As many people who study history or even have basic understanding of history know, is that those "based on historical events" movies aren't really that accurate. There weren't any ex-slave bounty hunters as Quentin Tarantino explains, nor was Pocahontas in any way attracted to John Smith as much as Disney would like you to believe (considering that she was not yet 12 when they first met, that makes it WAY creepier). But looking past all the historical inaccuracies and questionable/racy content added to make the story entertaining, can we really be upset at Hollywood for making these movies? Sure, they may not make sense if you're in a history class, but I think that's the big point: it inspires kids to learn more about human history while at the same time sparking debates among historians and history buffs about what should've/shouldn't have been. The best part is, you can make these debates and senses of fascination happen in your very classroom, if you're careful.
So let's look past all the inaccurate crap. I know that that gun wasn't made yet, no that doesn't mean Jack is a time traveler on the Titanic (long story), yes there was room on the door (another long story). Let's instead ask the question, "What did movies like Titanic, Django Unchained, and others teach us?" While the first one was based on an actual historical disaster (the Titanic Disaster of 1912), the second one is set in the 1860s in America, but is almost all fictional. However, if you look past the plot and into the surrounding events/people/settings, you'll actually find that these historical dramas teach us a lot about history while telling a different story. I credit Titanic with me getting interested in history in the first place, having watched it at the age of 6 (with the drawing/car scenes fast forwarded through). I was obsessed with the story of the ship, and even today I have a fascination about all things White Star Line. This led to me learning about other disasters, from Pompeii to Mt. St. Helens, and to the rest of our dangerous history. If a young child can be triggered by what many considered a "romanticized massacre" to become more interested in history, than it has done more than any normal teacher can do. Imagine, as well, if it were a middle or high schooler. Major life decisions could be decided based on such characters as Scarlett O'Hara or Jack Dawson-many things have been caused by less. Not only the characters, but the the wonderful time periods in which they take place can actually be physically visualized largely in part to the wonderful costume/set designers of the Hollywood Hills, and historical events, either footnotes or the main part of the story, can be learned and re-learned by millions and millions of people. That's why those historical movies do so well: there are those who watch them for shallow reasons, but many simply want to learn more about an era in history that school didn't teach them.
That's where a tech-savvy teacher comes in. YOU have access to these movies. If you think that they taught you more about an era in history than your college classes combined, show it to your students! Encourage them to watch them on their own to better their understanding of history-after all, we don't want to repeat it, and knowing is half the battle (G-I JOOOOOOOOOE). Actually seeing a representation of the Boxer Rebellion, Titanic sinking, or the Vietnam War may be all that it takes to have something finally make sense in a struggling student's head about history. Language Arts teachers figure out that showing movies of Shakespeare's plays made them easier to understand-why wouldn't the same apply to history? So go out there, buy as many historical movies as you can (yes, even the one with Al Pacino in the Revolutionary War), and make an impromptu screening of history!
P.S. Holy crap, I just realized Leo DiCaprio is in almost all the movies I mentioned on here, and even more historical movies (like Gatsby, upcoming The Renegade, and Romeo and Juliet). Dude must really want your kids to remember history with his face in it. Well, whatever will make you sleep at night without an Oscar, Leo.
Edit(2/29/2016): Now that he's won an Oscar for The Renegade, I guess he'll sleep fine.
-Pharaoh Noh-Tyep
No comments:
Post a Comment