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History is always viewed through the lens of the person retelling it. Very few historical accounts are immune from the flourish of an author or historian eager
by brc 17y ago
History is always viewed through the lens of the person retelling it. Very few historical accounts are immune from the flourish of an author or historian eager to leave their view on the way things happened.
Strictly speaking, it doesn't matter if Saving Private Ryan was fiction, it depicts the reality of war quite well. The accuracy of dress, vehicles, weapons and command structures is enough to make it a useful film, even if the story is complete fiction.
- Tichy 17y agoUseful, yes - but few people will watch it that way. Nobody goes to see that movie just to see a realistically looking uniform.
- brc 17y agoTrue, but they will subconciously absorb the level of detail, such that when watching another, poor recreation of WW2 that they will see it as such. I'm looking at this through the prism of any improvement in historical sense is better than nothing for the average joe, as long it isn't off by orders of magnitude.
- Tichy 17y agoIt's hardly the accuracy of costumes that matters about history. What matters is motivations of people and reasons for stuff happening. Hollywood movies are especially bad at portraying that accurately.
- balding_n_tired 17y agoAccuracy, perhaps, but Hollywood accuracy--it looks just the way things would have looked in 1944 if orthodontia had by then reached its perfection and the Wehrmacht and Rangers recruited based on looks. Steven Spielberg has a terrific eye for detail, but I would argue the historic sense and insight of a grade-school kid playing GI in the back yard.