From Kentucky With Love
Thinking back on the week that was and the week to be
One of the messages I often receive on twitter is of people asking if they can participate in Historians At The Movies if they’re not a historian. Sometimes it’ll be another scholar stating something to the effect of “There should be a Sociologists At The Movies,” or “Is there an HATM for botanists?” The options here are limited, but classic.
Perhaps HATM is improperly named. In the rush to watch National Treasure years ago we created a name and hastag before we ever watched the film. Doing so meant we labeled this community really before we had a community. We didn’t know its characteristics, how it would operate, or even who would operate it (more on that in a bit). Some cultures have an answer for this conundrum, abstaining from placing a name on a child until well after its birth so that they had an opportunity to understand what name might best fit the new arrival. Others take new names throughout their lives, often signaling turning points in their development. But we had no such luxury. In order to start this thing, we needed a name. Then, as now, Historians At The Movies flies by the seat of its pants.
Ultimately though, I think a person, or in this case a community, defines their own name. With HATM, the community defines itself. We have plenty of people who are not professors or researchers. But they are witnesses to the events of their lives. They are historians.
HATM was in rare form last night. In my absence, Craig Bruce Smith led discussions of all things Bond related—who is the best Bond, the role of the Cold War on film, depictions of sexuality on film, From Russia With Love as the real start of the franchise.
If you’re not familiar with Craig, know that he’s a historian who works in Early American history. His first book is about the role of ethical ideology in the foundation of the new nation. If you want, there’s a link below. I’m not paid for it and Craig didn’t ask me to boost his book. But more important to me than Craig’s scholarship is that he is kind and good. I’ve said this before, but smart people don’t impress me. We have tons of those in the field. What impresses me is kindness. Craig is both.
Craig’s turn in leading the watch party last night in some ways also represents an evolution of HATM. For the first two years or so, I refused to allow anyone else to host during the film, afraid that if I stepped away even for a night the whole community might collapse. Besides, who could I trust to run the show? However, four and a half years in, what becomes obvious is that HATM draws its life from you. The people who continue to tweet along week after week. The folks who laugh and cry and interject. I don’t think we tune in for the movie. We come to see one another. The power of community and family keeps it going.
And that’s what I want to return as you read this morning. If anything, HATM has taught me that we are all historians of our own life’s experiences. For me, those experiences are bound to the land and people of western Kentucky. I couldn’t join in last night as I returned from the wedding of one of my oldest and dearest friends. We grew up together, the bunch of us kids, meeting at a place on Kentucky Lake simply known as “the Point” where we’d play games like “jump off the dock and try to drown one another,” or “let’s shoot each other with bb guns but not in the eye because Mom said we’d get in trouble.” Now we talk about making sure our cholesterol stays in check. Good times.
Time moves on. Relationships change. Some die, others grow stronger. Still others do both. But in the midst of that, we remember. We learn. We spread the legends of our childhoods, the lessons of adolescence, and the memories from adulthood. These are the daily histories we all write. We are all historians.
These kids did not expect to wear suits in their lives. Ever.
This week is another big week for HATM. We’re recording podcasts with some phenomenal scholars about movies I think you’ll love. On Monday, I’m talking about Time Bandits with David Perry and Matt Gabriele, Tuesday Sara Georgini is making me talk about musicals with Guys and Dolls, and on Friday Brett Rushforth and I are talking about Up in the Air (ok, he’ll talk about the movie; I’ll spout about Clooney on my list of greatest Kentuckians). The plan is for the podcast to launch on December 7th of this year. Stay tuned for that.
I’m continuing to meet with people to discuss how HATM will continue to evolve. We have agreed to host an HATM LIVE on campus event at St. Olaf College in Minnesota at the end of October. We’ve got a few other universities who are in talks to finalize events for the spring and I’m really excited to announce those soon.
Next Sunday night we’ll be doing a tribute to the late Angela Lansbury on Historians At The Movies. Join us on Disney+ at 8pm eastern for Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
More things to come in the week ahead but until those announcements are made, stay safe. Be good.