What Critics Are Saying About the Ken Burns Documentary on the Trump Administration

[teach1st]

What Critics Are Saying About the Ken Burns Documentary on the Trump Administration
Daily Shouts, The New Yorker, By Sarah Hutto, January 3, 2018

In his latest documentary, Ken Burns exhaustively walks us through what felt like the longest Presidency in recent national history. In seven disks, totaling fifteen hours, we get to experience, once again, the journey from the Trump Administration’s controversial beginnings up to its embarrassing final moments.

Here’s what critics and viewers are saying:

“Experiencing the Trump Presidency firsthand was traumatizing enough. I’m not sure why anyone would want to watch this. I actually had to get up and take Tums four times during the first two disks, and then I turned it off. Burns is a great documentarian, but I don’t understand why he thought this should be made.”—the Village Voice

“This perfectly captured what being an American under the Trump Administration was like. If you’ve been fortunate enough to have stricken the Presidency from memory, this documentary will be great for reminding you of the importance of voting. But you’ll have to borrow your copy from someone else, because I already threw mine in the garbage. No—don’t bother looking in the bin. I took it out to the curb and waited to see it get loaded into the truck this morning. I’m safe now. I’m finally safe. The DVDs are far away from me.”—The Atlantic

“You won’t learn anything new from this documentary. It’s mostly just a rehashing of everything we survived, which seems sort of counterproductive at this point. Additionally, the bonus feature with the extra material about Mike Pence is just weird and unsettling. —Rolling Stone

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[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. "We're warning you: we'll send you these DVDs unless you make a donation to your local PBS station."

[exboyfil]

2. My favorite line

I’ll probably go back to the Civil War documentary next year, because it's more uplifting.”—Richard Murray, Vermont

[niyad]

3. thanks. I needed that!!

[brush]

4. When did this allegedly come out, and what's meant by "embarrasing final moments"?

[teach1st]

5. It has something to do with Twinkies

And it is satire.

“I liked it when he got caught in the end.”—Joey, age six, Maryland

[renate]

6. I got hopeful too, but this is satire

Darn it.

[Stallion]

7. I've Been Wondering About This Since Day1

I love the American Experience The Presidents Series-but how can this story be told in the usual format

[geardaddy]

8. "'I liked it when he got caught in the end.'Joey, age six, Maryland"