Trailer For “Point of Honor”

Well, the trailer for the pilot episode of Amazon’s “Point of Honor” is available and its even worse than first thought. It looks like a movie version of a Don Troiani Mort Kunstler painting. It is worth emphasizing that in light of recent Hollywood releases “Point of Honor” is an outlier given the narrative’s emphasis on distancing slavery from its main characters. Certainly, the success of “Twelve Years a Slave” demonstrated that the movie-going public can handle an honest portrayal of some of the harshest realities of American slavery and the master-slave relationship. Even Ron Maxwell has been able to push the envelope of the traditional Civil War story with “Copperheads.”

Are there any examples of a West Point cadet renouncing the institution of slavery at the beginning of the war and then fighting for the Confederacy? I honestly don’t know.

This pilot episode appears to be so cliche ridden and so poorly conceived that there is a chance that it never sees the light of day. Judge for yourself.

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17 comments… add one
  • London John Jan 15, 2015 @ 7:25

    This “North and South” of which you speak, would that be a TV series more than 30 years ago, in which the central character seemed to correspond to Winslow Homer, and for which Bruce Catton was surprisingly credited as consultant?

  • Woodrowfan Jan 14, 2015 @ 16:59

    how about that, they managed to be less realistic than “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.”

  • R E Watson Jan 14, 2015 @ 13:12

    Sorry. It’s been a bad day. I couldn’t bring myself to watch the trailer. They must know it’s crap when they make it. I know it’s crap when I make it !

  • Emmanuel Dabney Jan 14, 2015 @ 7:54

    AWFUL!!! This doesn’t look like a Don Troiani painting to me. It looks exactly like North and South. The women’s clothing looks nothing like 1860s clothing, their hair is all down their body (which was not a style in the 1860s). The accents don’t sound very Virginian to me (as a native born Virginian). The story line is contrived.

    Skipping this. #RememberPatsy

    • Kevin Levin Jan 14, 2015 @ 7:55

      I meant to say Mort Kunstler painting. Damn. Love Troiani’s stuff.

      • Jerry McKenzie Jan 15, 2015 @ 6:10

        I love Troiani’s work too. Kunstler not so much, but he is much more commercially oriented hence all the painting with Lee and/or Jackson, because they sell.

        ED, thanks for the comment on the accents. Also, the movie reminded me of North and South too.

  • Jerry McKenzie Jan 14, 2015 @ 7:36

    I am not inspired to watch this. I thought it impossible/improbable that poor whites would confront a rich plantation owner over anything. Is it just me, but the Southern accents were terrible?

  • Brad Jan 14, 2015 @ 7:32

    Has that made for TV look. However, not sure why you say it won’t see the light of day. People should be able to see it through Amazon’s streaming service, for those who care to watch it.

    • Kevin Levin Jan 14, 2015 @ 7:45

      I was assuming that the public’s response would determine whether the series is released. Of course, this new world may operate differently.

  • Eric A. Jacobson Jan 14, 2015 @ 7:17

    Oh my, this is just dreadful. Reminds me of a 21st century North and South, especially with all the bare shoulders, etc. But then North & South was award winning compared to what this looks like.

    • Kevin Levin Jan 14, 2015 @ 7:45

      At least some of the Southern belles are pleasing to the eye.

  • CMcWhirter Jan 14, 2015 @ 5:51

    I’m still trying to stay objective until I see the pilot but this looks on par with Randall Wallace’s other historical abominations. Some of that dialogue made North & South look like Shakespeare.

  • Josh Skipworth Jan 14, 2015 @ 5:48

    ….At least they acknowledged that slavery existed? I’m trying to look at glass half full here.

  • Glenn B Jan 14, 2015 @ 5:36

    :Sigh: On the bright side, it does appears that they at least do know that the south was dedicated to preserving slavery, so that’s something. Oh, and those are some nice shots of the Berkeley Plantation.

    • Glenn B Jan 14, 2015 @ 12:33

      Oops, I meant the Westover Plantation . . . not that it will change anyone’s day or anything.

  • Karen Quanbeck Jan 14, 2015 @ 4:18

    Donning my optimist’s bonnet here…Perhaps after viewing this, more Americans will be aware there was a Civil War fought over the institution of slavery?

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