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Monday, September 10, 2007
Swearing an oath to historical accuraacy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve been giving a lot of thought to a conversation I had last week with a retired minister, who also happens to be private pilot.
I told him I saw the movie “The Aviator,” about Howard Hughes, which I thought was pondered nextfascinating and sad at the same time. In the movie, Hughes was portrayed as a brilliant man overcome with obsessive compulsive disorder. He would wash his hands incessantly, repeat words over and over again and, here’s the kicker, cursed-a lot, using the words G— d. many many times during the movie.
And that, for my retired minister friend, was the deal breaker. When I asked him if he ever saw the movie, it was an emphatic “no, because there are too many curse words.”
From his point of view, I completely understood his reasoning for not seeing the movie. But what I wondered was how many movies about history would he miss because the language was offensive?
I understand that many people don’t see movies with fictional story lines because the language is too harsh. But when a film is about something from our past (for example, war) and bad language is a part of the facts, can’t some people put their discomfort aside?
I don’t know about you, but I’m painfully curious by nature and especially about historical events. While some words make me bristle, I can take the language if the lessons I learn enrich my life.
Would you go to a movie about an historical event even if the language was offensive? Or would you find another way to learn the facts?
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