I would like to offer an interesting tidbit of information regarding the
movie (which I have not seen):
the artifacts that are shown and used in the movie were produced by a
wonderfully fascinating, little concern in Yorktown, Virginia called Period
Designs. Period Designs is owned by three enterprising young people, Rob
Hunter, Virginia Lascara and Michelle Erickson, all William & Mary
graduates, who specialize in "historically accurate reproductions of 17th
century household niceties". Some of the things that I have heard are shown
in the movie that came from Period Designs are tobacco pipes, tableware,
slipware, bell jars, etc.....all of the things that colonists would have
brought with them to enhance their every day lives. They also offer old and
rare maps and prints, i.e., Audubons, Alexander Wilsons, et al. Their pieces
were also used in the movies Amistad and The Patriot.
A trip to Yorktown to visit Period Designs is always a treat. Their web site
URL is www.perioddesigns.com
Deane Mills

It is a unique venture and I recommend it to anyone who is in the area.
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Frederick Fausz" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 5:27 PM
Subject: MALICK'S PIRATES OF THE CHESAPEAKE


> Malick's "epic" was far worse than I could have imagined. It made
> Disney's "Pocahontas" seem erudite and less distorted by comparison (even
> with the talking raccoon!).  Yes, the scenery was beautiful, and, yes,
> dramatists have a license to lie; after all, how many of us use
> Shakespeare's plays as factual English History?
>
> What really bothers me is the manipulation and distortion of known
> historical facts to make a buck--and in so doing to make the historical
> illiteracy in this country even worse.  History-based films usually make
> are deficient because they either miss the BIG CONCEPTS; or they screw up
> the DETAILS; or they are so accurate that they fail as compelling drama.
> Malick's monstrosity does all of that, beginning with the opening credits,
> when he uses a MAP of the ROANOKE ISLAND area. Yes, Ralegh called
> it "Virginia," and judging by the rest of the film maybe Malick was
> confused. (I swear I saw a brief glimpse of "OSAGE" on the map under the
> closing credits! Virginians got there, too, but not for 2 more centuries.)
> Then Rolfe writes his son (NOT taken back to Virginia) that his mother
dies
> in 1616--NOT. Other ERRORS: Capt Christopher Newport has BOTH of his arms
> back; the Indians never shot up the interior of James Fort after the
> palisade was completed; Smith was long gone when Pocahontas was kidnapped
> by Dale and Argall; the Rev. Alexander Whitaker did not die so that
> Pocahontas could use his house--he was the one who converted her; she was
> baptized before her wedding in April 1614, not later after living with
> Rolfe; Opechancanough (Wes Studi) did not go to London etc etc.
>
> Malick might as well have had the colonists firing Winchesters--like the
> dynamite used in Costner's "Robin Hood."
>
> I suggest that readers visit the official website for this atrocity and
see
> how pretentious (and deceptive) it is, offering lesson plans and posters
> for teachers, listing scholarly sources and websites of legitimate
> organizations, such as the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, APVA, etc.
Absent
> is any Historical Consultant that I could find--not archaeologists, not
> anthropologists, but at least one HISTORIAN.  It matters. I am not
> qualified to call myself an archaeologist, and if a History PhD means
> anything at all, it qualifies one to access, analyze and assess
documentary
> sources and to impart context and meaning based on years of expertise.
>
> We have laws against destroying rare archival material, digging up graves,
> and burning down libraries.  How about some statutes that would protect
> history and heritage from obvious distortion and fictionalization. No
> wonder there are college students who ask why so many Civil War battles
> were fought in national parks!  Ignorance isn't bliss, and a little
> knowledge is truly a dangerous thing. Call this movie the X-Men or Star
> Wars, or use animation, but do NOT parade this fairy-tale as history.  I
> worked on two films that are valid for classroom use: "Jamestown: Beware
> the People of the Sunrise" and the 3 hour PBS/American Playhouse
production
> of "Roanoak."  Two of my mentors, David Beers Quinn and Philip L. Barbour
> are probably spinning in their graves.  At least Malick answered the
> question of John Smith's possible castration. Remember when he told
> Pocahontas that "I am not the man you think I am"?
>
> Happy Viewing and Spewing,
>
> Fred Fausz
> St. Louis
>
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>
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