Mike Rowe’s New Documentary ‘Something to Stand For’: A Patriotic Tribute to American History

Mike Rowe's "The Way I Heard It" podcast is the top short-form podcast in America. His new documentary "Something to Stand For" aims to inspire patriotism and gratitude for America. (Mike Rowe)

Mike Rowe, known for his work on the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” and “Deadliest Catch” series, is set to release a new film titled “Something to Stand For.” This film is a unique blend of short stories and historical reflections designed to reignite a sense of patriotism and gratitude among Americans.

Mr. Rowe’s journey to creating this film began with his passion for storytelling. In an in-depth interview with The Epoch Times, Mr. Rowe described the concept behind his latest project.

“This movie happened because I started writing short stories a few years ago in the style of Paul Harvey,“ he said. ”So I started writing my version of them. I called it ‘The Way I Heard It,’ and those stories turned into a podcast, and then they turned into a book, and then they turned into a TV show. And then, not long ago, somebody pulled me aside and said, ‘Hey, you should take 8 or 9 of these things, like, the real patriotic ones, and stitch them together for a movie for Independence Day.’ And I thought, ‘That’s not a horrible idea.’”

The film adapts these short stories for the big screen, interweaving them with a trip to Washington, where Mr. Rowe visits monuments and memorials. “What comes out the other end is not a movie that looks like anything I’ve ever seen in a theater before. It’s not a documentary, but neither is it a big narrative. There are 300 actors in this thing, but they don’t talk to each other. They all are there to bring the stories to life in this fun combination of big recreations and drunk history,” Mr. Rowe explained. He emphasized that the film is a “love letter” to the people who built the country and a reflection on gratitude.

In today’s politically charged atmosphere, Mr. Rowe’s film aims to unite, rather than divide.

“I did want to put a movie out there that was not political, but also unapologetically patriotic. And that’s what this is, you know, each story is another example of something I think most Americans can agree is worth standing for, and the final story is called ‘Something to Stand For,’ and I liked it so much I thought, ‘Well, let’s just call the movie the same thing.’”

Mr. Rowe believes it is crucial to revisit the stories of American sacrifice and unity.

“If we lose our shared connection to the past, it’s not just the present that’s going to be confusing. It’s the future. We have to be able to agree on the virtue of the fundamental principles that our country was built upon,” he said.

Mr. Rowe argued that acknowledging the imperfections in American history does not diminish the nation’s achievements.

“Our country was founded by imperfect people, and we are far from finished. But this idea that we can’t take pride in what we have accomplished, and that we can’t be grateful for what we have achieved, and that we can’t celebrate what we have built simply because we’re not perfect—that’s dangerous, in my view.”

Mr. Rowe emphasized that his film is not intended to be a lecture or a sermon but an entertaining way to inspire gratitude.

“The movie’s goal is to awaken and encourage some level of gratitude in the people who see it. If you’re grateful, if you look at this whole experiment—and I don’t mean the country, I mean all of it: the fact that you’re alive, the fact that you walk the earth, the fact that you live in America—if you’re not completely overwhelmed with gratitude by those things, then you’re going to have a harder time than you otherwise would, in my opinion.”

He hopes viewers will walk away with a renewed sense of pride and purpose.

“I do believe that a lot of people walking around today don’t think there’s anything to stand for. They don’t think there’s anything they can feel proud about with regard to who we are as a country—that’s not good, and I do hope the movie will stand in some kind of opposition to that feeling.”

Connection and Gratitude

The film, which spans the American Revolution through the Civil Rights Movement, balancing the importance of history with the need to keep it relevant.

“Those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it,“ Mr. Rowe noted. ”But I also think that those who try to keep the past alive by bludgeoning the viewer with dates and times and chronologies of events—that’s not really history. That’s just stuff that happened. For history to feel relevant to people today, it has to be a story.”

Mr. Rowe’s approach is deeply personal, influenced by his father, a history teacher.

“A lot of these stories about the people in the movie I heard from my dad. He knew his students weren’t in his class because they loved history. They were in his class because they had to take it. And so, as a teacher, he had to find a way to encourage some sense of curiosity about who we are, where we came from.”

Marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Mr. Rowe reflected on the importance of remembrance.

“If we can lose the freedoms that we fought for, if we can lose the advancements that we’ve made, if we can lose all the progress we’ve achieved, then we can surely forget about what happened in Normandy once upon a time, which is precisely why we mustn’t. We can’t forget about Pearl Harbor, and we can’t forget that today there are millions of people living in America who weren’t born when 9/11 happened.”

Ultimately, Mr. Rowe believes that storytelling plays a crucial role in preserving history.

“We only remember what we’re told is worth remembering. And in this country, as in every country, there are more townspeople than artists. There are more townspeople than leaders. And so, really, I think it’s incumbent upon storytellers to tell the sorts of stories that need to be remembered. But it’s doubly incumbent on the townspeople and the viewers to have a sense of curiosity and to encourage that curiosity in their families and in our schools.”

American Craftsmanship

Mr. Rowe, a long-time advocate for the skilled trades, chose to focus on the often-overlooked heroes of American history. The featured heroes in “Something to Stand For” embody the spirit of American craftsmanship.

“If you talk about our founding fathers, you’re talking about masons, you’re talking about bricklayers, you’re talking about architects, you’re talking about inventors and farmers. You’re talking about people who were profoundly connected to where their food comes from, to what their history is,” Rowe said.

The Mike Rowe Foundation, which has awarded work ethic scholarships since 2008, aims to change the narrative around skilled labor.

“I spend most of my time talking about our collective reliance on the people who keep the lights on, who tend to our infrastructure, and who bring us the food,“ Mr. Rowe explained. ”I talk a lot about my addiction to chewing and swallowing things, to smooth roads, to affordable energy, to indoor plumbing. All of those things, I think, are adjacent to our history.”

Mr. Rowe emphasized that understanding and appreciating these trades is vital.

“To not be connected to our food, to not really understand where it comes from, to not really understand the miracle of flushing a toilet that works, or flicking a light switch and having the lights come on—to be willfully disconnected from those things is not so different than not knowing what happened on the beaches of Normandy. For me, it’s all of a piece, and it all comes back to appreciation and, ultimately, gratitude.”

Mr. Rowe lamented the stigma that surrounds skilled labor, despite the importance of these professions.

“For whatever reason, in our culture, we’ve erected a series of stigmas and stereotypes and myths and misperceptions that surround a great many really important jobs. Welding—you know, we’ve trained 2,000 people through my foundation in the various skilled trades. Welding is probably the biggest one,” he noted.

Mr. Rowe pointed out the bias at social gatherings.

“You’re at a cocktail party, talking to people, and ‘Oh, my daughter’s a doctor,’ ‘My son is an attorney,’ and this and this, and yeah, ‘My kid’s a welder.’ Nobody says anything. People don’t want to be rude, but they all think the same thing, right? ‘Oh, a welder. He really didn’t have what it took to get through a four-year program.’”

He noted that this cultural perception has far-reaching implications.

“What we have is a default position that all these trades are some kind of vocational consolation prize, and that the people who do these kinds of things are doing them because they couldn’t hack it in the more aspirational lane,“ Mr. Rowe said. ”That’s nonsense. I know so many welders making six figures and up who love their job. I know so many plumbers who are running their own business, who work whenever they feel like, and, frankly, charge whatever they want.”

The shortage of skilled labor is becoming more apparent as the demand grows.

“The supply and demand is so upside down that the people at those cocktail parties don’t have a clue, and what they’re starting to realize now is, it isn’t how much you can make as a plumber that’s the question. The question now is, how long do you want to wait for one? How long do you want to wait for the electrician that you need? That house you’re trying to build—just how much over budget and over time do you think it’s going to be? The answer is way more than you can imagine because the shortages in skilled labor are real. So yeah, those stigmas are real.”

As Mr. Rowe eloquently put it, “If you’re not grateful for the skilled tradespeople in your life, then you won’t value them, and if you don’t value them, you’re not going to tacitly encourage the next generation to step up and learn a skill that’s in demand.”

“Something To Stand for” hits theaters on June 25 and will run for one week. Showtimes and tickets are available at somethingtostandfor.movie