Maureen Dowd on Sunday’s NYT’s Op-Ed page writes on the historical accuracy of three new movies. In her piece “The Oscar for Best Fabrication” discusses how Hollywood wants it both ways. They promote the authenticity of their films but when challenged reply with “Hey, it’s just a movie.”
Three of this movie season’s big hits come under her microscope. Two factual flaws in “Argo” deal with giving Hamilton Jordan nonexistent children and the the jeep chase at the end of the movie. Ben Affleck has admitted that the runway scene was created for excitement; it didn’t happen that way.
“Zero Dark Thirty” has been widely criticized for leaving the impression that torture was instrumental in the capture of Osama. Dowd writes that another aspect of the film deals inaccurately with Jessica Chastain’s character. In actuality, the character was not a loner as portrayed. There was actually “The Sisterhood,” a female team of C.I.A. analysts who were always part of the operation.
The film that I was really surprised to find had a major flaw was Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” which had three historical advisers. Joe Courtney, a Democratic congressman from Connecticut, complained to Spielberg that the movie falsely shows two of Connecticut’s House members voting “No” against the 13th Amendment. Tony Kushner, the screenwriter, has stated that “it is completely acceptable to manipulate a small detail in the service of a greater historical truth.” Actually, the two Connecticut congressmen courageously supported the amendment. Since Spielberg is offering a free copy of the DVD to any high school or middle school that requests it, correcting this historical error doesn’t seem to be asking too much.
Perhaps along with a warning about DVD piracy, these and other historically-based movies need a disclaimer. These movies are based on actual events–kinda, sorta.