The reason why the film is well received in China is nothing more than the lack and curiosity of this historical fact by the Chinese people. In addition, the director's position is obviously inclined to the defeated side. This also caters to people's criticism of the current political system in the United States. psychology.
I have been reading Montaigne’s works recently. If Montaigne had the honor to witness this war, he would definitely give the same evaluation to both sides of the war as the two sides of the religious war. According to Montaigne, “the souls of the king and the shoemaker are indistinguishable, and the neighbourhood is the reason for the war.” Therefore, when millions of soldiers fought and killed around the banners of “innate human rights” and “constitutional supremacy” At the time, I only felt that the lives of the soldiers were just flags on the chessboard of the political game between Washington and Richmond.
Someone pushed General Lee to the altar and made him a tragic hero. However, the most tragic thing was the soldiers who fell in the dead of Galesburg in Virginia.
History can never be interpreted by just picking one paragraph. Standing at that point in time, one side is chanting "natural human rights" and "liberation of black slaves", while the other side is "constitutional supremacy." It seems that justice cannot be added on both sides, but what about the facts? Regarding the issue of black slaves, even during the war, Lincoln sometimes used words like "the war is only to maintain the Confederation, not to abolish slavery" according to the situation of the war to deter more southern states from joining the rebellion; however, the situation became one-sided. At that time, the "Proclamation for the Emancipation of Slaves" was also born. What's more, even for unarmed civilians, the Northern Army also carried out a series of massacres and destructions against non-combatants and cities, such as the "Atlanta Incident," with Lincoln's acquiescence. In this regard, the Southern Army deep into the federal hinterland also There has not been the slightest softness in burning, killing and snatching. Both sides in the war have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law. This is obviously far from the banner they fought, let alone such an army to liberate slaves or defend the Constitution. . .
Whitewashing history is futile, and perhaps it is the limit that the United States can tolerate to praise the spirit of resistance of the Southern Army. For the original appearance of this period of history, the film will never be enough and assertive.
After watching this film, we know that there is such a history, and then what we have to do is to explore the souls of the king and the shoemaker, perhaps in this way, we can get closer to the original appearance of history. To sum up this history in Clausewitz's words, "war is only a continuation of politics."
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