![]() “In the 1777 period, the flag was not a device that was used by the average citizen. “The American flag as a sovereign flag did not occur until 1782,” says early American flag authority Henry Moeller. It would be a stretch, in fact, to say that in 1777 Americans even recognized the Stars and Stripes as the national emblem or symbol. From today’s perspective, America’s first flag seems an afterthought, far from the archetypal symbol it would become in the 19th century, a period of territorial expansion and internal strife. The only thing we know for certain about the original flag’s symbols is that the 13 stars and 13 stripes stood for the first states. ![]() The Betsy Ross myth notwithstanding, we really don’t know who designed the American flag, why it’s red, white, and blue, or why it features stars and stripes. Nor did the resolution say anything about the shape of the stars nor their pattern in the constellation. The Congress adopted the resolution without comment, not bothering to specify the flag’s shape, proportions or the size of the canton or field of stripes. In subsequent wars, our flag fervor has grown.Ī single sentence in the Journals of the Continental Congress defines the object: “Re- solved, That the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” We don’t know which member or committee introduced the Flag Resolution of June 14, 1777, and we don’t know if the measure was debated or who voted for it and against it. This cannot just be an economics lecture - nobody will watch it.Americans first embraced their national symbol during the Civil War. The film is not a cynical piece, Smick said, and included comedic elements through silent film-era humor and animation. We’re ignoring them while we’re basically pointing fingers at one another.” “And in the end, it’s counterproductive because we’re not ultimately moving ahead with the massive amounts of problems that this country has. ![]() “We’re just angry, and we lash out at all of these particular things,” Levinson said. Additionally, Smick and Levinson wanted to highlight empathy and understanding as pathways for enacting this change. The filmmakers wanted the doc to be forward-looking, offering a future that was hopeful and attuned to progress. “I was not interested in just a Kumbaya film, where we all get together … I wanted to provide some substance in the film,” Smick said. Unlike similar documentaries about partisanship, Smick said he wanted to differentiate his story by focusing on compromise, both historically and presently. What do we do? What do we do to just move ahead in the 21st century, with some common mission?” “And it’s not just facts and things, and this is our viewpoint, period. “I think the documentary, and why I responded to it, is that it deals with the human condition, and this is where we are,” Levinson said. He said he became keenly aware of the division fomenting in the country and set a course to secure help from an established filmmaker to realize his vision. Smick has seen the Capitol up close, working in international finance in Washington D.C. ![]() “And I got very worried about the future of our country when you see the lack of empathy, a lack of any goodwill toward each other.” “The whole country is facing a hate epidemic,” Smick said. In a conversation with Variety film awards editor Clayton Davis, Smick and executive producer Barry Levinson discussed the central message of “Stars and Strife,” which examines the swell of anger and hatred in American culture and partisanship through interviews with activists, elected officials and other prominent figures. “Hate is almost like a drug,” writer and director of the documentary “Stars and Strife,” David Smick said.
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