(no subject)

[tearosefury.livejournal.com]

In a convo with a friend of mine on AIM last night, after being asked if the film Danton was ambiguous in not clearly taking sides, I said this:

EccentricBeauty9: Well, it's about the Terror

EccentricBeauty9: So, *lol* by consequence yes, to a certain degree

EccentricBeauty9: Danton is lionized to a certain extent

EccentricBeauty9: But Robespierre is also treated more sympathically than you could, theoretically, treat him

EccentricBeauty9: But everyone has a soft spot for Robespierre (by everyone I mean, those who study the Revolution; most of us at least) so, that makes sense

 Would you agree that this is for the most part true, that most of us to some degree are a bit of a sucker for Robespierre? Or are there some hard core anti-Robespierrists out there?

Comments

[jonahmama.livejournal.com]

And people's ages are a pet peeve of mine. Most American college students also concieve of the American revolutionaries as staid men about our parents' age, probably because their most famous representations come from their later (often presidential) years. When they discover how astonishingly young Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, etc. were during the time of the revolution, they are amazed. It's the same thing with Robespierre, Danton, Camille, Saint-Just, etc., none of whom were over 30 in 1789! Look around your social circle (or college campus) and see if you can imagine some of the 20-something men (and women) YOU know winning elections, drafting legislation, or leading armies. What I think is most exciting about the French Revolution is that it's the story of what happens when you take a bunch of "regular" people in their 20's and 30's - brilliant, eccentric, more or less messed up people but not unlike us and our friends - and put them in charge of running a country in crisis, where everything they say and do has enormous consequences. And it all really happened.

[trf-chan.livejournal.com]

What I think is most exciting about the French Revolution is that it's the story of what happens when you take a bunch of "regular" people in their 20's and 30's - brilliant, eccentric, more or less messed up people but not unlike us and our friends - and put them in charge of running a country in crisis, where everything they say and do has enormous consequences.

I'm sorry - I don't have anything constructive to add to the dialogue here at the moment, but I just wanted to say that for some reason that sounded like the plot of a new reality TV show for a minute there. *dies* XD At this rate, it can't be far off. So You Think You Can Govern: Somalia.

[jonahmama.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Not exactly what I had in mind (please see my comments on the "French Revolution Documentary" post started on 8/6/03 - scroll down), but you may have something there! ;)