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In Sweden this has long been portrayed as a foolish, nationalistic enterprise by someone who should have known better, sacrificing lives for no reason. (Combine
by tpmx 4y ago
In Sweden this has long been portrayed as a foolish, nationalistic enterprise by someone who should have known better, sacrificing lives for no reason. (Combined with a bit of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante)
I wonder if it wouldn't have been (previously) portrayed as primarily courageous in the US, had it all taken place with people from there?
... related, while there is a lot of new excitement about human spaceflight in the US now, almost every single piece of ~current mainstream TV/film drama (with the notable exception The Orville) focusing on space/scifi is dystopic and/or really negatively focusing on the human/family costs of the main characters (example: For All Mankind), to the point where it's getting a bit silly.
- thro388 4y agoIt depends on lens and perception. Sweden in past and US today are gynocentric societies. They take "women have always been the primary victims of war" quite literally. No enterprise can be good, if it leaves widows and orphans behind.
- mongol 4y agoI wonder how recent the portrayal you describe is. The popular view may have been influenced by Per Olof Sundman's book about it from 1967, it was certainly of that opinion. But I wonder if it was a widespread opinion also before then. I believe they got state funerals when they were found.
- tpmx 4y agoFair point. A lot of these things changed in the late 1960s, as new narratives were furiously being constructed.
- kzrdude 4y agoIsn't it embarrassing that it was foolish? I think so. Compare with many other polar expeditions that seem to have be carried out in higher professionalism. This was people who had no training in the area (and didn't ensure they had) who went to an adventure they were not ready for. We'd be embarrassed if it happened today, too?