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Originally Posted by Taltarzac
Not sure if this is true Steve. William Wallace sure got bad press when he was alive but then along came Mel Gibson with Braveheart to make a very heroic figure who was treated as a criminal by some historians.
The Native Americans got very bad press for a long time especially when they were still an active threat to frontiersmen and women. Then along came Hollywood and authors like Dee Brown.
Jesse James is another very interesting figure as far as how writers and historians have treated him.
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There is a signficant difference between the history which we teach and maintain as factual, versus what is sold at $7.50 per seat in a theater, plus popcorn. Literary and "artistic " license taken a century (or a few of them) later blurs the facts intentionally, whether to romanticize or demonize, whichever provides the greater return on investment.
I enjoy a good story as much as the next person, but regard commercial theater as what it is - storytelling for profit. The entertainment industry is just that- industry. And it is easier to manipulate an historical event or segment of a person's life than it is to write an original screenplay. Even better is the manipulation when all who were there or knew the person are dead - no one around to contradict!