I just sat through a grueling day of
watching Texas Rising, the behemoth made-for-television series which
premiered on the History Channel a couple of years ago. I was
pleasantly surprised overall, since being a Native Texan, I was born
knowing that nobody could ever do the story justice. But Bill Paxton made
an interesting Sam Houston, although at times he seemed flawed and underwhelming; very much
what his Houston character admits to President Burnet, his rival, but nevertheless loved because he was victorious
in spite of his faults. And that in itself gave people hope. True
enough.
The Western Channel devoted the whole
day to broadcasting all ten segments. After hours of reprogramming my
cherished notions, something a little less bothersome than Chinese
water-torture, I began to accept Paxton's Houston... and began to
enjoy the characters created around him.
Still, I had to get past several very
annoying artistic decisions which will forever grate on my Texian
paradigm. They shot the film in mountainous terrain, totally foreign
to the land which owns these legends which are revered all over the world. They
ignored historical characters essential to the story to make room for
a steamy sexual rivalry between Houston and Santa Anna, both of whom
supposedly shared the affections of the legendary “Yellow
Rose.” I would never waste time trying to defend Sam's honor, as
I am well aware of his infamous indiscretions, but it seems that
Rising's Houston was a great deal more in love with the Negress than
legend ever suggested. We're talking passionately devoted and begging
for marriage.
The screenplay writers must have been
clueless that Houston was freshly separated from his Cherokee wife,
whom he had claimed when he filed for his Texas land grant. Not to
mention several other Native American women who were also claiming
him as they raised his offspring. Not to mention his first wife back in Tennessee, whom he had not gotten a proper divorce from.
The temptation to abuse artistic
license is just too great for movie producers to ever do an honorable
job of depicting the facts of history. You never want to get in the
way of a good story. Media has the same problem with covering the
news. People don't want facts, they want to be entertained, and we
should never disappoint them.
So I got over it and enjoyed the series
for what it was. Total fantasy. That made it easier to overlook the
craggy mountains over Victoria, Texas, the HUMONGOUS buffalo head
balanced oh-so-perfectly on Buffalo Hump, the Comanche war chief's
head while he rode around blinded, no doubt, and the Red Wing boots
on Deaf Smith's feet. By the time Sam was slobbering all over the legendary Yellow
Rose, ready to throw away all political viability, and father a race
of Texian mulattoes, I was sippin' the absinthe.
Forgetting the movie was
supposed to be about Texas, I really got teared up when Deaf Smith
has to shoot his faithful horse, and when a bunch of scraggly Texas
Rangers empty their pockets to help pay restitution for their fellow
ranger's theft in a past life, to save him from the noose. I even
found the scene beautiful where Santa Anna comforts a dying Mexican
soldier, while hiding in a deep underground cavern... IN THE
BOTTOMLAND of the San Jacinto valley.
AND THEN, there were those giant
mechanical wheels at the beginning of each segment... made up of
swords and guns and roses... outrageous stacks of powerful nefarious
gears, like Hong Kong bling cum Military Industrial Complex... with a
Texas star... And some sweet Millennial designer sighed: “There!
That makes it authentic.” I could just imagine the poor Texians
getting caught up and ground up by it.
Hey... but I loved it! I would give
this affectionate tribute an 8 out 10. It's not Lonesome Dove, which
may have gotten the only 10 that I have ever given for a “Texas”
film... I gave Places in the Heart a 9... and Trip to Bountiful a
7... so I am pretty hard to impress. So heck, for sheer art, I give
Texas Rising an 8.5! It made me cry and it made me think, and it made
me want to go write the TRUE Texas story that doesn't stink... that Hollywood would finally
make. But until then, Texas Rising will get a rise out of Texas.
