Rebuilding History Through Film

The modern Hollywood system is constantly looking for promises. The promise is that the movie will be a big hit and that people will gawk at the film before it even starts filming. This search stretches everywhere, from books to short films to outdated films. The proof of concept even covers history, but our past is a skewed reference to events told throughout centuries.

Our Terran history is chock-full of edits and changes to guide the conversation in someone else's favor. In the past, we believed that the marble sculptures devised by Romans were pure white. Now the word is coming out that they were painted with the gaudiest designs ever. This was notable when historians observed the pieces after finding them. Many works depict different races and people that didn't fit the narrative of the Anglo Saxion culture. The modern identity around roman culture still needs to be updated. Most films depicting Roman culture are flawed. The movie Gladiator, for example, showed a cutthroat story about people murdering one another for the glory of their emperor when they were just sportsmen, no different from boxers of today. Testing their talents and might against one another. In a shocking turn of events, calling for a fighter to be murdered was even frowned upon. These flaws are praised because its entertaining to the viewers.

We have people noting every distinct difference within the adaption of a book, but when it comes to history, people tend to look the other way. Stories like Abraham Lincoln's Vampire Hunter bring a lot of fans to the novel, but when it hits theatres, the fall-off is significant. This story changes history and tells an account of the 16th president reimagined as a vampire killer. But besides the vampires, only a little was edited. Victimization of Black Americans is still highly present in the book, seeing that they were now food instead of slaves. Why only change the secret occupations of Lincoln? Why not update more? The world is our oyster, but we stay confined to the outdated ideas we retell today.

The story I want to praise is Bridgerton. This adaption brought precisely what I want to see more of in the industry. We have many people of all races bringing a novelized store of historical events, which opens the narrative and shows today's values. We wish people had lived these lives back then. No matter who they would have been back then, anyone can be the main character.

The main point I'm trying to make is to forget the constraints of the past. Film isn't just about accuracy. It's about convening a conversation with the viewer. We should show what happened and how we wanted it to happen. Half of our history is the agenda created by people who died centuries ago; why keep to the times that we no longer know the truth of. We should make our own truth.

We can create a past that is ours to remember. Unlike the dissatisfying one, we were left. We are all significant today, historical films should share the wealth in representation. Shows like Bridgerton are proof; rebuilt history can sell. We just need to figure out what we want to tell.