PBS’s American Experience debuts its three-part series on American abolitionists of the 19th century. With two very different films about slavery in movie theaters (Lincoln, Django Unchained), ‘The Abolitionists’ is certainly a well-timed series, featuring the stories of Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison and Harriet Beecher Stowe (no doubt brother Henry Ward Beecher will make an appearance too).
On one hand, this is sure to be an interesting collection of sometimes-interconnecting biographies of men and women bucking convention and fighting against a morally repellent practice locked into America’s founding documents. On the other, the series appears loaded with character reenactments, which can sometimes get in the way of the story. The production is certainly beautiful, judging from what I’ve seen so far.
If you’ll be watching at 9pm EST tonight, please follow along with me on Twitter (@boweryboys) where I’ll try and keep up with additional facts and commentary.