Sticking up for Salieri: Historical movie thread

[Deleted]

I don't necessarily think The People vs. Larry Flynt is inaccurate so much as biased in favor of Flynt. That doesn't bother me at all (in fact, TPvsLF is one of my favorite films). I googled "The People vs. Larry Flynt" and "Inaccurate" and found this website. It seems to be a decent listing of sources debating the accuracy of Flynt's portrayal in the film.

I think that if the movie were about another real-life figure crusading for free speech, his political beliefs or number of wives wouldn't be an issue but because Flynt is a porn king, some people freak out and want a movie that condemns him and shows that porn is EVIL while at the same time calling for the freedom of speech. Therefore, they look for stuff to criticize even if it isn't really relevant to the film itself.

[Baby Fish Mouth]

As a historian I respect the fact that some people like to go to the movies just to be entertained and don't expect an accurate history lesson. But I think those people are the exception. A large number of Americans are getting their history lessons from Hollywood. And it really does offend me that they are presented in such a way that people don't realize how fictional they are. There's no disclaimers at the beginning saying, "The majority of this story has been fictionalized for dramatic purposes." And let's face it, most Americans are not gonna go read a book about William Wallace in order to find out the truth. They just accept it as fact. So it is really a difficult situation when you are an educator and you're trying to teach people about what really happened.

[piscessiren]

babyfishmouth said:

A large number of Americans are getting their history lessons from Hollywood.

And their English Literature and Criminal Justice (my field) lessons, also.

Our only hope is that it inspires people to search for more accurate information.

[kafka]

thursdaynext said:

I don't necessarily think The People vs. Larry Flynt is inaccurate so much as biased in favor of Flynt. That doesn't bother me at all (in fact, TPvsLF is one of my favorite films). I googled "The People vs. Larry Flynt" and "Inaccurate" and found this website. It seems to be a decent listing of sources debating the accuracy of Flynt's portrayal in the film.

Very interesting. Thank you for taking the time to find the site and for sharing it. I didn't know much about Flynt, only those brief snippets that I read in lawschool eons and eons ago. Whatever his sins --- and I know they're many --- I've always thought popular culture owes him a huge debt of gratitude. If it wasn't for his insistence on taking the case all the way up to the Supremes, we'd never be able to have a snark site like CPMCoG.

I think that if the movie were about another real-life figure crusading for free speech, his political beliefs or number of wives wouldn't be an issue but because Flynt is a porn king, some people freak out and want a movie that condemns him and shows that porn is EVIL while at the same time calling for the freedom of speech. Therefore, they look for stuff to criticize even if it isn't really relevant to the film itself.

I totally agree.

[Deleted]

Good points. There was some talk when the movie Ray came out (Ray Charles had 12 children in and out of wedlock) But it wasn't anything like the Larry Flynt backlash.

[foxfair]

I think my problem wouldn't be historical inaccuracy in and of itself, but historical inaccuracy in films presented as straight-up representations of real history. Mel Gibson is a particularly egregious example of this type of film-maker. Not every English person enjoys eating babies and torturing people for kicks.

[Deleted]

But the Melster loooooves history. Next up, his interpretation of the Mayan culture.

I'm sure it will be entirely accurate.

[chonies]

roseprose said:

But the Melster loooooves history. Next up, his interpretation of the Mayan culture.

I'm sure it will be entirely accurate.

Grrr!!! This is bothering me immensely--when it was announced that he would give an Oscar address in an "ancient" language, I thought it would be something reconstructed or a Biblical-times dialect of something; maybe Mel and only Mel has discovered the actual Proto-Indo European language? But Maya? Still a living language! (I know "ancient" doesn't exactly denote "dead" but I'm getting a bad bad bad feeling about this). And I am prone to crabbiness over ethno-linguistic issues.

[happypenguin]

I think the worst Hollywood fictionalisation has to be U517. Would it really have affected how exciting (or not) the film was by making the characters British like they were in real life? But no, America has to save the world yet again. I know so many British people who were offended by this film.

[satellite]

What did you guys think of "The New World" as far as historical conext? I'd heard that it was supposed to be a more authentic version of the Pocahontas/John Smith story.

Personally I was bugged by the cliche "white man appreciates the simple virtues of the native people" stuff, but that's a whole 'nother issue.