This movie was mildly funny, but there was pretty much only one joke, that is, "Oh, that's an institution we all know; wouldn't it be funny if it was given a racist twist?" And the alternate history doesn't even pretend on plausibility. To think that the CSA would annex the Union is just plain stupid for anyone who knows the basic history of that time period. Had the jokes been a bit more clever I could have overlooked that, but they weren't.
shareThe movie wasn't about creating a plausible or even halfway believable alternative history, but about satire. About applying all the stereotypes from American history and then turning them on their head by positing that the South had won the Civil War and imposed its racial values and outlook on society.
I found the movie to be simply hilarious, my wife could hear me laughing my head off throughout the house. It's a hoot and a half and yet ever so clever at the same time. The sad and comical thing is that so many of the things shown and thought up, especially the commercials and newsreel segments, are utterly believable in the context of a southern victory and so recognizable from 1950s-60s culture.
It's a shame this is such an obscure movie cause even with its obvious limited budget, it's entertaining and enlightening and eye-opening and thought-provoking and funny as can be, while being profound in its message.
I'd say we should be lucky none of the stuff shown in the movie is plausible ... but then again much of it actually sort of was ...
I think they could have done pretty much the same thing and made it plausible if they had used the AH where the CSA merely won the war and survived to the present day.
share