The American Revolution Was Not Lethal Weapon
All in all, The Patriot deviates from history in several problematic ways. The film goes out of its way to make Mel Gibson’s Benjamin Martin a sympathetic character.
An Unoriginal Film, with Moments of Fun
by Paige Lurie Troupes. We love them. We hate them. We love to hate them. And The Patriot is full of them. While, as Mark will surely tell us, this movie was not historically accurate, that does not mean the movie is original. From the very beginning we can correctly foresee the beats of the…
The Last of the Mohicans is an Cinematic Epic Worthy of Its Reputation
by Mark Goldstein One of the major down-sides of major downsides of attempting to work our way through American history chronologically is that not every historical period has films that are… well… good. While many of the films we are viewing for this blog might be classified as “epics” simply on the basis of their…
“The Last of the Mohicans” Fails at Historic Accuracy Without Really Trying
by Paige Lurie When a film’s title is a lie, our expectation of historic accuracy is low. While seeing heroes be the last of their kind is a romantic notion, it is not based in fact. Modern day estimates have at least 1,500 Mohicans are alive and enrolled today, albit living far from their Hudson…
A Better Film Than Adaptation
by Paige Lurie Anyone who knew me between the ages of six and eighteen would have one phrase to describe me – theater nerd. I filled my afterschool, weekend, and summer time with different ways of being involved in all things theater. I was equally happy to be on stage, off stage, or in the…
Witch Hunt: A Cold War Allegory With Nominal Basis in True Events
by Mark Goldstein The term “witch hunt” is thrown around a lot in American discourse. In its modern usage, the term is often used to unfounded allegations leveled against innocent individuals as a form of political theater. As of late, it has been a very politically loaded term. In response to the Special Counsel…
The New World is a Beautiful Jamestown Epic
by Mark Goldstein The Jamestown Mythos Growing up in Virginia, some of the earliest history lessons I remember from my childhood were about Jamestown. I went on multiple class field trips to Jamestown over the course of my schooling. Yet I still find it to be a topic of endless fascination. Myth has shrouded the…
Myth Into Film
by Paige Lurie America is built on myths. We love it. From George Washington chopping down a cherry tree to Teddy Rosevelt saving a bear, we use myths to create the America we want to be, rather than the America we are. Once school children get old and curious enough to do their own research,…
A Boring Beauty : 1492 Conquet of Paradise
by Paige Lurie In 1492: The Conquest of Paradise, Columbus sailed the ocean blue – and viewers were bored too. Now this movie was not as bad as we expected. The highest compliment we can pay is to the movie is that it is “watchable”. We were indeed able to make it through all two-and-half…
1492: Conquest of Paradise Not Based in Truth
While the film does deserve some historical credit for dealing with the mistreatment of the natives at all, the film’s decision to portray Columbus as sympathetic and friendly to the Indians he brutalized and enslaved was both inaccurate and deeply irresponsible.
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