Customer Reviews

CRACKER CRAZY: Invisible Histories of the Sunshine State

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This film is very well-researched and even uses footnotes throughout to cite its sources. The Florida Archives is definitely not the only source used; the list in fact is extensive. For those that are aware of the history of the U.S.A., learning of the eradication of Florida's Native people is not a surprise. It is a fact. It was done violently and immorally. It was done with lies. This film explores the nature of slavery, the Natives that would accept escaped slaves into their tribes, and the viciousness of the Americans that would hunt these people down. The tribes fought for their freedom. Wouldn't you? Other critics dismiss the truth as coming from "apologetic" white folks. I think apologizing would be a good first step. We Floridians have to learn from our history and not hide it in a closet. This film brings the hidden history of Florida out of the closet into the open. Of course people will want to shove it back in. If you're not completely ignorant, you will appreciate this film.

Koszulinksi has not only done a service to Floridians and local historians but to all Americans (and citizens of the world) who want to know more about some of the central people, periods, and events in America's history than most high school or college history books cover.

This is up-close-and-personal history. The amount covered is phenomenal -- but the viewer never has the feeling that anything is short-shrifted. From the Seminole Indians to the Ku Klux Klan to Walt Disney (did you know he was a U.S. government spy?) to Henry Flagler's famed (disastrous and now defunct) railroad to Key West, the narrative is always educational -- and always fascinating.

The narrators, including Vietnam Vet and peace activist Scott Camill (featured in the recently re-released 1971 documentary "Winter Soldier"), tell the story in lively but clear voices (sometimes in the character of a historical personage) in alternation with live footage and on-camera interviews.

Koszulinksi has also written, produced, and directed several other films, as well as acted in some of them: Silent Voyeur (2004), Blood of the Beast (2003), and Desinformatsia (2002). He won several awards for Blood of the Beast, a futuristic end-of-the-world horror flick. [...]

I moved from New York (where I was born) to Florida in 2000. Who would have thought that Florida history could be as interesting as The Big Apple's? Koszulinski is a unique and gifted writer and film-maker.

I thoroughly enjoyed Cracker Crazy and learned a great deal.

This is a very thought provoking history of Florida, and brings up topics that might shock many residents of Florida--very eye opening. It answers many of our questions about why Florida is that what that it is, and hints at things we can and should do to improve the quality of life in our state. This is a must see for all high school and college students in Florida.

The history you learned in school is lacking the details, which truly make history come alive. This is the era of documentaries, the text books and history are often written by the victors, but in a society with a conscious, this is a story which should be told. Expansionism does have its cost.
Most ethnic groups know this story; it has played itself out other the millennia, over and over.
Cracker Crazy may be difficult for Americans to palate, and maybe even harder to believe, it may be upsetting, but I would venture to say that after a viewing, you may look at your history a little bit differently than you did before.
This trip through the history of Florida from its Pre historic, Pre Columbian, pre Civil and Indian wars clear up to the Disney era is eye opening. I can recall as a young boy of the Disney deal, and how Disneyland functions as a nation in itself, but I had not come across anything to really substantiate the rumors until lately and now.
The style and tenor of this documentary is not Ken Burns, maybe if Ken Burns was pissed off and wanted to rip the top off of something, so don't expect a travel log.
I liked it, and I have been telling anyone willing to listen they should see this film. I have had one friend who grew up in Florida and after she saw this was angry for quite a while. This film will rip off your blinders.
Maybe we should revisit the histories that we hold near and dear and put them under microscopes, as well. Who knows maybe the Boston Tea Party might have been an act of civil disobedience, but food for fodder, if you had your hands on some valuable merchandise, and being a capitalist wouldn't you steal it? Maybe the bootlegged tea that the colonialists liked made it not necessary to take the British tea. Throwing it overboard was more of a statement of disdain rather than a protest of taxes on articles the people didn't want in the first place.
this might come across as a shockumentary.

This movie is good if you're a Florida history nut of some type but it is not perfect and has several obvious flaws. Still, if you're a Florida buff, why not? It does have some good parts to it. Worth the price but barely...

Let me save you 2 hours and summarize the movie for you: White man is bad. Development is bad. Walt Disney was an evil Nazi sympathizer. Florida Sugar exploits poor migrant workers. Al Gore lost the election because Jeb withheld 28k black votes.... blah, blah, blah.

Typical liberal spiel.

No actual history of how FL was surveyed and split up. No positive perspective of development and tourism; or how man has used the resources FL has to offer to aide society. I guess the film maker wants Floridians to feel guilty?!

Saw this documentary, it is poorly researched and slanted towards the filmmaker's own opinion, not fact. Quotes such notables as "The Nation" and other slanted views, has good archival images and footage, but overall not recommended for a School project or class nor for The average person who can't separate fact from fiction. If you enjoy Michael Moore and the Gore, and the sky is falling categories or simply looking to be indoctrinated with biased fiction not facts, perhaps this is for you. I would recommend renting it from the library or seeing for free since youtube has it there for free which is where I saw it. As a Floridian I found this film had nothing important or positive to say and it repeats itself over and over about things anybody would have known already and things that are made up. Look elsewhere for History.

I have researched Florida and Seminole War history for over 25 years, and have a very large personal collection of books and documents relating to the Seminole Wars. I found the content of this dvd poorly researched with bizarre splices of footage from the state archives. Maybe you like something with a strong political slant and the "evil whiteman" statement made by white apologists. I am more in favor of presenting history in an unbiased format and let the viewers decide.

Not only is the program incorrect on many of the statements they make, but blatantly biased. Saying that Zachary Taylor was "mysteriously" promoted to general because of the battle of Okeechobee shows the author's lack of understanding of history and the events. There was nothing "mysterious" about it. Taylor is certainly not my favorite historical character, but saying his promotion was mysterious was a poor statement to make.

And of all the people knowledgeable on the history of the Seminole wars, I don't know why the film producer could not interview one of them. Instead we see an old 50-year archival footage of someone who was never a published author in the Florida Historical Quarterly, Florida Anthropologist, or other journals of that time. I could be mistaken, but I certainly didn't recognize that guy, and I have a large library of Seminole War material. Maybe they were confined by a low budget and stuck to the state archival footage which is basically free to use.

There are many things I could pick apart of this piece of video trash, but the most bizarre was the treatment of Walt Disney. They are painting up Walt Disney as a Nazi sympathizer. Yes he may have hired some lady who made films in the early 30s for Hitler, but implying that Disney was a Nazi or Nazi sympathizer was a big stretch. I guess they forgot that Disney made anti-Axis cartoons during the war!

If you are a student of history, stick to the Discovery Channel or History Channel, and steer clear of this trash. Koszulinski should stick to the political and artsy films and not show his ignorance about history.