Harold Forsythe asked me to forward his reply to the whole list:

----- Original Message -----
From: "Debra Jackson/Harold Forsythe" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2005 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: Jamestown--The Movie?


 I hope that I do not ruin my reputation as a historian with my reply to
this interesting question about fiction v. history.  I find that the
interesting bond between say novels and historical studies is that they both
derive from unique evidence:  for the historian, particular archives of data
provide some facts but not nearly all facts that might be necessary to
explain a time and place;  for novelists, while they may do some historical
research (Ann Proulx is particularly rigorous at this), draw chiefly from
their imagination.
 When authors are at work, particularly writing film scripts, we historians
wince in the audience when an anachronism is struck.  No, they didn't have
whale oil lamps at Jamestown (at least I don't think they did.)  It is not
probably that military action in July, 1863, interrupted a gang fight
between the "Natives' and the 'Dead Rabbit's' in the Five Points in New York
City.
 But on the other hand, imagine how novelists and film makers cringe when
they read most works of history.  From the perspective of artists, we are
poor composers of narrative.
 If film makers and writers need to study the facts be more accurate, we
historians need to think harder about narration.  If we don't, the situation
will continue that we count our audience in hundreds or perhaps thousands,
whereas novelists count theirs in hundred thousands and film makers in
millions.
 Here I am not calling for us to covet popularity or pursue crass material
success,  I am reminding myself and all of you of the late Warren Susman's
observation that in the 1950s, film maker John Ford had a more powerful
influence on how Americans viewed their own history, particularly of the
West, than the whole profession of history.
 I'll just add here that Simone de Beauvoir and her companion Jean Paul
Sartre devoured every Faulkner novel translated into French as they came out
in the 1930s.  (I am reading the second volume of her memoirs this
week.)Even though de Beauvoir's English was very good, she preferred to
follow the complexities of Faulkner's stories in a language over which she
had total mastery.  Their knowledge of the South was based almost wholly on
Faulkner's output.  And it is a good thing, too, because most of the
scholarly work coming out on the South--including even Carter G. Woodson,
the father of "Negro history"--was deadly dull and in full denial of the
dynamic history of the region so fullbloodedly expressed only in its best
literature of the period.
 So let's not bash the artists, lets synchronize with them.  There are
things they do better than we do and there are things we do better than
they.  Let's try to emulate them and also invite them into our circle,
offering advice and support.

Harold S. Forsythe
Golieb Fellow (2004-2005)
New York University, School of Law



> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Eric Johnson" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 11:37 AM
> Subject: Re: Jamestown--The Movie?
>
>
>> There's an interesting philosophical question when it comes to the
>> fictional
>> portrayal of history.  I personally am willing to accept the cost of
>> having
>> historical inaccuracies for the benefit of getting more people interested
>> in
>> a particular period.  My feeling is that those who are seriously
>> interested
>> will come to discover what the inaccuracies are--which itself is a pretty
>> good exercise.
>>
>> Of course the best solution would be for it to be historically accurate
>> AND
>> interesting, but I think it's pretty safe to say that most filmmakers
>> aren't
>> interested in taking the time to make sure every aspect is accurate and
>> would rather be able to bend reality in service to telling the story they
>> want to tell.  And for the reasons above, I'm generally pretty okay with
>> that.
>>
>> After all, without the romanticism of "semi-historical" film and books,
>> seen
>> and read as I was growing up, my interest probably wouldn't have been
>> piqued
>> in my young life and I probably wouldn't be a historian today.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> --Eric
>>
>>
>> Eric D. M. Johnson
>> Proprietor
>> The Village Factsmith Historical Research & Consulting
>> http://www.factsmith.com/
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
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