Posted on 03/12/2013 6:33:16 AM PDT by Brad from Tennessee
Hollywood's attempt to re-write history has been condemned by New Zealand's Parliament.
MPs have today voted unanimously to support a motion from New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters that condemned the way New Zealand is portrayed in Oscar-winning film Argo.
The film showed New Zealand diplomats turning away a group of Americans trying to escape from Tehran during the Iranian revolution in 1979.
In reality, a New Zealander drove the Americans to the airport in Tehran so they could fly to Switzerland.
Peters called it a "grave misrepresentation" of the courageous and commendable role of New Zealand diplomats. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at tvnz.co.nz ...
Hollywood rewrite history? Say it ain’t so.
I am so glad life is so easy in NZ this is the only problem requiring an act of government.
[”None of the key moments of that story — the overarching story our film tells — are altered,” he said in a statement Thursday. He explained that the alterations were made to serve the narrative that the outcome of the vote was in doubt until the very end.]
Judging by the reaction you’d think Argo was the first film to take ‘artistic liberties’ with history.
The problem is that this type of b.s. perpetuated by American media and entertainment outlets becomes the stereotypical norm. As a Canadian, we see it all the time and I for one am glad the Kiwi’s stood up and called bull nuggets. The fact that you casually dismiss their action speaks volumes.
“The following tale ... is true, and by “true,” I mean “false.” It’s all lies, but they’re entertaining lies, and in the end isn’t that the real truth? The answer... is no.”
I don’t know if waiting 6 months after the movie came out, after it’s won a bunch of awards, is really “standing up”. Movies are about building a narrative, NOT about giving a full and accurate portrayal, they take liberties, it’s the nature of the beast. But what they also do is create interest, interest that results in the reading of books, which have less of a need to build narrative, and the freedom of space to tell the full story. So if anything the movie, even with the liberties taken, has cause MORE people to know the full story rather than less. In the modern age of DVD/ bluray movie to get the additional space to tell the more accurate story. The Argo bluray has a pretty solid documentary on it that delves into a lot of the “gaps” in the story in the movie. In the end, people should whine less, it’s just a movie.
Lots of movies SHOULD be whined about IMO.
This is where our kids get a lot of their education and that's why the communists tried so hard to get their screen-writers into Hollywood. They knew it was one of the most effective places to preach class warfare.
A lot of the successful screenwriters today have anti-American philosophies and it shows in the culture. I'm glad the Canadians, Brits and now the Kiwis have spoken out about the movie and I'm glad it's making some headlines.
I agree, because the typical “low information viewer” will accept this stuff as the truth.
the lesson?
lies lead to oscar awards.
the lesson?
lies lead to oscar awards.
If your kids are learning about the Iran hostage crisis from a movie you’ve failed. There’s nothing anti-American in Argo, and no class warfare either. Just a little short-sheeting on the role other countries played. The whining of these other countries isn’t actually making any headlines, this is 3rd section below the fold stuff, nobody really cares, except some other people addicted to whining. Like I said, it’s 6 months after the movie came out, it won a fat pile of awards, THAT’S the headline.
Not MY kids. But if you don't know that kids in general learn from pop media (not to mention millions of people who swallow just about everything on the silver screen) you're naive. If a movie or book is inaccurate, I don't see a problem with pointing it out. Apparently you do.
I didn't say there was class warfare in "Argo". I said that screenwriters pour their anti-American garbage into movies everyday and that's precisely why the communists wanted control over Hollywood.
It’s a fine fictional action movie, like the Die Hard movies.
Problem here is you’re mixing messages all over the place. Complaining about pop media, class warfare and anti-Americanism in a thread about a movie that is NOT pop media, and has neither class warfare nor anti-Americanism.
Now if you want to have a non-hyperbole non-whining based discussions on the film great, let’s go. Yes they play fast and loose with some of the facts, especially the involvement of countries other than the US and Canada. But it’s all for the narrative to keep a straight forward flow. A 2 hour movie doesn’t have time for “well one of the escapees actually stayed with the Brits for a while before joining the crowd at the Canadian house”, or “and then New Zealand showed up to give everybody a ride”.
My only problem with people pointing out the flaws is when it gets stupid. Like a nation’s government taking the time to officially condemn the movie. That’s just moronic, I guarantee they’ve got something better to do with their time. It’s a movie, they need to get over it and go do something useful for their country.
It’s not an action movie, if it was an action movie they’d have armed up and taken the embassy back, which could have been a pretty fun movie too. It’s a fine film, has some reference to actual events, but like all movies is more of a slave to the narrative than the truth.
But its all for the narrative to keep a straight forward flow
God forbid the facts interrupt a "straight narrative flow"! LOL.
You think it's moronic for a Gov't of a small country to speak out about the way it's portrayed by millionaires Clooney-Affleck across the globe. Already got that. I and many others would think anytime a Hollyweird celeb gets some blowback for inaccuracy that's a GOOD thing.
Sorry but a drama about escaped diplomatic workers is not pop media. A movie with a $44 million dollar budget released in October is not pop media. Great and Powerful Oz, THAT’S pop media. It’s not a serious vehicle for history, but it’s not pop media either. Pop media is aimed at the 18-35 age bracket, this was not.
Yes actually, when making a movie indeed it is God forbid facts interrupt the narrative flow. The point of a movie IS narrative flow, it is NOT facts. You take the situation and chop it up into 3 acts containing the 12 steps of the hero’s journey. THAT is the goal, that is how you make a successful movie.
It’s not just what I think it IS moronic for a government to take the time to whine about the contents of a movie that came out 6 months, has successfully navigated the entire award season, and has been out on DVD for a month. If they had a legitimate beef about it (which they don’t) they could have brought it up when the movie was CURRENT. Now they’re complaining about yesterday’s news. It’s like people from the South complaining about the Dukes of Hazard, too late. Nobody is facing any blowback, the movie has already made almost every dollar it will, they waited until the end of the life cycle, after the end really. Might as well tell us what they think of the movie Gallipoli while they’re at it, the subject is just as current.
You are mistaken if you think kiddie movies are the only pop media. Unfortunatley adults are just as prone to "pop" as anyone else.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.