Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

We might have to arrange a field study to San Francisco. Not to take in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art or the Exploratorium, ponder the earthquake of 1906, or ogle the Golden Gate Bridge. But to see an emo rock musical about the life of Andrew Jackson, which has the most disturbingly ridiculous tagline of all time: 

"History just got all sexypants."

The link was featured on the National Council on Public History's Facebook page, where they ask "Is this creative public history or a mockery?" The SFGate article refers to the production as an "irreverent blend of history and mythology." It features a "head-banging Andrew Jackson" singing "sad angry boy rock music." It's supposed to be this political satire/outrageous mashup of history and pop culture/hot mess. Here's a video. Beware. It's pretty crazy.

 

Mike Wallace is crying emo rock tears somewhere.

This got me thinking, though, about how much my early interest in history was inspired by movie musicals. As a kid, I loved The Sound of Music and Calamity Jane. These both probably had some unconscious degree of influence on my idea of World War II and the history of the American West. Later I was obsessed with Evita (which, sadly, is still probably the extent of my knowledge of South American history) and The Phantom of the Opera (I've never been to Paris, but you can bet that my idea of the place is indelibly linked with the bowels of the Opera House). Somewhere in the recesses of my brain, I think I'm still disappointed by the fact that people in history didn't really break into song and dance. 

This Christmas a new film version of Les Miserables is coming to theaters. Obviously musicals with historical imagery are still a major way people encounter the past in popular culture. In the reading for this week Mike Wallace talked about how "the mass media is perhaps the single most critical source of popular historical imagination." I think musicals are a great example of this.