Hi all,
First off, full disclosure: I have an MA degree in American history (even though I'm a Canadian, lol). As a result, I'm going to view a movie set in the past through a different lens than most people.
Do historical inaccuracies in period films bug you? Why or why not? Do they only bug you in certain situations?
My question was inspired by Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor (2001). Lots of people trashed that movie because the focus was on the love triangle between Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, and Kate Beckinsale's characters rather than the actual Pearl Harbor attack. Basically, there's no context given for why the Japanese actually carried the attack out, other than that the Americans cut off their oil (a line said by Admiral Yamamoto's character early on in the movie).
Now, I did my final MA paper on the diplomatic history that led to the Pearl Harbor attack, so I know quite a bit of the background as to why what happened happened the way it did. But I wouldn't expect the average moviegoer to know this stuff. Not only that, but if they were to read about the minutiae of it all, it might make their eyes glaze over.
I can understand both sides of the argument here. Some people say, "I just want to go to the movies and be entertained. I don't care if the history is correct. If I want to know about history, I'll watch a documentary." Then there are those who watch a period movie and say, "That's TOTALLY not the way it went down! The history is flat-out wrong, here. This movie is crap."
Anyway, what do you all have to say? Do historical inaccuracies in period films bother you or not, or do they only bother you in certain situations? Why or why not?
Thanks!