So I finally got around to watching the season opener for Deadliest Warrior.
Really Deadliest Warrior? Really? I am as patriotic an American as any other, but having George Washington beat Napoleon Bonaparte is simply incredible. Deadliest Warrior has dropped the ball on a number of occasions in the past, and in some pretty big ways, but they even MENTIONED ON THE EPISODE that Washington would not have defeated Cornwallis without French help while describing his greatest victory.
Sad. I only really like to watch the show for the cool blowing stuff up/chopping them to pieces, the silly trash talking BS and bad re-enactments CAN be a little fun too, I guess; it is Spike TV, so I guess the over the top macho nonsense is par for the course. I also like it because I get to talk to my kids about history during the show and after it's over, usually for making corrections, although even they could tell the really stupid calls like Comanche over Mongol, or stupid match ups like generic Celt vs. Persian Immortal.
After season 1 they "fixed" the show's format by separating the battles between pre-gunpowder and post-gunpowder era combatants, which screwed over the Knight in season 1. They also moved to a small unit battle instead of having one-on-one fights all the time; this I think is what made the Washington vs. Napoleon episode suck. All of these musket era battles really need to be fought with full armies, sorry if it destroys their re-enactment budget, maybe they could use software for that part too.
Now, don't get me wrong, I ALWAYS expect them to get it wrong on Deadliest Warrior, they have a knack for it; when they manage to get it right I am pleasantly surprised, now that I am done ranting about the injustice done to the memory of L'Empereur I guess I'll go out there and watch William the Conqueror get his ass handed to him by Joan of Arc and unless it's done in a particularly egregious way I'll just accept it with good humor and continue to take the show for what it is- gratuitous weapon porn wrapped in a pseudo-historical context.
By the way, who EVER referred to Napoleon as the "God of War"?
It was Clausewitz. On War, book 8, chapter iii -
ReplyDelete"The commanders opposed to Frederick the Great were men who acted on commission, and just on that account men in whom caution was a predominant characteristic; the opponent of the Austrians and Prussians [in 1805, 1806 & 1809] may be described in a few words as the very god of war himself."
Nice. I always mean't to get around to reading Clausewitz, rather than just having select quotes rattling around in my head. Thanks for enlightening me, seriously, I don't want any misunderstanding here where you think I am being sarcastic. I like learning new things. The guys on Deadliest Warrior did lay it on a tad thick though, and I still think it's a real travesty that Washington beat him. The American revolution succeeded largely because they were at the end of a six thousand mile transatlantic supply line AND had French assistance,not because George Washington was a particularly good general.
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