Cinema vs. History: Examining the “Truth” About Fact‐Based Movies

COPIED from Lifeinstitute: “There are very few movies based on real events that don’t “fudge,” omit, or change some of their historical details. But are the changes made to better the film dramatically, as is sometimes the case, or are they more pernicious than that? This course will look at the “adjustments” that have been made to any number of fact‐based films, from Malcolm X to Hidden Figures, Lawrence of Arabia to The Untouchables and others, including bio‐pics, historical epics, and heroic adventure tales. From the countless movies about the Hollywood blacklist that downplay or elide the real communist influence in Tinseltown in the 40s and 50s and the repressive tactics practised by the Hollywood Ten themselves, to deliberately inaccurate films like Mississippi Burning which simply lied by presenting the FBI as fighters for the civil rights of African Americans in the 60’s, which was hardly the case, this course will illuminate the real facts behind the movies that promise to tell the truth.”