Being but an amateur reader of history I was surprised to learn that "during WW2 there was more industrial unrest than at any other time in US history."
And while war waged in Europe, Detroit was ablaze with race riots. One anti-black protester is quoted as yelling, "I'd rather see Hitler a hero and win than work beside a nigger on the assembly line." Some 25 rioting blacks were killed by police in the city in 1943. But interesting riffs get lost as the drone sets in, partly because Stone doesn't break away to bring in other voices or other opinions. Like the guy in the bar or the first time caller, he doesn't need to. Nor does he have that sense of rhythm you find in the work of the great documentarians, like Ken Burns or Adam Curtis, or Simon Schama,
As a truth teller, Stone has always been a little problematic. His fictional film JKF has become a de facto 'truth' for an entire generation who view it as actual history. Actual historians have derided it as fantasy. The Guardian's Alex Van Tunselmann referred to it as "one of the most appalling travesties of history you're ever likely to see."
Still, that was a film, with Kevin Costner in horn rims. His new mission, to remix the history of America with a left leaning slant, is still an entertaining watch - if you're in the right mood. And it does right some wrongs, set some records straight. Of course, as with everything he does, there's no shortage of naysayers. Take for instance this interesting tiff between the director and the New York Review of Books over what Stone calls an "error-riddled review."
Far more truthful and way more telling is Louis CK, whose stand up special O My God plays this Wednesday on Soho. I think the most appealing aspect of his shtick is that way he cuts through bullshit like a hot knife through unpleasantly brown butter. During the introduction to the show, which was filmed in Arizona, he mentions that he is from New York. Obviously there are some other New Yorkers in attendance and as the usual cheer starts to form in the bowels of the audience he quickly shuts it down with a wave of the hand and by saying "there is no value in that."
It's a promising start to a show that delivers rather than overachieves. Louis is 45 now, so the act leans heavily on mid-life observational humour, with that trademark edge. I won't be too much of a spoil-sport but one of my favourite passages includes this ground-breaking mathematical formula: "Pussy plus time, over income squared."
Oliver Stone: Untold History of the United States: Tuesdays, 7.30pm, History
Louis CK - Oh My God: 9.30pm, Wednesday, May 8, Soho
