I think that's what bothers me most about it actually. Like any other popular form of historical fiction, it's being viewed through the earnest lens to learn, and it's going to fail on multiple fronts. As a work, it's entrenched in American civil religion nonsense. And it bothers me that it's gotten so much traction in education because holy shit it is a really piss poor primary text.
Yeah, that's fair -- when taken seriously as an educational tool it's pretty gross. I don't know the context where these kids first encountered it (I don't work in a school setting and this was a few years ago) and if it was for a history class or something then yikes for sure.
I think that's what bothers me most about it actually. Like any other popular form of historical fiction, it's being viewed through the earnest lens to learn, and it's going to fail on multiple fronts. As a work, it's entrenched in American civil religion nonsense. And it bothers me that it's gotten so much traction in education because holy shit it is a really piss poor primary text.
Yeah, that's fair -- when taken seriously as an educational tool it's pretty gross. I don't know the context where these kids first encountered it (I don't work in a school setting and this was a few years ago) and if it was for a history class or something then yikes for sure.