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First example that popped into my head was Mutiny on the Bounty. Anthony Hopkins as Bligh.

fennecfoxen 6y ago
Captain Bligh was actually notable for an unorthodox management style. He was doing his best to be an enlightened and humane captain of the ship and, for a long time on the way to Tahiti, managed to entirely avoid floggings. He gradually reverted to a more traditional naval flogging policy as five months in Tahiti led to dereliction of duty, but his main morale problems were more around Tahiti being a tropical paradise, while life on board a ship is miserable. Taking away the rum because someone stole his private coconuts probably hurt more than the beatings. (However, he is easily conflated with Edward Edwards, who was sent to hunt down the mutineers and bring them to England to be tried and hung. Cruelty was in the job description.)
- pwdisswordfish2 6y ago
  Your comment reads as if you were there. :) The film is just a film, probably not a true reflection of what happened. Memorable for the performances nonetheless, speaking only for myself.
  - fennecfoxen 6y ago
    The incident was investigated in detail, with several journals, testimony in court of ten mutineers (of whom only three were hung), as well as the captain's own logs, and more. Much of it is fascinating reading. Bligh's own post-mutiny voyage was nothing short of heroic and he was hailed upon his return. The interesting human study, I think, is the image of Bligh as the earnest, "enlightened captain," but a failure at that: paternalistic, overbearing, out of touch, naïve about the motives and feelings of those serving under him, prone to causing jealousy and resentment, dangerously mixing business and friendship with things like a personal loan to his first mate... and just not self-aware, oblivious to his own anger management issues and the impact of verbal abuse on his officers. You could take real management lessons from that.
lioeters 6y ago
The Bounty (1984) - Directed by Roger Donaldson; Starring Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier; Based on the book "Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian" by Richard Hough

Captain Bligh was actually notable for an unorthodox management style. He was doing his best to be an enlightened and humane captain of the ship and, for a long time on the way to Tahiti, managed to entirely avoid floggings. He gradually reverted to a more traditional naval flogging policy as five months in Tahiti led to dereliction of duty, but his main morale problems were more around Tahiti being a tropical paradise, while life on board a ship is miserable. Taking away the rum because someone stole his private coconuts probably hurt more than the beatings. (However, he is easily conflated with Edward Edwards, who was sent to hunt down the mutineers and bring them to England to be tried and hung. Cruelty was in the job description.)

pwdisswordfish2 6y ago
Your comment reads as if you were there. :) The film is just a film, probably not a true reflection of what happened. Memorable for the performances nonetheless, speaking only for myself.
- fennecfoxen 6y ago
  The incident was investigated in detail, with several journals, testimony in court of ten mutineers (of whom only three were hung), as well as the captain's own logs, and more. Much of it is fascinating reading. Bligh's own post-mutiny voyage was nothing short of heroic and he was hailed upon his return. The interesting human study, I think, is the image of Bligh as the earnest, "enlightened captain," but a failure at that: paternalistic, overbearing, out of touch, naïve about the motives and feelings of those serving under him, prone to causing jealousy and resentment, dangerously mixing business and friendship with things like a personal loan to his first mate... and just not self-aware, oblivious to his own anger management issues and the impact of verbal abuse on his officers. You could take real management lessons from that.

lioeters 6y ago

The Bounty (1984) - Directed by Roger Donaldson; Starring Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier; Based on the book "Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian" by Richard Hough