Lost macho conquerors

The article, “History TV series produced in Maine” (BDN, March 28), was meant to be a “Mainer makes good in the city” story, but the content struck me as strange. It described an historical TV documentary series made in Maine about “early explorers of North America.”

Who were the real “early explorers of North America”? The only reason white Europeans had to “explore” North America is because, like macho guys everywhere, when they got lost in a new neighborhood they were too embarrassed to ask the locals for directions. North America had, in fact, already been fully explored by its inhabitants when the Europeans got here.

Apparently not satisfied with their simple plot and afraid that “exploration didn’t sound sexy enough,” our TV geniuses demanded that the series be renamed “Conquest of America.” While this is a truer title for what actually occurred over time, I find it hard to fathom why the boring story of “lost white guys too embarrassed to ask locals for directions” becomes “sexy” simply by changing it to “lost white guys who are too embarrassed to ask locals for directions go and kick local butts.”

There really is a gripping story out there for a creative Maine filmmaker about the culture that existed in North American in the 1500s and the ways in which it has managed to survive to the present day despite centuries of exploration and conquest. And perhaps we could all take some direction from that story to give pause to the runaway train of the consumer-driven culture those lost macho conquerors ended up bringing with them and still to this day believe they control.

Judson Esty-Kendall

Glenburn