John Adams

Okay. The first thing that struck me was the feeling of law-lessness of the "new world". And yet, in the first episode, they present a trial where John Adams represents a British Capitan when no one else will. Very To Kill a Mockingbird-esque. This shows that Mr. Adams' principles were more important to him than popularity. So interesting. Laura Linney does a great job of playing Abigail Adams- oh to be a woman in that time would not be easy. It was clearly a physical life, no running water, etc. Yuck. You can feel the tension between the British soldiers that are there and the Americans. These were citizens of England, and yet it really already felt like an occupation by a foreign power.

Two really graphic things touched me- during the portrayal of the Boston Tea Party, they show someone being tarred and feathered. That kind of always sounded like a silly treatment of a criminal (which, in this case this person was mobbed, and certainly had not been tried and convicted as a criminal), but when you see it happening, it appears to be one of the most brutal things you could do to a person. I just can't fathom that happening to a human being- so intensely cruel.

They also show the family getting "vaccinated" against a pox that was spreading in the area. I say "vaccinated" because basically they just infected the patients with the disease. I guess that the medical advancements weren't really there, and smart people knew that it was better to expect the sickness than have it sneak up on you- (maybe?). Just watching the portrayal of that kind of illness and imagining no antibiotics, no neosporin, no band-aids, etc. Wow. We are really lucky.

I am super excited for the rest of the shows in the series. There is even one when they go to France! Which is totally Marie Antionette meets John Adams, literally. We were remarking on the lavishness of that time period and the images it conjuires up in your mind, and then to think that the French were bankrupted by these 'cowboy' Americans... talk about ironic. And yet, the thought of what they were doing, and how unprecedented it was to even think about starting your own form of government. We should all be grateful for those decisions and that bravery. I can't imagine anyplace I would rather live than the United States of America. Hope you catch the show either now on HBO or later when it's out on DVD. It's worth it.