It is an old axiom that history is written by the victors. If that is the case, then CSA: The Confederate States of America,” a new mockumentary produced by Spike Lee with writer/director Kevin Willmott, gives history a chance to rewrite itself through a different series of authors.
"CSA" presents itself as a British television documentary of American history as if the Confederacy had won the Civil War. With victories in Antietam and Gettysburg, the South manages to convince the British and French to join them against the Union, and Abraham Lincoln's call to emancipate the slaves fails. Lincoln is captured and the Confederate States of America sets up shop in Washington. Although much of the history from that point is speculative, "CSA" presents a history in which America becomes an imperial nation obsessed with race and status. Among other things, the CSA sides with Hitler in World War II and erects a wall along the Canadian border.
Willmott should be commended for creating a history for the CSA that is both detached and objective but unsettling to the average viewer. "CSA" is a satire and fake documentary, but every word that is spoken seems to have truth behind it. Because Willmott envisions the sequence of events so well, the movie becomes all the more fascinating.
Wilmott also has a great sense of history, transposing famous people from the time and making them fit the new situations. The film showcases alternate versions of D.W. Griffith's "Birth of a Nation" and "Gone with the Wind" among others. But where Willmott really excels is in creating the media and historical footage that results from this new world, like John F. Kennedy discussing slavery during the 1960 presidential debate with Richard Nixon or a 1905 interview with an Abraham Lincoln who has been exiled to Canada. Willmott also creates modern commercials for products, many of which were real brands with offensive logos or mascots. Some of the commercials are funny or seem outdated, and some are even very offensive. The fact that these were all at one time real products make them seem even more appalling.
It seems fitting that Spike Lee would have a hand in this production as well. The film seems to question whether we are really much better than the racist, insensitive people of the alternate timeline. If we live in a society where the products in the commercials were allowed to be sold and marketed as they were, have we really advanced? The film does not go out of its way to bring up these issues, but it was definitely somewhere in the filmmakers' minds while the film was being made.
"CSA" is one of the most inventive and creative films in recent memory. It deftly has fun with history while making a point about the nature of race and racism at the same time. Ultimately, "Confederate States of America" is a "what-iffer's" nightmare, but great fun for everyone else. The experience is not one anyone will soon forget.
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