Friday, June 7, 2019

The Eugenics Crusade (2018)


American Experience: The Eugenics Crusade




The Eugenics Crusade is a documentary film that premiered on US television (PBS) in 2018. It is an episode of the long-running program American Experience (season 30, episode 9). Here is some basic information about it:

** Writer and director: Michelle Ferrari
** Narrator: Corey Stoll
** Run time: 113 minutes

Several persons are interviewed in the film. Here are the names (in alphabetical order):

** Adam Cohen - writer
** Nathaniel Comfort - historian
** Daniel Kevles - historian

** Wendy Kline - historian
** Thomas C. Leonard - historian
** Paul A. Lombardo - historian

** Siddhartha Mukherjee – writer
** Alondra Nelson - sociologist
** Christine Rosen - writer

** Jonathan Spiro – historian
** Alexandra Minna Stern - historian
** Keith Wailoo – historian

The topic of this film is the eugenics crusade in the US. The time frame is the first half of the 20th century. The story begins around the year 1900 and ends around the year 1950.

Between the talking heads – mostly historians - there are old clips and old photos in black-and-white. The film is long, but it does not feel long. It is thorough. The topic is covered in great detail.

What do reviewers say about it? On IMDb it has a rating of 74 per cent, which corresponds to (almost) four stars on Amazon. On the US version of Amazon there are at the moment fifteen reviews of this product. The average rating is 4.3 stars.

I understand the positive reviews. The story is important and in this film it is told very well. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

PS # 1. In The Eugenics Crusade the question of immigration to the US is mentioned several times. For more information about this topic, see the following item:  
 
The Chinese Exclusion Act (2018). 
 
This documentary film is an episode of American Experience (season 30, episode 7).
 
PS # 2. A Dangerous Idea: Eugenics, Genetics and the American Dream is a documentary film which premiered in 2016. 
 
Some basic details:
 
** Director: Stephanie Welch
** Writers: Andrew Kimbrell, David Scalisi and Stephanie Welch
** Run time: 106 minutes

For more details, visit my blog of September 2021.

 
*****




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