NP: Twain, Part One

[Bandwraith at aol.com]

Saw it on PBS last night and thought it generally interesting.
I guess he'll pay for all his success in Part Two, but I couldn't
help feeling that he seemed to be one of the first white artists
who had hit upon a whole new and more sophisticated way to
exploit blacks- marketing a portrayal of their culture.

The Ken Burns documentary seems to take pains to get viewers
to agree that Twain was the first to portray blacks as "real
people" and give a black character real thoughts, words, feelings
etc., that this was some important cultural milestone in the
maturation of American Art. Maybe, but he sure got rich and
famous doing it. 

I love Huck, but an art like that, you know it makes me sad.