On September 19, Glory was released on Home Video. I wasn't aware of any buzz or accolades or the fact that it'd already won 2 Academy Awards - frankly it it didn't involve masked ninjas or gangsters in brightly colored suits then it wasn't exactly in my zone of interest. But my parents were all about it - particularly my dad who'd been counting the days until Ken Burns's Civil War documentary premiered on PBS on Sunday, September 23. I can't be sure of the order in which I saw them - it's quite possible we rented Glory the Friday before the miniseries began airing because my enthusiasm was initially less than profound; I remember my mother explaining to me that I might like it because Ferris Bueller was in it as she pointed out his unrecognizable face on the cover of the box. That did little to persuade me but I almost never argued against programming choices, and rightly so; even when something seemed like it'd be boring or too grownup, it almost always ended up being an amazing experience that ultimately perpetuated my growing fascination with Film. Glory did just that, and more.
Even as a kid I had an unwavering attention span for movies but Glory certainly doesn't require any extra effort - at least it didn't for me. On the surface it's sort of an Action Movie so it's in no way dull, but it also obviously fed into my attraction to American History, and even more specifically Massachusetts History; a film that championed and honored a Civil War regiment from my home state made me feel cool and famous and that I was inherently on the right side of righteousness. The movie taught me (as I'm sure it did many viewers) about this specific true story, but this (alongside an entire 12 hour documentary) was really my introduction to The Civil War and all which that implies. The North and The South, racism, and slavery were literally new concepts to me at 7 years old; once again the video box became a useful tool as my parents explained to me how people were born with names like "Washington" and "Freeman". I also did, in fact, absorb the entire Ken Burns experience - which we taped and so it was revisited frequently; the accompanying coffee table book was always around, and the soundtrack (along with James Horner's Glory score) played in our car for months. My father let me cut out the pictures from the movie soundtrack's liner notes and bring them to school for an impromptu presentation that allowed me to flex my interests to the class. (I wonder if any of my classmates still remember that time the quiet nerd decided to disrupt coloring hour with a lame history lesson.) Shortly thereafter my parents brought me to Boston to see, in person, the 54th Regiment Memorial that's featured in the end credits of the movie. (That adventure is a story unto itself. But I did get to touch Colonel Shaw's sword!) Three and a half decades later, cooler weather and shorter days predictably remind me of school, and for just as long they've also reminded me of The Great Rebellion (or a very moody and stylized version of it). It's stuff like this that make me wonder what core memories and associations and deep cuts my son is collecting in these times, and I hope he looks back on them with the same fondness as I do with my own.
- Paul
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