planktonrules

I used to teach history in middle and high school and one thing I noticed was that the kids knew almost nothing about Black American history. Sure, they knew who Martin Luther King was as well as Rosa Parks...but that's about as much as any of them knew. I sure wish I'd had this documentary available to me when I was teaching because I tried very hard to expose kids to many, many other Black Americans.

I saw this film on PBS when I was visiting Los Angeles and Hollywood...and so I have no idea if it was just shown around here or is available elsewhere. It's about Paul Revere Williams...an incredibly talented black architect who designed many of the great homes and structures...not just in LA and Hollywood but all around the country. You learn his rags to riches story (an orphan at age 4) and the many struggles he overcame in order to become a top architect when black men were lucky to have ANY white collar job! Very inspiring, very well made and a nice tribute to the man.

I rarely am disappointed in an installment of "American Experience", so I was not at all surprised I enjoyed "The War on Smog". The ironic thing about it is I happen to be visiting Los Angeles...and the show is all about the Los Angeles area dealing with incredibly unhealthy levels of smog in the 1930s-70s.

The show spends a lot of time detailing the deaths caused by smog as well as scientists who studied the area in Los Angelese to determine why. None of this surprised me and was very interesting. What did surprise me was the auto industry's reaction...ranging from denial to deliberately withholding catalytic converters (invented in the 1950s) until the 1980s! Overall, a well made and fascinating look at smog and one I'm glad I watched.

When I was a kid, "Ultraman" was all the rage with boys my age. They adored the show...much like a later generation would enjoy "The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers". However, my father hated the show and I wasn't allowed to watch it at home. Strange, I know. However, now that I'm a semi-responsible adult, I decided to give the series a try. After all, I have Amazon Prime and the show is free to Prime members. However, I was surprised to see that it's NOT the same version I saw a few times as a kid (when I saw the show at my friends' houses). No, the Prime version is the Japanese non-dubbed version...one that kids would like less but adults would often prefer. I liked seeing them speaking Japanese and reading the subtitles.

So is the show any good? Well, for a kaiju show (one with giant Godzilla-like monsters), it's enjoyable and fun. Yes, it has the tiny models and guys in rubber monster suits which some would make some laugh...but I think it also adds to the show's charm. Quite enjoyable...even to an old goat like me!