Explaining American Ideals via "Lincoln"

 The internal self image that defines who each of us are is not diminished by time or any physical changes.  When we are allowed to examine our own minds and beliefs, which happens when you spend a lot of time explaining your way of life to someone else, we can see what it is that actually makes us who we are as an individual.

I went with a couple of the other students to the movie "Lincoln" last week.  Many of the Hollywood films are shown with the original voices (movies listed with VO) and French subtitles, which means I can watch and understand the dialogue.  But, all the titles and explanation text is in French and I was guessing at the exact context.  For instance, one of the captions said something about re-election, but I can only assume it was saying this scene was after his election to a second term.

Lincoln was a bit slow for me, with Spielberg trying to make a "pretty" film.  Long panoramic shots, Gone with the Wind styled scenes, and long dramatic pauses.  Most of the people in the theater were dozing off and I saw their heads drop.  I even had trouble sitting through the twenty minutes of commercials before the film and then two and half hours of film time.  The story only took one and half hours to tell, but stretched out forever. 

It is interesting to see the different reactions and what they took away from the movie.  They don't have the same background information as we were all taught in school.  My recollection of this president is he was a backwoods Illinois raised, self educated lawyer, with high ideals who became president, chopped his own firewood, and liked to tell stories and make short speeches.  Not much depth of a background as history was never a subject I was ever interested in enough to read.  But, it does give me a different starting point than someone raised in another country.

Their impression of the movie was "So what was the big deal?"  Another comment (paraphrased by me) "The Brits had abolished slavery without a civil war about 30 years earlier and they were making lots of money in the slave trade at the time." and "The whole movie was about buying votes." 
They also did not understand the story telling and short speeches, they felt that any man that was commander of the United States must be a great orator, with a deep and resonating voice that can be heard across the whole world.  Our fairy tale view of Lincoln is a soft spoken man with lots of self deprecating humor, who used stories to highlight values and actions of others, before telling you what he wanted or was going to do, using the stories to support or contrast his views.  A grandfatherly figure who should be on the porch in a rocking chair with children at his feet.  WAIT, that was in the movie, without the rocking chair, but it did have an old potbelly stove and coffee pot.

I have rambled on enough for today.  I believe this movie was nice, wholesome and pretty.  But its messages are lost in the translation for other countries without a built-in admiration for this president.