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Fwd: Re: History and the Movies



Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 11:34:07 -0700
From: "Bunker, Kevin" <kbunker@SS.CA.GOV>
Subject: Re: History and the Movies

Ah, yes, TITANIC..."small potatoes" this may be, but did anyone else notice
the early scene alongside the great ship prior to her voyage...hordes of
people moving towards here, gawking. And there, in the foreground, as the
mails were being loaded aboard sat huge mail sacks, half properly (I hope)
marked "ROYAL MAIL" with the crown's crest above, and the American mail?
Marked "Property of the United States Postal Service." [Small twinge]. James
Cameron and the public probably didn't notice or give a whit...

At least the sacks didn't have the "speeding pullet" eagle or the phrase,
"We Deliver for You."

Kevin Bunker
Student Assistant
California State Archives

I hope I'm not misinterpreting Kevin Bunker's posting here -- I'm assuming
he's bothered by the U.S. mail sacks on the dock.  Fact is, the RMS Titanic
(RMS=Royal Mail Ship) did carry U.S. mail and none of the three U.S. Sea
Post Clerks assigned to the Titanic survived it's sinking.  See the web
page for the exhibit at the U.S. Postal Museum:
http://www.si.edu/postal/titanic/titanic.html

Please do not mistake this as a defense of the historical accuracy of
Titanic or "historical" movies in general.  While I'm sure there are
conscientious and considerate researchers for films, TV, etc., the
outpouring of negative experiences we've seen on this thread seems pretty
compelling to me.

We too have been the victims of "deadlineitis" -- the TV sports folks who
called one of our staff at home on New Year's eve for footage of a previous
bowl game for the next day.  Don't even ask me about the one who wanted us
to fax the videotape to them -- presumably they had a long roll of paper at
their end!

While these folks can be "problem patrons" of the first water, I have to
agree with Richard Cox that most people in the audience don't recognize
these films and TV shows as "fiction" or see the nuances that some of the
posters on this theme have suggested.  They believe this stuff; especially
when they read all the puffery in the media about the "historical accuracy"
of these works.  That is a phenomenon worthy of study in and of
itself.   Braveheart, for all its errors, apparently had an impact on
Scottish public opinion and influenced the vote for greater autonomy for
Scotland, which has resulted in the establishment of the first Scottish
Parliament in over 300 years.

Lee Stout
Penn State Univ. Archivist



  *********************************************************
  Lee Stout, Penn State University Archivist ---- ljs@psulias.psu.edu
  104 Paterno Library, University Park, PA 16802-1808
  Voice:  (814) 865-7931 ----- Fax:  (814) 863-5318
  ***********************************************************

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