American Gods

I'm two episodes into the HBO miniseries JOHN ADAMS, starring Paul Giamatti as Adams, and so far it's a tour de force. The second episode focuses on the Continental Congress and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. The production seems so faithfully and carefully done that it has the same effect as something like Lord of the Rings, where you want to pause every frame and just look at it.

My favorite scene involves Benjamin Franklin and John Adams critiquing Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, while Jefferson sits in a corner looking on, a bit nervous and a bit annoyed -- two feelings well known to anyone who's ever had their writing workshopped. When Franklin suggests changing "We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable" to "We hold these truths to be self-evident," Jefferson examines his fingernails and quietly asserts that he chose every word for a reason, harumph.

The movie resists treating the men as American gods -- their flaws and foibles are on full display -- with the exception, so far, of George Washington. Even before he has any lines, when he's just glimpsed in the background, you know it's him and you feel like maybe you should stand up or something.

Anyway, it makes the hair on my neck stand up when I think that these men in their powdered wigs continue to have such an impact on my life and on the entire world.