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Title: A John Brown Biographer and Scholar
Review: Despite its fine cinematic qualities, this is more an adventure in imagination and interpretation than it is a responsible historical documentary. For all of its efforts, it does not convey a sense of the man who lived, but rather the man who haunts the imaginations of those who understand him the least.Unfortunately this documentary--so lauded as an excellent portrayal of Brown in biographical terms--is weighted down too heavily by the opinions of novelists and lacks a respect and balance in portraying Brown's religious orientation. The film omits key themes with respect to his working with blacks, and overall conveys the ivory tower biases that are so hard to challenge due to the politics of media and academia, despite the facts of history. Of course, the producer is a filmmaker, not a biographer, but certainly if people want to learn about John Brown of history, this is not the place to start.Louis A. DeCaro Jr.John Brown biographer and researcher
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