Maccabee's Wars

A venting rage against the ills of our society with some hopeful observations.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Historical Accuracy vs. Story Time

After finally viewing “Munich” I began to wonder; what’s wrong with Steven Spielberg? At best he is a ‘Tinuk Shenishba.’ More likely he is part of the left-wing Hollywood liberalism which is currently on display in “V for Vendetta.”

If “Munich” had only been a story concocted by some Hollywood writer, then the entire outcry against the film would be ‘much ado about nothing.’

90% of the film was basically good filmmaking with an interesting story. However, the crying liberalism by the characters was almost laughable.

Memo to Spielberg: If you want your audience to buy ‘moral equivalency,’ don’t have your characters wear it on their sleeves.

Memo to Tony Kushner: If you want your audience to believe that your characters are credible, don’t attempt to equate your notion of sexuality with theirs.

Memo to both Kushner and Spielberg: Stick with the facts. You’ll have a better film and more credibility. Better yet, you may actually win a few Oscars.

“V for Vendetta,” on the other hand, which is based on fiction, was able to succeed where “Munich” failed.

As with most good science fiction/fantasy it was able to hide its liberal bent within its ‘story.’

People can agree or differ with its premise of a George Bush type character becoming a tyrant by expanding “Patriot Act” type laws into de-facto totalitarianism, but the characters are believable. The same cannot be said of “Munich” which is based on real events.

Either way, advice to those who make us weary: If you have an agenda and you have a ‘story’ to tell, base it on the ‘facts.’ It’ll go a long way.

The attached reviews are for comparison purposes:

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2006/03/v_for_propagand.html

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060316/REVIEWS/60308005/1023

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2005/12/munich_as_broug.html

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051222/REVIEWS/51214004