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Studio: Pbs Release Date: 06/02/2009
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A view of arctic social history,
By
This review is from: American Experience: The Alaska Pipeline (DVD)
This documentary gives the viewer an excellent look of behind-the-scene developments of the Alaska Pipeline that took up most of the 1970s, when this country was trying to heal from the wounds of the Vietnam War. This is social history from the mouths of those who were there. What you won't get are detailed technological excerpts from geologists or chemists who surely also were a part of this dream, although some engineers are featured who warned of the dangers of building a pipeline that was originally intended to be buried underground across its 800-mile length.
What starts out as a congressional discussion of the merits of building the Alaska pipeline, from environmental issues from young Vietnam-era youths to financial profiteering by the oil companies turns into an interesting social history led by those who lived through this era: teamsters, welders, and anyone who ventured North to be a part of this experience. If you were middle class and white, you had a good chance of being hired for this project if you applied early enough. At a time when people were making $1500 a week on this pipeline, teachers who were making $1000 a month in the Lower 48 were attracted to this adventure. Welders from Oklahoma known as the 798ers were the formidable team who were so mean and yet so good at their craft that they practically ruled the pace and behavior of the entire construction team. Crime and corruption became a part of the workers' existence as drugs and alcohol were used by most of the working team to overcome harsh working conditions. Yet all these workers in Alaska required support personnel. The population of Fairbanks and other Alaska towns grew quickly to support the workers and their families. A few women joined the team, some were even Native American, but not as many resident Alaskans were hired, but to the chagrin of Alaskans. Building this pipeline was our last frontier and many wanted to be a part of this history. This pipeline brought Alaska into the 20th century and turned it into an oil state. Seen as a success, the Alaska pipeline documentary shows both sides of the story: it is true that many Americans got wealthy off of this project, but many Native Americans in Alaska did not profit from this. They lost pristine lands, they lost their time and place. Many workers on the pipeline opted to stay in Alaska and become a part of the landscape; a few continued working for the oil companies. Documentary footage and personal narratives make up this 50-minute production. No one disputes that building this pipeline was a construction marvel. One also gets exposed to ethical questions. The pipeline was funded by the oil companies and became our biggest privately-funded construction project since the railroads a century before. Native American tribes whose land was taken from them never received the retributions that were promised to them by the government or oil companies. The Prince Valdez oil spill was a result, in part, of this pipeline as environmentalists had feared massive oil spills once this pipeline was completed. Today we have defense contractors paying its workers even more (by comparable standards) fighting overseas wars. Definitely a must-see for those who live(d) in Alaska in the 1970s, for anyone who was part of this experience and anyone interested in American social history.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed this for no particular reason.,
By
This review is from: American Experience: The Alaska Pipeline (DVD)
The American Experience doesn't limit itself to famous people or wars. Like their episodes on the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge, this focuses on an edifice. The work spends approximately 10 minutes on the fight not to get the pipeline built, but then the rest of it concerns the manufacturing of the item.
I don't really care for science. This work was tailored to viewers like me: it focused on the human aspect, not the technical matters. The narrator says close to nothing about chemical elements and physics concepts, and that ol' boring stuff. This work spoke about Alaska residents, indigenous Alaskans, women, etc. I was in diapers when all of this was happening, but I've seen enough "Good Times" reruns to know the character James Evans, Sr. died working in Alaska and this non-fictional work gives the context for that fictional plot twist. This work makes union members look like the most conniving and unethical people around. However, if the viewer listens carefully, it also says capital basically said, "We'll pay you a lot and let you act a fool so long as you don't have strikes or do anything else that will slow production!" This documentary could not predict the future. However, right now, the country is seriously two steps away from doing more oil collection in Alaska. If this pipeline works well, then shouldn't we be able to build more of them without killing animals and increasing global warming? This work never really says if oil prices in the US went down due to the pipeline and I wish it would have connected those dots.
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