Member Review Rebel Forrest Documentary

[TallTallMan]

First non-brainrot thread in a while!

Anyway, I recently watched this 2002 documentary called Rebel Forrest. It is independent, and I was nervous. Turns out, I liked it OK. It's not very professional; the cutting is abrupt, the narration is robotic, and it covers very little of Forrest's life, except the controversies.

I should probably share first that my opinions of Forrest are mostly neutral. I don't find him especially fascinating or admirable (the Confederate I reserve that for is ol' Bobby), but at the same time I don't hate him, either. I think the documentarian was biased in favor of him, but tried to be balanced, which was the right thing to do.

The guests are:

• Shelby Foote, who is never shown talking, oddly, even though there is a shot of him at his desk. Maybe it's AI Shelby
• David Ndilei, an "independent researcher" AKA he works at the Dairy Queen
• Parker Hills, founder of Battle Focus and member of the BGES
• Bill Fitch, late owner of Fitch Farms
• Cecil Williamson, president of Friends of Forrest
• Nelson W. Winbush, Black SCV member ("You're looking at a Black Rebel")
• Chester L. Quarles, late expert of American t*rrorism and educator at UM
• Alabama Senator Hank Sanders

Of the guests, the only balanced one was Quarles. Most of the others were slightly fawning to various degrees (Foote and Hills tried the be balanced at least). Winbush was odd, to say in the least.

But if they loved Forrest too much, Neo-Aboltionist Ndilei HATED him too much. He's a nobody, but he's extremely pompous, chuckling constantly at himself and his "knowledge". He claims to be the special Keeper of the Holocron in regards to Fort Pillow, and uses a strawman that the bad ol' professionals fawn over Forrest and conspire to cover up the "truth" that he was the worst guy ever is every possible way. He wrote a book on Fort Pillow: Extinguish the Flames of Racial Prejudice.

Extinguish the Flames of Racial Prejudice: The Fort Pillow Massacre by David Ndilei on Chamblin Bookmine

I.E.F. Publishing, 1996. 1st Printing. 8Vo Softcover. Good. Item #90762 288. Bright pages are unmarked. Binding is firm, hinges are secure. Wraps are glossy with creased corners and minor edge wear. Spine is unbroken. Bookstore stamp present on front endpage.

www.chamblinbookmine.com

(What does Whipped Peter have to do with Pillow?)

Apparently evoking Eddie Cochran, he proclaimed "you won't find in textbooks" his groundbreaking revelation: Forrest killed his own men for refusing to kill Blacks! After accusing Forrest of doing everything up to accepting thirty pieces of silver, he said there needs to be a "balanced" study that "shows both sides"! Well, at least he's honest about his own book!

On the other side of the ideological spectrum, Neo-Confederate Williamson was indignant over the removal, by Sanders, of the $21,000 Forrest bust in Selma to a CSA graveyard. Honestly, Sanders was justified; the purpose of erecting the monument there specifically was obvious, and it doesn't take a VCR designer to figure it out. Why would you put a Forrest monument in Selma? Forrest was defeated there. Hmmm...

Last I checked, the monument is still in the graveyard. To be honest, if there even needed to be a monument to Forrest in Selma, it belongs there.

Nathan Bedford Forrest Monument - Selma, Alabama

The Nathan Bedford Forrest Monument stands at Confederate Circle in Old Live Oak Cemetery in historic Selma, Alabama. The monument generated considerable controversy when it was erected in Selma, the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement.

www.exploresouthernhistory.com

Overall, it would've been better with higher-quality production values. Watch and share your thoughts!

 

[TallTallMan]

I should've mentioned that Ndilei quotes Foote as saying in his trilogy that Forrest should be "a role model". Nowhere did Foote say that in any of those 3000 pages...and if he did, he meant militarily (have you ever noticed the people who despise Foote most impose fake quotes on his books?) Tastelessly, he accuses Foote of being a closet skinhead, despite that Foote was a Civil Rights advocate. I don't know what'd be worse: that he did it when Foote was alive (and in the documentary!), or that he'd still do it (or does it) when he is dead?

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

I should've mentioned that Ndilei quotes Foote as saying in his trilogy that Forrest should be "a role model". Nowhere did Foote say that in any of those 3000 pages...and if he did, he meant militarily (have you ever noticed the people who despise Foote most impose fake quotes on his books?) Tastelessly, he accuses Foote of being a closet skinhead, despite that Foote was a Civil Rights advocate. I don't know what'd be worse: that he did it when Foote was alive (and in the documentary!), or that he'd still do it (or does it) when he is dead?

Ditto. I like Foote's trilogy (presently I have loaned out Vol. I to a friend) and keep it on my bookshelf. So what if Foote did not use footnotes? He wrote credibly.

 

[TallTallMan]

Ditto. I like Foote's trilogy (presently I have loaned out Vol. I to a friend) and keep it on my bookshelf. So what if Foote did not use footnotes? He wrote credibly.

Foote inspires hatred I've yet to grasp.

 

[TallTallMan]

There was a website:

Rebel Forrest

Apparenty it was produced by a magazine called Y'all. I've never heard of it. The only thing that interested me was Jessica Simpson.

Wayback Machine

 

[Belfoured]

Ditto. I like Foote's trilogy (presently I have loaned out Vol. I to a friend) and keep it on my bookshelf. So what if Foote did not use footnotes? He wrote credibly.

He did but I think source notes are important. They allow you to see what the author's relying on. They also allow you to check his interpretations and use of the sources because, believe it or not, anybody can misinterpret a source or use it out of context without any intention to mislead. That's especially true of guys like Foote and Catton, who were not trained historians. Both obviously were excellent writers (I like Catton but that's purely opinion). But Catton at least used source notes and I can look at his writings 70 years later and point out that he used some primary sources that have since become questioned, etc. Does that change the overall quality of his books? No - but it does allow the reader to question some of the details. Source notes aren't just some academic exercise.

 

[Belfoured]

Foote inspires hatred I've yet to grasp.

I think the attitudes toward Foote are partly the result of some statements he made during interviews which were themselves a bit questionable - but it resulted in overreaction.

 

[TallTallMan]

He did but I think source notes are important. They allow you to see what the author's relying on. They also allow you to check his interpretations and use of the sources because, believe it or not, anybody can misinterpret a source or use it out of context without any intention to mislead. That's especially true of guys like Foote and Catton, who were not trained historians. Both obviously were excellent writers (I like Catton but that's purely opinion). But Catton at least used source notes and I can look at his writings 70 years later and point out that he used some primary sources that have since become questioned, etc. Does that change the overall quality of his books? No - but it does allow the reader to question some of the details. Source notes aren't just some academic exercise.

I personally prefer Foote to Catton, but I like both guys. They're fine as "fun reading".

I think the attitudes toward Foote are partly the result of some statements he made during interviews which were themselves a bit questionable - but it resulted in overreaction.

Yeah--I'm familiar with those

Being born in 1916, it was expected. But it's ridiculous how people obsessively flog that poor old man. I think it's jealousy of an "outsider". Robertson and Gallagher are two examples. I think I heard Krick insult him once.

 

[James Brenner]

He did but I think source notes are important. They allow you to see what the author's relying on. They also allow you to check his interpretations and use of the sources because, believe it or not, anybody can misinterpret a source or use it out of context without any intention to mislead. That's especially true of guys like Foote and Catton, who were not trained historians. Both obviously were excellent writers (I like Catton but that's purely opinion). But Catton at least used source notes and I can look at his writings 70 years later and point out that he used some primary sources that have since become questioned, etc. Does that change the overall quality of his books? No - but it does allow the reader to question some of the details. Source notes aren't just some academic exercise.

Agree completely. This goes back to an earlier discussion on critical thinking.

 

[TallTallMan]

That Winbush guy wrote the foreword for a book by everyone's favorite Kentucky Colonel:

 

[Belfoured]

I personally prefer Foote to Catton, but I like both guys. They're fine as "fun reading".


Yeah--I'm familiar with those

Being born in 1916, it was expected. But it's ridiculous how people obsessively flog that poor old man. I think it's jealousy of an "outsider". Robertson and Gallagher are two examples. I think I heard Krick insult him once.

The list of people "insulted" by Bob Krick is not a quick read.

 

[Belfoured]

That Winbush guy wrote the foreword for a book by everyone's favorite Kentucky Colonel:

View attachment 543461

I hear that Winbush is a direct descendant of Alexander the Great and is a cousin of William Shakespeare.

 

[19thGeorgia]

• David Ndilei, an "independent researcher" AKA he works at the Dairy Queen

Neo-Aboltionist Ndilei HATED him too much. He's a nobody, but he's extremely pompous, chuckling constantly at himself and his "knowledge". He claims to be the special Keeper of the Holocron in regards to Fort Pillow, and uses a strawman that the bad ol' professionals fawn over Forrest and conspire to cover up the "truth" that he was the worst guy ever is every possible way. He wrote a book on Fort Pillow: Extinguish the Flames of Racial Prejudice.

View attachment 543228

Extinguish the Flames of Racial Prejudice: The Fort Pillow Massacre by David Ndilei on Chamblin Bookmine

I.E.F. Publishing, 1996. 1st Printing. 8Vo Softcover. Good. Item #90762 288. Bright pages are unmarked. Binding is firm, hinges are secure. Wraps are glossy with creased corners and minor edge wear. Spine is unbroken. Bookstore stamp present on front endpage.

www.chamblinbookmine.com

According to this site he has a movie about Fort Pillow- "The only books and movie based on the discovery of the missing 1864 military investigation of the attack on Fort Pillow, Tennessee."

Ndilei Research

https://extinguishprejudice.com

payhip.com

 

[roberts]

I should've mentioned that Ndilei quotes Foote as saying in his trilogy that Forrest should be "a role model". Nowhere did Foote say that in any of those 3000 pages...and if he did, he meant militarily (have you ever noticed the people who despise Foote most impose fake quotes on his books?) Tastelessly, he accuses Foote of being a closet skinhead, despite that Foote was a Civil Rights advocate. I don't know what'd be worse: that he did it when Foote was alive (and in the documentary!), or that he'd still do it (or does it) when he is dead?

I believe that it was Tony Horwitz who said that Forrest was Foote's role model in his book, "Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War". He speculated that Foote lived vicariously through Forrest since he regretted not experiencing action in WW2.

 

[TallTallMan]

I believe that it was Tony Horwitz who said that Forrest was Foote's role model in his book, "Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War". He speculated that Foote lived vicariously through Forrest since he regretted not experiencing action in WW2.

That sounds right (I'm a big fan of the Horwitz book), but this Ndilei guy misconstrues it. It was not in CW: A Narrative, and Foote never told us to do the same.

 

[TallTallMan]

According to this site he has a movie about Fort Pillow- "The only books and movie based on the discovery of the missing 1864 military investigation of the attack on Fort Pillow, Tennessee."

Ndilei Research

https://extinguishprejudice.com

payhip.com

You can guess he's not getting any of my cash. Bro needs a chill pill.