Would you send this letter?

[willdw79]

I am going to send this letter to the History Channel as an e-mail. But, its useless, I just found out this shit is owned by Disney, its a done deal, but I will send message anyway.

I will send to these e-mail addresses ( I added Fox News, because they are just stupid enough to cover this because of rivalry with ABC), I will give it a shot:

[email protected] (http://www.anonym.to/?mailto:[email protected]), [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]


Dear History Channel Programmer:

I and many others have noticed that many of your documentaries are focused on Nazism or Adolph Hitler. The Third Reich said that they would rule the world for 1000 years, but they were demolished after only about 12 years. If the History Channel doesn't want to fall, then the Nazi shows cannot rule programming on the History Channel. I'm using a little hyperbole, but it does get tiresome to look forward to learning something new about history, turn on the History Channel, and here we go again... more Sieg Heils and blitzkrieg.

I think that war history is probably successful as far as generating an audience for you. However, I think you can air some shows about the Korean War, the War of 1812 (Russian or American), Grenada, the Dirty War, etc. There are many conflicts that people may want to see a documentary on.

Also, there is so much to history that is not related to wars. I think that the History Channel's current trajectory is downward fast. See, the Hitler/Nazi stuff can get people interested in history, but it can't sustain peoples' interest, its too limited.

I have not seen an explanation as to why so much of your programming is about Nazis, maybe the History Channel programmers have bad intentions i.e. "if you keep repeating a lie, people think it is true". The History Channel seems to be promoting Hitler and Nazism, maybe, I don't know. That's the only reason I can think of that explains all of the shows about Nazis, if there is a better explanation, I'd like to hear it.

Hopefully you can adjust your programming so that I can continue to watch.

Signed,
Waning Viewer
__________________

[Q]

Some comments:
- The Nazi's ruled for 12 years, from 1933 to 1945. Not 20.
- The proper spelling is "Sieg Heil" (don't worry, it seems that spelling the ie/ei wrong all the time is an endemic American thing. But it just looks rather silly).

Anyway, the only other thing THC would want documentaries on would be the evil empire, aka the USSR. I'm not sure if that is so much better.

[mannetje]

there's nothing to loose.

[Muzk]

Dude, everyone likes movies about nazis!

...

Logic tells me nazis get them the most viewers, therefore, money.

[Oneironaut]

- The proper spelling is "Sieg Heil" (don't worry, it seems that spelling the ie/ei wrong all the time is an endemic American thing. But it just looks rather silly).


I was taught i before e except after c. it seems to be applicable here...

[Q]

I was taught i before e except after c. it seems to be applicable here...
Sorry, but what are you talking about?

[Rusty Shackleford]

I was taught i before e except after c. it seems to be applicable here...


thats a german word. Sieg is pronounced (siig) like Fliegen (Fliigen) ie in german extends the i sound. das Deutsch ueber alles! :laugh:
(i hope i didnt get the gender for Deutsch wrong haha)

Anyways, about the letter i think it sounds fine. like mannetje said there is nothing to lose. and so what if they show USSR documentaries. im not here to defend the Soviet Union. it may have an adverse affect on societies image of communism(again). and whos to say they will actually only start airing evil empire programming.

[#FF0000]

Sorry, but what are you talking about?

It's an American rule of grammar, which like all American rules of grammar, is applied very very loosely.

[which doctor]

The History Channel's a piece of shit already and I don't see how making suggestions to a huge media conglomerate will really do anything. No one important's even going to read your letter, it'll get tossed like the rest of them.

The real problem lies in people believing that there's actually any "history" on the History Channel. Seriously, there's so much pseudo-science on that channel it's mind-numbing. They cater to the war buffs with their WWII coverage, but they're careful enough keep a detached tone, distancing themselves from reality by painting a caricature of history. Furthermore, their treatment of doomsday prophecies, bible code, and UFO conspiracy theories as history is ridiculous. It's pure entertainment.

[willdw79]

The History Channel's a piece of shit already and I don't see how making suggestions to a huge media conglomerate will really do anything. No one important's even going to read your letter, it'll get tossed like the rest of them.

The real problem lies in people believing that there's actually any "history" on the History Channel. Seriously, there's so much pseudo-science on that channel it's mind-numbing. They cater to the war buffs with their WWII coverage, but they're careful enough keep a detached tone, distancing themselves from reality by painting a caricature of history. Furthermore, their treatment of doomsday prophecies, bible code, and UFO conspiracy theories as history is ridiculous. It's pure entertainment.
Yeah, I know. But I was a lil irritated the other night and I turned on the History Channel to chill for a minute and Hitler was giving a speech and it made me even more pissed.

Anyway, I figured let me send out a letter, not because it will change the History Channel, exactly the opposite, because it won't change the History Channel. Capitalists need to be exposed and if I can get a few folks (I also asked some people I know to do the same) to send the letter, too, I could demonstrate the need (as you can see in my signature) to extort, asking does not work.

[willdw79]

I was taught i before e except after c. it seems to be applicable here...
Are you kidding me... the "i" and the "e" of these German words are in two different places. That was a joke right?

[Dr Mindbender]

A petition would probably carry more weight than a single letter. Besides, i'm not entirely convinced that frequent exposures on the nazis is a bad thing, if we're constantly reminded of their atrocities then it serves as a warning why we shouldnt let the bastards into power again.

At least they're not constantly making anti-communist programs, showing us from a bad perspective (which they could just as easily). Fuck it, let the fash take the heat.

[scarletghoul]

The ei/ie mistake is common among english-speaking people because there's no set sound associated with these spellings, as English has very inconsistent pronounciation. I guess wrong vowels in general are common for this reason. For example, that word 'reason' could be spelt reasun reasan reasin or reasen and be pronounced the same

[gorillafuck]

At least they're not constantly making anti-communist programs, showing us from a bad perspective (which they could just as easily). Fuck it, let the fash take the heat.
That's actually what I was thinking. I mean, is asking them to make a documentary on the Korean War actually a good idea? They would probably just talk about how evil those commies were.

[KC]

I wouldn't send that letter. I've been watching the History Channel for years, and trust me, they have gotten MUCH better than they used to be. It used to be about 90% WW2 stuff and then 10% misc. other crap (neglecting the infomercials at night, of course). Now, they have a ton of very good shows, including Modern Marvels which is AWESOME, and have diversified their programming a ton.

Of course they could have more historical programming on different issues/events, but I wouldn't expect any TV channel to be particularly good in that regard anyways.

[ellipsis]

I wouldn't send that letter. I've been watching the History Channel for years, and trust me, they have gotten MUCH better than they used to be. It used to be about 90% WW2 stuff and then 10% misc. other crap (neglecting the infomercials at night, of course). Now, they have a ton of very good shows, including Modern Marvels which is AWESOME, and have diversified their programming a ton.

Of course they could have more historical programming on different issues/events, but I wouldn't expect any TV channel to be particularly good in that regard anyways.

Yah I was going to say, they hardly play anything like "hitler's secret army" any more. I guess Ice Road Truckers is more relevant to history...

[MarxSchmarx]

All things considered, I don't mind constantly watching footage of nazis getting their ass kicked over and over and over again.

Esp. when it's by the Red Army:D

[proudcomrade]

Hi- I would send it, too, comrade. I think that the History Channel is a good source of basic information for workers whom the system does not permit a decent public education, nor the time, money or energy as adults to pursue history in-depth as a hobby. When they can learn accurate, or at least reasonable things, about this country's history on a TV show, they know more than they did; they can form social and political thought a bit more thoroughly than they previously could; and they can choose decent programming instead of Fox or MTV.

Furthermore, I think that the science channels are a good thing for the people until the revolution can come, too. In particular, I think that the program "How It's Made" from Canada, is an excellent choice for children and workers. When I was a kid, there were shows like "3-2-1 Contact", "The Electric Company", and higher educational content levels on Mr. Rogers (jazz musicians, farms, etc.) and Sesame Street (basic mathematics, world cultures, "sharing", good social ethics); but nowadays, children's programming has been reduced to dumb, sanitized plots and thinly-veiled corporate advertising. Programs like "How It's Made" are a great alternative, and you don't need to be an engineer to understand them readily.

You did a good thing in sending that letter, whether they bother to pay attention or not. People should encourage educational networks to raise their standards and not cave into "edu-tainment" in the name of ratings. Also, a supportive e-mail to PBS and/or your local public channel are always a good bet, too.