Posted by Anna Anna --Previous Message--
on 5/9/2002, 1:47 pm
Well, I admit I only saw about an hour but I will say I still enjoyed it. I know it wasn't completely accurate, less than I thought apparently (don't blame my teachers, they did their best to stuff everything in my head...some of it just fell out in the five years since high school...hehe). And despite my having read some of Laura Wilder's books (and adoring them), I still think this was probably not that bad. Maybe not historically accurate but still a good reflection maybe not of what life actually was but rather how pathetic most of us (me, I admit me, I need indoor plumbing) would be in (if not actual frontier living) a more rustic setting. Of course, I am also writing this from the perspective of a Survivor and Amazing Race fan. 
I love to see people dropped out of their element though I would never do it myself. My picture is probably in the dictionary under "scaredy cat." 
I do thank you for analyzing the show from a more historical standpoint...I do like to be clear on the accuracy of the shows I see. I admit, I usually still watch and enjoy all the inaccurate ones but I like to be aware of the inaccuracies going in, that's just me. Anything for entertainment! Besides, this board needed some good conversation. It's been rather quiet lately. Hey, any documentaries you do recommend? I've grown to be a fan of them and it's hard to find good ones.
: Hi all.
: I'm sorry, I'm afraid I'm going to be a
: little bit shrill, but not at you Anna, or
: Sally. But I have a few things to say
: about "Frontier House"!
: It was a media stunt -- PBS does its version
: of survivor. It had about as much
: "reality" as Gilligan's Island,
: and as much historical validity as "F
: Troop"! (In fact, F Troop might score
: _better_!)
: --Previous Message--
: I got to watch a little bit of it. I thought
: it was rather interesting, what I got to
: see. It's a nice reality check for those,
: like myself, who tend to romanticize that
: time period. I mean, I'm sure it wasn't a
: completely accurate example of how life
: was then (for example real 1883 families
: would likely know and have some experience
: building cabins and doing the various
: tasks these modern day families were
: struggling to figure out) but probably
: pretty close and it gives a good idea how
: hard life was then and what was required
: to make it.
: Not even close to the frontier experience.
: Trust me! The family with the teenage
: girls were the worst, and a total joke.
: Running around in corsets without a
: chemise underneath, no drawers, no
: petticoats, no _dress_, for heaven's sake!
: The way they acted, the way the dealt with
: the daily chores -- this was not
: reenactment, living history, and/or
: experimental archeology. This was a stunt,
: pure and simple. PLEASE, if you are at all
: interested in what really happened, go to
: your library. Read Laura Ingalls Wilder
: (DON'T watch the show), that will give you
: a much better idea of a legitimate
: "frontier experience".
: I thought it was interesting
: to watch those families try to take on the
: task of "real" frontier living.
:
: It would have been, if they would have HAD
: to. For instance, that wedding cake wasn't
: period. Period!
: It just frosts my cookies that this was
: passed off as something legitimate, and by
: PBS at that! As I said, I'm not yelling at
: you, Anna, you watched in good faith. But
: PLEASE, go investigate the time for
: yourself if you are at all interested --
: and realize that 1883 is VERY late,
: actually _past_ the time that classic
: historians consider the end of the
: "frontier". Technology is well
: on its way to what we have now, in
: domestic venues -- it isn't so far away
: from what we do now!
: Forgive the rant. Suffice to say, I was NOT
: impressed. Make them head out after the
: Corps of Discovery in birch bark canoes,
: and we'll talk.
: Eleanor
:
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