Overview
The movie is presented as if it were a British documentary being broadcast on Confederate network television, even including fictional commercials between segments of the documentary. It opens with a (fictional) disclaimer that suggests that censorship came close to preventing the broadcast, that its point of view might not coincide with that of the TV network, and that it might not be suitable for viewing by children and "servants". It purports to disagree with the orthodox Confederate American interpretation of American history.
It portrays two historians, Sherman Hoyle, a conservative Confederate States of America (CSA) white man, and Patricia Johnson, a black Canadian, as "talking heads," providing commentary. Throughout the documentary, a Confederate politician and Democratic presidential candidate, John Ambrose Fauntroy V (the great-grandson of one of the men who helped to create the CSA), is interviewed. Narration explains faux historical newsreel footage, which is either acted for the production, or made of genuine footage with fictional, dubbed narration.
Racist ads aimed at white slave-owning families appear throughout the movie, including an electronic shackle for tracking runaway slaves, a Runaway television program (satirizing COPS), Sambo X-15 Axle Grease, Darkie Toothpaste, Gold dust washing powder, Niggerhair cigarettes, and the Coon Chicken Inn. Additional commercials were produced but deleted from the final cut, including ads for the Confederate States Air Force and the children's show Uncle Tom and Friends. The sitcom Beulah is portrayed as Leave It to Beulah. Also shown is a slave auction held online, with internet replacing the traditional slave market.
At the film's end, titles note that parts of the fictional CSA timeline are based on real-life history, and that some of the advertised products did exist.
Read more about this topic: C.S.A.: The Confederate States Of America