Wonderfully Inaccurate: Historical Inaccuracies in History Movies Are Okay

With the upcoming releases of Oppenheimer and Napoleon, the discussion of historical accuracies in movies re-emerges. There always seems to be a group of people, both historians and not, that take great offense that a film lacks perfect historical accuracy. I understand and appreciate the desire for movies to hit this goal, but it is unrealistic and unnecessary. Let me explain my thought process in saying this.

Entertainment First

Movies need to consider entertainment value first. If the film is boring to the masses, then no one will go to see it. I’m sure this is common sense to most, but it still needs to be covered. If people stop going to historical movies because they’re boring, studios will stop making them. Where will we history movie lovers be when that happens? Now I can hear people shouting history is fascinating on its own. Trust me, I agree! However, imagine trying to get in every historically accurate detail in the movie. Napoleon would be 45 hours long. It can’t happen. Instead, directors cut pieces and reimagine scenes to cover as much information as quickly as possible.

Furthermore, sometimes a cool visual or increased tension helps a movie. Napoleon appears to show a scene where he fires a canon, and it hits a pyramid. There is no logical way this would have occurred based on the location of the fighting, but it looks incredible. Apollo 13 is credited as one of the most historically accurate films, and audiences praise the film calling it a classic. The movie created tension between the astronauts to help the film. That tension helped keep the audience engaged.

I understand there is a limit to how many inaccuracies can be in a movie before it truly does impact quality. Having Napoleon conquer the United States is a historical inaccuracy that would hurt the quality of the film, but a cannonball at the pyramids does not. It is a delicate balance that only some directors manage to handle well. It’s a measure of the amount and quality of errors that define whether they break the movie.

It Helps the History Field

The people who complain about historical accuracy most often are historians. It makes sense. These are people who dedicate years of their lives to this subject, so they are upset when they feel something is done poorly or hurts their passion. But here is the thing they often miss. These movies help further the study of history.

I remember sitting in front of my tv as a kid watching movies like Patton, Midway, Saving Private Ryan, and Braveheart. Sitting there, I would be falling in love with history. These movies made me want to read about the events surrounding them and learn as much as possible. Simply put, these movies put me on the path to becoming a historian. I highly doubt I’m alone. I have talked to enough history lovers to know that they, too, were shaped by movies. The inaccuracies didn’t matter because soon, we were reading the actual events. Sometimes the inaccuracies made learning the truth more fun because you started looking for the things that were different. These movies helped create historians who would further research.

Furthermore, the more popular historical movies are, the more they will be made. More films will require historians to help tell these stories. This increased demand is an avenue of employment for a struggling field. Historians should want Hollywood to make these movies if for no other reason than it helps keep their profession alive. I honestly don’t know if I could overstate the value of these movies for helping bring people to history.

I felt compelled to write this because the same arguments pop up every time studios release a new historical movie. I understand why historians and history lovers want films to be as accurate as possible. Still, eventually, they start to do a disservice to the field by fighting it so hard. No one wants to hear how wrong a movie they enjoyed was, and directors won’t want to hear how badly they’re directing. Entertaining historical movies allows studios to produce more history-based films, providing more opportunities for historians. Furthermore, it leads to people finding an interest in history and entering the field. These movies are a net positive, inaccuracies and all.