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Archives and Movie Madness



Laura Rose, in this discussion about archives, history, and the movies,
wrote: "I wasn't going to add to this huge thread but I just want to
express that movies are historical fiction unless they say they are
documentaries. When I watch a film, I don't worry about whether George
Washington really wore that color of wig or whether they used 30 lb guns
or 3 lb guns. I go to be entertained and usually I am. I feel it is a
shame when people tear something apart when the intent was not to be
completely accurate in the first place. It is the same way with book
fiction. Who cares if the author didn't depict a character the way we
think they should have, the author did what he or she wanted to."

While I never imagined that my posting about THE PATRIOT was going to
start off this long thread of discussion, but I do think that we must
admit that movies (and television) remain a primary means by which many
people learn about the past and things (such as archives) associated with
the past.  It is probable that many archivists will get requests from
people based on their viewing of filmed history (and I do not mean
documentaries).  Film is another document that we need to take into
account, and certainly need to recognize as much more powerful than most
historical records sitting quietly in repose in archival repositories.
And the creators of film often intend to influence our understanding of
the past.  As Robert Brent Toplin suggests, the Controversy about JFK came
about primarily because Stone "insisted that he had made an important
contribution to historical understanding" [Robert Brent Toplin, History by
Hollywood: The Use and Abuse of the American Past (Urbana: University of
Illinois Press, 1996)], p. 66. Likewise, Eric Foner, "Hollywood Invades
the Classroom," New York Times 20 December 1997, commented on the film
AMISTAD, focusing on the learning kit given to classrooms to go with the
film.  "The most galling assumption of the film's producers, however, is
that a subject does not exist until Hollywood discovers it," Foner argues.
"The guide ends with a quote from the film's producer, Debbie Allen,
condemning historians for having 'castrated' the 'real history' of
African-Americans and salary."  "If the film producer's really want to
promote an understanding of slavery, they should direct students to the
local library," Foner writes, "where they will find several shelves of
books on slavery and slave resistance."

So, we need to understand the impact of movies on our work, not just go
out and enjoy them.  If we can use the films to promote our cause in
documenting the past and so forth, then such films represent excellent
opportunities.  The books edited by Toplin on Ken Burns and Oliver Stone
suggest, however, that this is a very difficult chore, and one we must be
careful to approach with a serious purpose.  The realistic visual
portrayal of the American Revolution pales in comparison to attitudes
about slavery and a whole host of other matters in THE PATRIOT, whatever
the intent the producers and director may have had.  It is possible that
in the next few years THE PATRIOT will be used in classrooms or over the
Web as a "source" for understanding the American Revolution, while
archivists and librarians sit around and wonder why no one is coming to
their repositories to view their evidence.  It is a big deal.


Richard J. Cox
Professor
Department of Library and Information Sciences
School of Information Sciences
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Voice:  412-624-3245
FAX:    412-648-7001
e-mail: rcox@mail.sis.pitt.edu
homepage: http://www.lis.pitt.edu/~rjc

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