Hi Everyone!
Did anyone else see the movie on the Independent Film Channel called CSA/Confederate States of America?
Didn’t see it on IFC but I did get the DVD when it came out.
We actually saw it in the theater when it was originally released. It only played in one theater in Chicago and I think it only played for one week. I had read something about it so I wanted to see it. It wasn’t great, but it had a lot of “moments” and I’m glad we saw it. Some of the stuff was hilarious, though some bits made us squirm while we were feeling guilty laughing.
I rented this movie on DVD, and enjoyed it a lot. I thought it was a very interesting commentary on how the culture of racism and prejudice towards blacks hasn’t really disappeared in today’s society. The commercials for racist products (which turn out to actually have been real products from the past) are often quite funny, and twisted way the history of the CSA follows that of the USA- only, of course, with a racist bent- is often very amusing. Dat movie sho am fine!
Don’t have cable, but I saw it in the cinema.
This thread is strangely titled. Did you assume that IFC was the only place anyone might have seen it?
IFC was the first place that I’ve seen it, and in my haste (I was still watching it when I made my original posting in this thread), I was just anxious to find out if others were watching it and what they thought about it.
I guess that in my excitement I forgot that people might have also seen it in theatres or DVD’s or some other venue.
I just wanted to share thoughts on this movie with others, and I apologise I offended anyone.
No apology necessary, I just thought the thread title was odd.
There are some really brilliant things in the movie, and I’m glad it was made, but I wish the acting had been better and the production values a little higher.
I fell asleep watching TV last night and awoke with CSA on but not knowing what it was. It was at the point where they were blaming the “Southern-led” US Govt. for conducting a sneak attack on Japan, thus leaving me thinking what in the heck is this drivel? I watched a bit more, about to where they were auctioning slaves on QVC and pushing offensively named cigarettes and thought enough’s enough, this is complete crap.
Today, I looked it up and read the official site with the director’s comments, intentions, etc. Offended before, I’m now prepared to watch it objectively, which should be a darn bit easier by not waking to it’s middle.
I saw it via a Netflix DVD, and it was interesting, but clearly made cheaply. I thought the bit about the capture of the war criminal Abraham Lincoln was interesting.
I saw the DVD at Border’s and almost bought it, since I’m a big fan of alternate history, but wasn’t sure if it was worth the money. I wish I had known it was going to be on TV; I would have at least set the DVR for it. If Netflix has it, then I’ll have to add it to my queue when I sign up for Netflix.
The ads are the “best” part. Wow. :eek:
Why do you put “best” in quotation marks?
Becuase, although they are very well done, they are also the most shocking, and most cringe-producing all at the same time.
Most of the commercials, besides being for products which actually existed at one time or another, parody actual commercials from the recent past. Some of them are more obvious- such as the Marlboro Man-style spot for Niggerhair cigarettes- but some aren’t. The Darkie toothpaste spot, for example, satirizes a then-current ad for Listerine mouthwash. There are also some other references to negative portrayals of blacks thrown in as well, such as the maid from the Tom and Jerry cartoons appearing in the Gold Dust Powder ad.
I did catch the IFC showing, which was the first time I’d seen it. I felt the ads really were the best part (even production-wise, they looked a lot better than many fake ads in movies).
Most of the rest was just mildly amusing, somewhat juvenile and sloppy. It was more entertaining (in a “me am Bizarro” sense) than it was sharp social criticism.