Documentaries offer perspective

There’s often a debate of how long it takes the study of a time period to pass from recent memory into “history”.

Some historians say it takes about 30 or 40 years to put enough space between events and the present to get the proper perspective. Still others say it might take an entire lifetime.

The distance between the present and the past can help create a sense of context, understanding how the events influence us now through the long continuous thread that is our shared human history.

Ken Burns, a documentary filmmaker for PBS, has a way of taking us back in time, to understand more than just the events, but also the underlying factors that helped historic events bubble to the surface.

Like good journalists, historians have an obligation to objectivity. History is a powerful tool, and those who study it must have an appreciation for telling it without “a side.”

Burns is a model of that obligation. In the past, he’s produced award-winning documentaries on the Civil War, World War II, Prohibition, the history of baseball and the Roosevelts. In each, he’s used reams of letters and first-hand accounts to cobble together stories that are not only engaging, but accurate and unbelievably informative.

Now Burns and fellow producer Lynn Novick are about to release the documentary that may define their careers. “The Vietnam War” has been in production for 10 years. That seems like a long time to create an 18-hour documentary, but it’s important that care is taken in recording one of the most divisive and difficult periods in modern U.S. history.

There’s no doubt it will be tough to watch. But it’s important that we learn as much as we can about the tumultuous period in our history. Some of you reading were alive during that period, and likely have a different perspective than younger generations who may not have learned the full history.

In a time when our country seems to be heading down the road of further division, perhaps learning more about our past could serve as a healing salve. At least that’s what Burns and Novick hope.

There have been many documentaries on the Vietnam war that include testimony from American soldiers and those who were eyewitnesses to its horrors. But what interests me about this project is the effort the production crew took to include stories of the enemies U.S. troops faced. Alongside interviews with American soldiers, the documentary will feature the thoughts and experiences of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters — not to glorify them, but simply to tell the true story of what happened.

It’s often difficult to tread the line of objectivity. Even those who do it well are still accused of bias by some. But Burns and Novick are two of the best, and their deep dive into a painful part of our country’s past is not only a chance for us to enlighten ourselves, but to also better understand the world we live in today.

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“The Vietnam War” will premier at 8 p.m. Sunday on PBS and run nightly through Thursday. Episodes six through 10 will air Sept. 24 to 28.