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Re: History and the Movies



On Thu, 29 Jun 2000 14:02:18 -0700 Charles_D_Piotrowski@SEAGATE.COM
wrote:


> I agree that the movies often get it wrong when it comes to "accurate"
> history, but we should give the movie industry some credit in at least
> asking the pros about what and how it happened.  Even if they choose to
> ignore their advice.
>

Is it really that the movie industry *ignores* advice or is it more
that in being a collaborative artform, other aspects weigh in? ... i.e.
not being dead on accurate to appeal to modern audiences? For instance,
I have noticed in attending performances of plays that there are many
instances where there is an attempt at being *colorblind* by casting
mixed races in roles (an African-American married to a white European)
during a time historically it would be considered taboo. Yet during the
performance, not one character winks an eye. Part of the reason for
doing this is to demonstrate the *timelessness* of the material.

In film, Citizen Kane is not a biography of William
Randolph Hearst, but it certainly utilizes Hearst's life as an
inspiration.  Does not getting the details of Hearst historically
accurate make the film a lesser work?

And for my own personal tastes, does having to see the actual bloodshed
of war make a stronger impact than its mere representation and the
impact it has on the human psyche? Is it now the case that modern audiences
must actually see the gore to *get it*? I felt I *got it* when Janet
Leigh was butchered in the shower in Psycho during a sequence where the
knife never actually touched her skin. The mere suggestion of its
impact was terrifying enough.

I don't think creating a work of art necessarily means creating a
treatise on the subject. I'm less bothered by whether a film
is dead-on historically accurate than I am by a bad script, mis-cast
actors, and a poorly put together product.

Besides, I find film an interesting historical document within the
context of the time it was created. 2001: a space odyssey looks less
like the year 2001 than it does the year 1968.

--Andrea



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrea Leigh
Young Research Library
UCLA
aleigh@library.ucla.edu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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