Though movies based on true stories can distort our view of past events, we can learn a lot from them.  When watching historical based movies we can get a better understanding of what exactly happened and empathize with those who went through a specific historical event.  The two movies that I have watched in my Randolph US History class are Glory and 12 Years a Slave. 

Before we watched either of those movies, my teacher helped us to understand the difference between sympathy and empathy.  Because it is easier to sympathize with movie characters, trying to feel what they feel, rather than understanding their situation.  And she wanted us to understand empathy before watching 12 Years a Slave specifically because nobody in the 21^st century has experienced slavery.  In that movie the main character, Soloman Northup, was a free man who was wrongly accused of being a runaway slave.  He is captured and taken to 2 different plantations and he is treated brutally throughout the movie.  The movie ends when a carpenter writes for Soloman, explaining what he has gone through and is freed.  This movie provides a better situation for us to understand, and empathize with.  Most everybody can understand what it is right to do the right thing and trust another person. 

The movie Glory, on the other hand, exemplifies how we can decipher between both fact and fiction.  Both Glory and 12 Years a Slave contain some historical inaccuracies, some major and some minor.  While researching the movie Glory I came across an article that explained how Glory was inaccurate.  Small details like how Fort Wagner was taken form South to North versus North to South seemed very minute in comparison to more major things.  Including the fact that the 54^th regiment was not made up of runaway slaves.  Facts like this cannot just simply be ignored because they can change how people view the past.  A quote from Andrew Butler in a Duke Today article explains this issue better than I can. “These films represent a double-edged sword because students will often remember whatever information is in them, regardless of whether it is true or false [.]”  Sadly, this quote proves to be very true, especially among kids that are not actively studying history. 

Movie makers are willing to bend and shape historical facts to make a movie sell. But we can take away many beneficial things from watching historical movies.  In my experience I have gotten better at separating truth from fiction from watching movies.  I have also gotten a better understanding of opinions that people had in the past by watching how the characters interact with each other, thus enriching my understanding of history in general.  And this is why we need to watch historical movies. 

12 years Time article with historical accuracy comparison with movie and biography

12 years IMDb box office

12 years IMDb awards

Glory Duke Today article

Glory & The Patriot inaccuracies

Glory IMDb box office

Glory IMDb awards