Over the past week I watched the 2020 HBO series “The Plot Against America,” based upon the novel of the same name by Philip Roth and produced by David Simon who did “The Wire” and “Treme” among other TV shows. I watched an hour each day.
It is an alternative history of WWII where Charles A Lindbergh runs against FDR in 1940 and wins that election. Over the course of the next two years, it shows how the lives of one Jewish family in Newark, the Levins, are affected by the political turmoil as Lindbergh keeps USAmerica out of the war, signs the “Iceland agreement” with Hitler, and anti-Semitism becomes outright violence.
Each episode cut too close to the bone because of the resonance with what is happening today. Often, I found myself on the verge of tears and edging into anger.
Oddly, given Philip Roth’s reputation, some of the strongest characters were women, especially the mater familias, Bess Levin, played by Zoe Kazan, who is often the clearest sighted of all.
The cover of the DVD I got from the library has a tag-line under the title: “Freedom can never be completely won but it can be lost.” That seems to be more accurate than I’d like it to be.
Please watch this short series. It might make a difference.