Ken Burns - Hemingway

**snapt** · 04-11-2021, 05:06 PM

My favorite TGR alias of the past. Pretty insightful watch, Papa was more complex, and dark, than the womanizing drunk we all know. Well worth the watch.

**Meadow Skipper** · 04-11-2021, 05:24 PM

+1. I’ve only watched the first one, and it sent down the rabbit hole. I got fascinated by the stuff about Paris, and I picked up The Sun Also Rises for some re-reading. I read it before I was 20, and it’s kind of interesting how time and experience affects my perspective on it.

That said, I knew he was a dick, and the first episode pretty much confirmed that. Poor Hadley.

**Benny Profane** · 04-12-2021, 09:56 AM

Wait until you get to the end. He was a supreme dick, with a ton of head injuries. Amazing how fucked up he looked in his forties and early fifties. The double plane crash in Africa is quite the story. Got to read his own obituary. I'm assuming that was a closed casket service at the real end.

**stuckathuntermtn** · 04-12-2021, 10:36 AM

Is it online?

**Benny Profane** · 04-12-2021, 10:43 AM

Yes.

https://www.pbs.org/video/hemingway-...ldhood-ukyn1u/

**SkiBall** · 04-12-2021, 11:52 AM

Salon did not seem to like it. An interesting write up nonetheless. I had no idea on some of this stuff.
https://www.salon.com/2021/04/11/ken...tist-politics/

I will watch it regardless. Hemingway, King and Twain were my first true “loves”.

**Benny Profane** · 04-12-2021, 12:33 PM

That's an eye opening read. It's still worth watching, for sure. To tell you the truth, I really wish I didn't know everything I just learned about the man. Just the books and essays, please.

Burns fucked up with Baseball, so, my shit detector is always on when watching him. Country Music was pretty good, though.

**SkiBall** · 04-12-2021, 01:21 PM

Ted Williams was an asshole, but I still admire the guy. I can’t understand what was going on in their era so apart from mortal sins, I will focus on the good stuff.

**schindlerpiste** · 04-12-2021, 01:30 PM

Love reading Hemingway. No could tell a more interesting and gripping story of adventure. That is all I care about.
I put him in a very limited group of people who include Andy Warhol, George Plimpton, Bette Davis and certain Impressionistic painters. Just phenomenal

**Meadow Skipper** · 04-12-2021, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by SkiBall

Salon did not seem to like it. An interesting write up nonetheless. I had no idea on some of this stuff.
https://www.salon.com/2021/04/11/ken...tist-politics/

I will watch it regardless. Hemingway, King and Twain were my first true “loves”.

That guy makes some points, but all he cares about is politics and such. I strongly doubt he’d make a more balanced piece about Papa.

Burns doesn’t get everything right, but I really like his pacing, production values, and styling. His stuff is fun to watch, and a lot of it is thought provoking. And he always seems to have great historical imagery and footage, so there’s that.

**Benny Profane** · 04-12-2021, 03:47 PM

It is very strange to actually hear Hemingway talk. Not much, but, there's that.

**retirwntm** · 04-12-2021, 04:01 PM

This thread is clearly a coming out trap for Ernest himself.

He’s been keeping a low profile lately it seems.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**SkiBall** · 04-12-2021, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

That guy makes some points, but all he cares about is politics and such. I strongly doubt he’d make a more balanced piece about Papa.

Burns doesn’t get everything right, but I really like his pacing, production values, and styling. His stuff is fun to watch, and a lot of it is thought provoking. And he always seems to have great historical imagery and footage, so there’s that.

And at the end of the day, isn’t that really what is important? Zone out with some fun content.

**Meadow Skipper** · 04-12-2021, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by SkiBall

And at the end of the day, isn’t that really what is important? Zone out with some fun content.

Right? It’s tv, not a comprehensive seminar.

**muted reborn** · 04-12-2021, 09:55 PM

Originally Posted by SkiBall

And at the end of the day, isn’t that really what is important? Zone out with some fun content.

Watch another comic book movie if you don’t want to think or be challenged. Ken burns is a talented mo’fo, in his own way, but his movies are boring Boomer spoon fed mush.

**SkiBall** · 04-12-2021, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by muted reborn

Watch another comic book movie if you don’t want to think or be challenged. Ken burns is a talented mo’fo, in his own way, but his movies are boring Boomer spoon fed mush.

Back in the womb to finish cooking for you. Don’t think so hard.

**Meadow Skipper** · 04-12-2021, 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by muted reborn

Watch another comic book movie if you don’t want to think or be challenged. Ken burns is a talented mo’fo, in his own way, but his movies are boring Boomer spoon fed mush.

What’s this? An angry millennial? Hey, when you’ve settled down a little, can you show me how to use AirDrop on my iPhone? And say hi to your mom for me.

**Name Redacted** · 04-13-2021, 08:04 AM

Watched the episodes and liked it. It’s good to see a more in-depth story than many others would tell and not a fluff piece. I’ve heard many of the stories before but I enjoyed the chronological order of it all and lining it all up with his romantic interests.

**Meadow Skipper** · 04-13-2021, 04:46 PM

A kind of interesting short interview with Ken Burns about the documentary.
https://www.insidehook.com/article/a...-hemingway-pbs

I don’t think there is a final judgment that you can make. We live in a society that seems to think there is a big on and off switch; there is not. Hemingway is a hard man to get to know, a hard man to reject and also a hard man to accept. But his literary work stands on its own.

And Burns seems to pretty much agree with my own POV that Hemingway’s crowning achievements are his short stories, rather than his novels and non-fiction.

**muted reborn** · 04-13-2021, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

What’s this? An angry millennial? Hey, when you’ve settled down a little, can you show me how to use AirDrop on my iPhone? And say hi to your mom for me.

My Mom is too old for you, find someone yer own age.

Burns is a talented storyteller but visually he’s vanilla. He’s appealing to people who pays his bills: boomers who donate to PBS. He is a boring old school filmmaker.

If he’s making movies to ‘zone out to’, that is a red flag right there. Good long form documentaries should be challenging, especially PBS ones.

**Meadow Skipper** · 04-13-2021, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by muted reborn

My Mom is too old for you...

She wasn’t back when I knew her. I appreciated her experience. Ask her about that night after the concert.

BTW, have you seen the show we’re talking about...or read any Hemingway?

**muted reborn** · 04-13-2021, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

She wasn’t back when I knew her. I appreciated her experience. Ask her about that night after the concert.

BTW, have you seen the show we’re talking about...or read any Hemingway?

Dang, I struck a nerve!

I was hesitant to rip on a show I haven’t seen but there is a zero percent chance Burns did anything different with Hemingway this late in his career.

Yes, I’ve read a lot of Hemingway although it’s been awhile. I’m a fan. So I’ll probably have to watch his show out of morbid curiosity.

**Meadow Skipper** · 04-13-2021, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by muted reborn

Dang, I struck a nerve!

Oh? How’s that?

I was hesitant to rip on a show I haven’t seen but there is a zero percent chance Burns did anything different with Hemingway this late in his career.

So, you have no idea what you’re going on about. Quelle surprendre. Should have paid attention when you were hesitant.

**muted reborn** · 04-13-2021, 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

Oh? How’s that?

So, you have no idea what you’re going on about. Quelle surprendre. Should have paid attention when you were hesitant.

I know exactly the type of movies Burns has made for the past 40 years. So do most people. I doubt I’m far off.

God, please let me be wrong...PLEASE. Let Burns do something different for once! That would be nice honestly.