Though I may
haunt the fringes of the internet as an amateur television critic, my first
and foremost concern is with my grad school work. (Trust me, I wish that
it was the other way around too.) As such, I present to you Pixelated History, my attempt to write reviews/posts that seek to discuss historical practice and television
in equal measure, mostly in preparation for my master’s thesis, but also just because I think it will be fun. Pixelated History isn’t about nitpicking the details
of historical dramas; it’s about analyzing how television depicts and influences
our understanding of our past.
This is not a straightforward review of the show; for
that I can send you to any number of reviews, all of which say more or less the
same thing about Hell on Wheels. That it feels like a rip-off of Deadwood.
That it’s lazy. That it’s just not that interesting. All of these things are
true, and if it’s wasn't for a more compelling reason, I would probably stop watching
that show right now.
That reason? My interest in history. As a grad student in
the subject, I have been subjected to a whole lot of courses, both about
historical events, and the practice of history itself, and as I come closer and
closer to obtaining my master’s (read: writing my thesis), I’ve begun to home
on my topic, and I now seek to combine two things I love the most: history and
television.
