Obnoxious and Disliked

John Adams is my favorite founding father.

I wish I had formed this opinion thoughtfully, after considering his lifelong devotion to his wife and to God, his opposition to slavery, etc. He's certainly less confusing than Thomas Jefferson. But really, it's all because of 1776.

Growing up, we watched the musical every fourth of July. I realize that it isn't the most historically accurate retelling of the writing of the buildup to American independence--the characters are distorted to make heroes and villains and comic relief, exaggerated in the style of any self-respecting musical extravaganza.

And yet, still, when John Adams sings Is Anybody There at the climax--"I see Americans - all Americans / Free forevermore"-- it embodies every fuzzy, patriotic feeling I've ever had.

We watched part of the John Adams mini-series in Government, and it made me think about historical fiction. We watched the part of the mini-series covering the Declaration of Independence, and I'm sure it was far more factual than the musical. John Adams the series is based on John Adams the intensely researched book by David McCullough. That is one of those books, by the way, which everyone claims to have read. I read the beginning of the book and really did enjoy it, though I still trailed off right around the Boston Massacre. However, if the topic of the book ever comes up, I make sure to widen my eyes and say, "Oh, that's a great book, you need to read it," implying I devoured it from cover to cover.

So, obviously, John Adams was more factual than 1776. I was especially struck by the different interpretations of John Dickinson. In the musical he is pompous and unlikeable, and his Quaker religion isn't mentioned once. In the mini-series he's soft-spoken, his speeches heartfelt, and a large part of his opposition to independence is attributed to Quaker pacifism. He's still the antagonist, but he's not a villain at all.

But John Adams is still fictionalized. The film-makers had to make up all sorts of things, little snippets of dialogue and the precise tone of voice in which Benjamin Franklin delivers his famous witticisms and the look on everyone's face. Therein, I think, lies the value of historical fiction. It helps you believe that the people in history books were, in fact, real people.

I sometimes have the feeling that the world didn't exist before the early 90's, which is when I start to remember it. This is related to the feeling that the world doesn't exist outside your home town/state/country, or even that you are the only real person in the world. These are all bad, foolish feelings, dangerous even. And if I actually see Abigail Adams holding her child while he's inoculated against small pox, it's easier to feel that she really lived, and by extension so did the rest of the long-ago world.

This holds true even if, afterwards, she gets up and sings.