?The Undiscovered Explorer: Imagining York? stakes out a daunting triple agenda for itself: First, documenting the true story of the only African-American to travel with Lewis and Clark, Clark?s slave, York. Second, putting the various myths and interpretation of York in social context. And third, commenting on the difficulty of learning the truth, any truth, at such a distance.
The piece begins and ends with questions and York remains a mix of myth, invention, and a handful of tantalizing facts. But the story of this one man serves to crack open a larger debate and pose more lasting questions.
Arguably a tad over-produced and teetering on a certain generic presentational slickness, the piece is ultimately most successful in using York as a cultural spine, a way to track the image of the black male through American history.
The program also benefits from an ability to speak to several different audience age levels simultaneously, making it perfect for use in any day-part. Certainly this would be a solid addition to programming during Black History Month, but the piece doesn?t deserved to be restricted to February.
Comments for The Undiscovered Explorer: Imagining York
Produced by Morgan Holm, Executive Producer; Claire Schoen, Producer/Director; Ron Craig, Consulting Producer
Other pieces by Claire Schoen
Rating Summary
1 comment
Joseph Dougherty
Posted on December 02, 2006 at 05:49 PM | Permalink
Review of The Undiscovered Explorer: Imagining York
?The Undiscovered Explorer: Imagining York? stakes out a daunting triple agenda for itself: First, documenting the true story of the only African-American to travel with Lewis and Clark, Clark?s slave, York. Second, putting the various myths and interpretation of York in social context. And third, commenting on the difficulty of learning the truth, any truth, at such a distance.
The piece begins and ends with questions and York remains a mix of myth, invention, and a handful of tantalizing facts. But the story of this one man serves to crack open a larger debate and pose more lasting questions.
Arguably a tad over-produced and teetering on a certain generic presentational slickness, the piece is ultimately most successful in using York as a cultural spine, a way to track the image of the black male through American history.
The program also benefits from an ability to speak to several different audience age levels simultaneously, making it perfect for use in any day-part. Certainly this would be a solid addition to programming during Black History Month, but the piece doesn?t deserved to be restricted to February.