The Liberator
Stockholm 2020-12-04
Source: Netflix
Recently I saw “The Liberator”, a new Netflix produced show. What makes The Liberator special and more interesting for me as a historian is its animations and comic-book style illustrations.
The Liberator is a four-episodes mini-series storey about US Army soldiers from the 157 Regiment “Thunderbirds” during the Second World War. As a viewer, one learns that this regiment was famous for being one of the most decorated ones and because it consisted mainly by individuals who came from communities that often were exposed to racism, repression and bigotary in contemporary America: Italians, Mexicans and Native-Americans.
The story takes place mostly in Europe concerning combat and in the USA concerning training. Besides combat, war and fighting the show is also about other topics such as racism, Holocaust and individual histories. As a viewer, one will be able to see several famous places such as landing at Anzio in Italy and Dachau death-camp in Germany.
Another focus for the show is about leadership, mainly focusing on the lieutenant Felix Sparks who advances to the position of the colonel because of his personal skills. Among things that are surrounding Sparks are that he is not asking his men to do things, he cannot do himself. As an officer, Sparks cars a lot about his soldiers and he is not only leading them but empowering them, including by anti-racist actions.
The show is also entertaining and insightful for different that include both street-language and jargons as well as deeper philosophical thoughts and conversations. Since the regiment is on the move and fighting almost all the time, the show is hard to describe as boring and slow. Instead, after four episodes, I wish that there was at least a fifth one to be seen.