tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post8261036205736645002..comments2023-05-03T06:25:35.057-05:00Comments on Writer's Musings: Hysterical Historical PortrayalsJ. L. Kruegerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03335606939334631954noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-33208752774521546812009-11-22T08:10:32.000-05:002009-11-22T08:10:32.000-05:00Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium? ...Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium? <br />Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-31299936302597210562008-04-28T09:52:00.000-05:002008-04-28T09:52:00.000-05:00I do often like the history/fiction crossover thou...I do often like the history/fiction crossover though... it does have its place. Look at Captote with 'In Cold Blood', he started a whole new genre by fusing the two things. <BR/><BR/>I suppose you can't blame Hollywood for 'creative licence' in such matters though... that's what gets the audiences. But some sort of disclaimer would help, wouldn't it?Laura Jane Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12483166722690608208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-78198728128041244322008-04-27T18:21:00.000-05:002008-04-27T18:21:00.000-05:00Caryn,If I know up front that a movie isn't going ...Caryn,<BR/><BR/>If I know up front that a movie isn't going to be "accurate", then I don't mind so much. It's the ones that claim to be accurate portrayals, but aren't that anger me.J. L. Kruegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03335606939334631954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-12753749116127210302008-04-26T18:39:00.000-05:002008-04-26T18:39:00.000-05:00I agree. I'd far rather watch something that's eit...I agree. I'd far rather watch something that's either entirely fictional or entirely historical than something that's a mix of both. It's why I generally won't watch fictionalized biographies of historical figures, no matter how entertaining they look.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-52072224219269881572008-04-25T09:59:00.000-05:002008-04-25T09:59:00.000-05:00Ell,Oh you mean like when John Wayne played Ghengi...Ell,<BR/><BR/>Oh you mean like when John Wayne played Ghengis Khan in "The Conqueror" with Susan Hayward and Agnes Morehead and his "Mongol Horde" of Native Americans? Yep, a really bad movie.<BR/><BR/>At least these days that kind of casting is rare. Instead we have midget-size guys like Mel Gibson being passed off as nearly seven-foot tall William Wallace.J. L. Kruegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03335606939334631954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-13763589603497731792008-04-25T08:53:00.000-05:002008-04-25T08:53:00.000-05:00I agree with Charles - poetic license is fine as l...I agree with Charles - poetic license is fine as long as you are letting th audience know up front that license with historical facts has been taken. That way you don't have some poor dumb shmuck walking around thinking Ghengis Khan was actually a white dude. heh heh.Ello - Ellen Ohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18311917335471167591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-63825026059444184322008-04-24T09:30:00.000-05:002008-04-24T09:30:00.000-05:00Muse,Don't mention it...I'm happy to plug blogs th...Muse,<BR/><BR/>Don't mention it...I'm happy to plug blogs that I like.<BR/><BR/>Eldest daughter wrote a history paper last year using a movie as her prime source. Luckily for her, I recognized it when she asked me to proof it for her. Perhaps it was unlucky because I made her redo the paper with sources that I "encouraged" her to select. Which meant additional reading on her part. ;)<BR/><BR/>A corollary on the believing movies, Internet, TV, radio is the tendency of people to believe almost <I>anything</I> if it is "written". More so if it just happens to align with their belief system/politics.J. L. Kruegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03335606939334631954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-5768760799963067172008-04-24T09:20:00.000-05:002008-04-24T09:20:00.000-05:00Erica,I tend to disagree on truth. There is truth...Erica,<BR/><BR/>I tend to disagree on truth. There <I>is</I> truth and it isn't subjective. I met you, or I didn't. I punched Stephen in the nose, or I didn't. What may differ is people's interpretation/perception of what they witnessed, but the actual truth is what it is.J. L. Kruegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03335606939334631954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-16019235083831634732008-04-24T07:02:00.000-05:002008-04-24T07:02:00.000-05:00Hey J.L., thanks for the plug! Okay, you said: fr...Hey J.L., thanks for the plug! Okay, you said: <I>frightening that this is how many Americans seem to learn their history</I>. Yikes and how true! I could only imagine my teen going to her music teacher and relaying all the "facts" from the movie, had I not been there to distinguish fact from fiction.<BR/><BR/>I agree with Charles about the upfront disclaimer. I've seen things at the end of credits that say something like <I>any similarities to persons or situations is purely coincidental and not intentional</I>. Who really sits through the credits to see that?<BR/><BR/>Every movie I watch is gone into knowing theatrical license has been taken. I wish more people would take heed and do the same. Not only with movies, but with television, Internet, and radio also!The Musehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16974717192873929184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-7205451886102564202008-04-23T18:27:00.000-05:002008-04-23T18:27:00.000-05:00Methinks you meant Thomas Cromwell.Right.<I>Methinks you meant Thomas Cromwell.</I><BR/><BR/>Right.Stephen Parrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16883165490847664389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-31065815397137887152008-04-23T17:14:00.000-05:002008-04-23T17:14:00.000-05:00JLK:Well, now that I got started . . . another one...JLK:<BR/>Well, now that I got started . . . another one came to mind. WALK THE LINE. I thought Phoenix's performance was as good as ANYTHING I have ever seen in film. But if you read John Cash's first wife's biography, not published until after his death, you certainly get a far, far, different picture. People pain John and June Carter Cash as this incredible love story--and I don't take that away from them AT ALL. But he broke up his marriage . . . and according to more unbiased observers, June Carter Cash relentlessly pursued him, too . . . and was a bit mroe callous over the fallout of ending his marriage. We all, I suppose, like to reinvent our pasts to put us in the best possible light, which I why I often blog about what "truth" is . . . a very difficult thing, truth. There is none. Depends on who the party is in each scenario.<BR/>EErica Orloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16415925758466527671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-65597265577994506732008-04-23T17:11:00.000-05:002008-04-23T17:11:00.000-05:00JLK:A pet peeve of mine, too.In some cases, I know...JLK:<BR/>A pet peeve of mine, too.<BR/><BR/>In some cases, I know it's to give us a "feel-good" movie when they change things--or to add more drama. Like the Depp's film FINDING NEVERLAND. There's certainly ample room for academic discussion that Barrie was a pedophile. Even if he wasn't . . . the boys in the movie mostly went on to AWFUL ends. Just awful, including one committing or suicide over, supposedly, a gay love affair. They were mentally just all over the map . . . alcoholism and so on. Soooo, we like our sweet version on film.<BR/><BR/>I can think of dozens of other films that sort of give us the rosy view of what happened, or made it seem as if the underdog got a decisive win--when perhaps it wasn't quite so decisive.<BR/><BR/>EErica Orloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16415925758466527671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-11935211672822109542008-04-23T16:23:00.000-05:002008-04-23T16:23:00.000-05:00Stephen,Yeah, but "A Man for All Seasons" was stil...Stephen,<BR/><BR/>Yeah, but "A Man for All Seasons" was still a classic. Methinks you meant Thomas Cromwell. And Richard Rich did him in later too.<BR/><BR/>Charles,<BR/><BR/>I think those cases are even worse when their promotional material touts the "historical" nature of the film too. Thanks for visiting.J. L. Kruegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03335606939334631954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-89964200104049762492008-04-23T09:04:00.000-05:002008-04-23T09:04:00.000-05:00Great topic, and "sometimes" a pet peeve of mine. ...Great topic, and "sometimes" a pet peeve of mine. I wouldn't mind so much the inaccuracies if the movies made it clear up front, before the opening scenes, that some liberties have been taken with the history. It's when they completely fail to differentiate history from fiction that it bothers me.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3767345199151369888.post-74428718319659886272008-04-23T02:30:00.000-05:002008-04-23T02:30:00.000-05:00I watched "A Man for All Seasons" way back when it...I watched "A Man for All Seasons" way back when it first appeared on TV, and to this day believe it to be one of the best films ever made. Paul Scofield won the best actor Oscar and deserved every ounce of it.<BR/><BR/>Imagine my surprise when I later read that Oliver Cromwell didn't prosecute Thomas More, as depicted in the movie; Richard Rich did. Given Rich's early relationship with More, leaving him as prosecutor (in other words, not distorting reality) provided heaps of opportunity for high drama. Why make the switch?<BR/><BR/>Sometimes changes seem for the best. The movie adaption of "October Sky" eliminated two of the six real-life boys involved, because six protagonists were too unwieldy. But the producers were careful to say the movie was <I>based</I> on a true story.Stephen Parrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16883165490847664389noreply@blogger.com