C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America

In the faux documentary "CSA," we learn what the twentieth century would have been like if the South had won the Civil War. The Confederate States of America became a nation teeming with racism and misogyny.

As a Southerner, I found the film pretty offensive. It perpetuates the myth that racism is a uniquely Southern commodity and that the South is the birth place of ignorance. A Southern victory, apparently, would have permanently snuffed out any progressive movement in the United States. This would lead to wives being encouraged to let their husbands beat them and televised executions. The South's barbarism and ignorance would have overcome the goodwill and progressive impulses of the enlightened North.

I ain't buying it. It's a simplistic view of history and a damaging caricature of the South that still persists. I have been greeted by a great deal of ignorance outside of the South by folks who still believe today's South is that of "Eyes on the Prize." The LA riots, reaction to the OJ verdict, the Matthew Shepherd murder, etc. reveal that ignorance, hatred, and racism are national problems.

The movie was impressively put together, especially considering its limited budget. It's very compelling, but I found its vision of the South to be ignorant.

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C.S.A.: THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA is a blistering satire / nightmare vision of an alternate America, in which the south won the Civil War. Presented as a "documentary", CSA uses the same, basic structure as a Ken Burns production to great effect. The "history" is shown through "interviews" with "experts", "archival" footage, and "re-enactments".

Intentionally offensive and anything but politically correct, this movie hearkens back to the acidic humor of the NATIONAL LAMPOON magazine, during its early 1970's heyday. The main feature is interrupted by "commercials", reminiscent of films like THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE, THE GROOVE TUBE, or TUNNEL VISION (also from the '70's). The products / services advertised are extremely racist by design, many being explained at the end of the film.

At once hilarious and jaw-dropping, due to its sledgehammer approach, it's obviously not meant to be taken seriously, not even remotely. In spite of this, the message is clear and direct. Recommended for lovers of controversial comedy, this movie gets extra points for audacity!...

This reminded me of Pink Flamingos. Some people thought it was ridiculous, obnoxious and tawdry. Others thought it was brilliant and wickedly hilarious. The people you considered your friends tended to think like you did--they either hated it or loved it. CSA is that same kind of movie. It's brilliantly insightful to some and tediously vindictive to others. I know that my friends will love it. There is an enormous amount of historical and social introspection that went into it, and its underlying message is that tendencies in societies don't evaporate simply because one group of advocates wins a war or an election. The dialectic of how we see each other as souls on this planet is the search for God itself, and a journey we spend a lifetime on. If my comments make sense to you, you will love the film. If it all seems like old hippie mumbo jumbo, you will probably hate it. In any case, it will help you sort out your friends.

This movie danced along the edge of impropriety, but brilliantly. The premise is good and the execution is genius. Depicting this as a standard 'Ken Burns style' documentary is the perfect way to convey the sweep of history in a short time. The interviews, voice overs, and lingering camera shots of a still photograph were all spot-on.

My favorite part was the multiple level satire of films from the early 20th century showing events from the 19th: a silent movie about Lincoln's capture, a 50s school educational film about the superiority of whites, and a Hollywood war epic about the CSA's wars in South America. Depicting the fictional events through a lens of contemporary attitudes of what would have been the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s... it made my head swim.

The commercials that another reviewer mentioned were humorous breaks in the action, but they didn't go much further than any normal commercial parody. The note at the end from the movie creators about the sources for some of these (I won't give it away) made me twinge with guilt for laughing, which I think is the response they wanted.

Overall, if you are a student of history, a lover of satire, a thinking person, or (god forbid) all 3 - you should see this move.

The movie is pretty interesting, it shows what it could be like if the south won the civil war and slavery still persisted today. The modern-day commercials like the 'Slave Selling Network' and other products that put black people in their minstrel-like places was pretty poignant. The end of the movie showed that some of those commercials that were portrayed were actually REAL products, some used into the 50s.

However, from a 'what if' standpoint, the history is pretty unrealistic. The movie shows the South taking over all of the North, something that would have been impossible, and something the South never intended on doing. They just wanted to secede from the US and form their own country - they did not have the manpower or resources to occupy and conquer all of the North. If you want to read a more probable history of what may have happened if the South had won the war, check out Harry Turtledove's series of books. North and South remain enemies, fight each other in the 1880s, in WWI, WWII, etc. This makes European history pretty different as well, since you didn't have a united America aiding the Allies in the World Wars. The South under exceeding worldwide pressure from its allies ends up ending slavery, but laws are in place to be sure to keep the black man down in such a way that they are not much better off. More realistic I think.

Still, a pretty good movie.