. Again, this is not a great movie, probably not even a good movie, but it was watchable, which I can't say for some other movies based on comic books. (Fantastic Four, anyone?) Those interested in the West in pop culture (although technically most of the movie is in the South and the Eastern Seaboard, I guess it still counts as a Western) should at least view it for that reason alone.

Rage Against The Machine - Testify Music Video

Salt of the Earth

Salt of the Earth was produced in 1954, during the heart of the McCarthy anti-Communist era. The movie was made by members of the Hollywood Ten, who had been blacklisted. Needless to say, the film was not well received, and saw very little play on theater screens across the country (13 out of 13,000 theaters nationwide). It is labeled as the "Only U.S. Blacklisted film" and partly because of this, has seen a resurgence in popularity and cult following after the witch hunt McCarthy years ended. The movie focuses on the true events of a strike at a mine of the Empire Zinc Company in southern New Mexico. The mining company's name and the name of the town are changed, but the events depict the strike in Bayard, New Mexico, in 1951. Most of the actors in the movie are locals, many who were involved in the original strike. The movie deals with issues affecting Mexican-American miners who felt they were being treated unfairly, compared with their Anglo counterparts. However, the movie also deals with feminism, as the wives of the miners fight for equality of their own, both within their own homes and with their Anglo counterparts. Both the men and the women of the Mexican-American community soon realize the only way to win their struggle is to work together. This is a fascinating piece of film-making that exposes many of the injustices that Mexican-Americans have faced, as well as women, and even poor Anglo workers that have been exploited through the years.

Mural in Bayard depicting the strike: http://legacy.usw.org/usw/program/adminlinks/docs/paint.pdf

More information from the Office of the State Historian of New Mexico: http://www.newmexicohistory.org/filedetails.php?fileID=254

Zakk Wylde, Black Label Society - In This River - Tribute to Dimebag

Today in History

Tragedies in Music
Two terrible tragedies shocked the music world on December 8, 24 years apart. On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was murdered outside his New York apartment by Mark David Chapman. On December 8, 2004, Pantera and Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott was shot during a Damageplan show at a club in Columbus, Ohio, by Nathan Gale. Both have been greatly missed since their premature departures from this world.

Ryan Bingham - Bread And Water