Historical inaccuracy in fiction
I posted this over at HSA and thought I'd post it here as well:
How much would you put up with in books or movies? I'll tolerate a bit, but there are times so much is wrong and all they care about is having a good story, and that rather ruins it for me. For instance, a WWII movie where some of the uniforms used wouldn't have been worn for another 15 years, where they have people in the OSS before it was even formed, where they have songs that weren't even released yet being sung, etc. Or a Civil War movie where people aren't acting appropriately for the time period, historical facts are all messed up, etc. When a movie is just full of things that were wrong/didn't happen at the time, I get fed up and find it too hard to enjoy the movie.
With something like Pirates of the Caribbean, I can overlook it more. That was meant to have fantasy elements, so it's not as bad, I don't think. But when something is trying to be passed off as "a WWII movie" or something set during the Civil War or whatever, I think people should do what they can to make it as accurate as possible. Also with writing. I've seen people on a writing forum who basically don't care if they get historical facts right. "So what if they didn't wear crinolines for 20 more years? I want my characters wearing them and want it set in this era."
So I thought I'd come ask all you about it and get y'all's opinion on historical accuracy in fiction, though this post is quite a bit longer than I intended. :P Do you care if a film or book is historically accurate? Does it really matter all that much? Why or why not?
How much would you put up with in books or movies? I'll tolerate a bit, but there are times so much is wrong and all they care about is having a good story, and that rather ruins it for me. For instance, a WWII movie where some of the uniforms used wouldn't have been worn for another 15 years, where they have people in the OSS before it was even formed, where they have songs that weren't even released yet being sung, etc. Or a Civil War movie where people aren't acting appropriately for the time period, historical facts are all messed up, etc. When a movie is just full of things that were wrong/didn't happen at the time, I get fed up and find it too hard to enjoy the movie.
With something like Pirates of the Caribbean, I can overlook it more. That was meant to have fantasy elements, so it's not as bad, I don't think. But when something is trying to be passed off as "a WWII movie" or something set during the Civil War or whatever, I think people should do what they can to make it as accurate as possible. Also with writing. I've seen people on a writing forum who basically don't care if they get historical facts right. "So what if they didn't wear crinolines for 20 more years? I want my characters wearing them and want it set in this era."
So I thought I'd come ask all you about it and get y'all's opinion on historical accuracy in fiction, though this post is quite a bit longer than I intended. :P Do you care if a film or book is historically accurate? Does it really matter all that much? Why or why not?