The Invasion of Historical Media
On Monday, my roommate and I decided to treat ourselves to a movie after a day (mostly) full of homework. In accordance with and completely coincidentally, we decided to go see the new Steven Spielberg movie, 'Lincoln'. Being Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we felt very patriotic and satisfied with our decision.
Overall, the movie was really great, but it came as a surprise to me that the film only showed the last 4 months of "Honest Abe's" life. I guess I was expecting 2 1/2 hours of Lincoln's whole life in a nutshell!......but apparently that would be a lot to cram into a movie. :) However, it got me thinking about why the film-makers only wanted to show this small period in time. I came up with this answer: the last few months of President Lincoln's life were VERY important in U.S. history. The abolition of slavery happened, which ultimately began the process for attaining equal rights.
Now I may be starting to sound like a little bit of a nerd, but I have to confess....I LOVE HISTORY! It has always been my favorite subject in school and I am always interested in learning about the past. That's why I have found the new popularity in historical films and T.V. so intriguing. It makes me pause and ask myself, why do people love them so much?
After much consideration, here are a couple of reasons why I think so:
In closing, I think historical television programs and films are bomb. They can be very eye-opening to not only past events, but into our own lives as well. Personally, they often cause me to reexamine why I do the things I do and in what ways I am doing them. I believe that this is healthy for one to think about so that perhaps we can save ourselves from repeating the bad things and turn them into opportunities to do the good things. No matter what the reason is for watching them, historical films are on the rise to becoming the new favorite pastime. This is one bandwagon that I hope all of you will join. :)
Cheers, Katie
Now I may be starting to sound like a little bit of a nerd, but I have to confess....I LOVE HISTORY! It has always been my favorite subject in school and I am always interested in learning about the past. That's why I have found the new popularity in historical films and T.V. so intriguing. It makes me pause and ask myself, why do people love them so much?
After much consideration, here are a couple of reasons why I think so:
- Because of the fact that human nature never really changes, stories from history are timeless.
- History repeats itself. Whether we are intentionally trying to live life and/or make films that are novel, we most often repeat behaviors/plot lines that have been done before.
- Because most often, our favorite characters from history are people whom we feel we can relate to.
- Because historical films often portray characters that are the "underdog", and we as Americans LOVE an underdog.
- We love traveling back through time to a different place and set of circumstances that can temporarily help us to forget our own.
- We usually know the ending before it begins!
In closing, I think historical television programs and films are bomb. They can be very eye-opening to not only past events, but into our own lives as well. Personally, they often cause me to reexamine why I do the things I do and in what ways I am doing them. I believe that this is healthy for one to think about so that perhaps we can save ourselves from repeating the bad things and turn them into opportunities to do the good things. No matter what the reason is for watching them, historical films are on the rise to becoming the new favorite pastime. This is one bandwagon that I hope all of you will join. :)
Cheers, Katie
Comments
Post a Comment