Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Blogfight!

Here's how it works around here: Mr. Marks does all the heavy lifting, and I sit off in the wings and nitpick. So while I certainly sympathize with his frustration at getting yet another Ban from the Man on Facebook, I would like to offer the following bleat regarding his criticism of W.E.

Marks wanted to "call Madonna out for her willingness to trample the truth in order to bolster a wobbly cinematic 'vision'" - in particular, for her willingness to sidestep Wallis Simpson's Nazi sympathies.

Nazi sympathies are a bad thing. But artists have been willing to trample the truth for the sake of their cinematic visions - wobbly or otherwise - since forever, no? I got my introduction to this way back in 1984, when Amadeus gave us a man-child Mozart and an absolutely diabolical Salieri:

"Go ahead and laugh, but in a couple hundred years, David Bowie is totally going to rock this look."

Imagine my surprise when I learned that this characterization was...not true! Later, a friend actually gave me a book about it: Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies, from the Society of American Historians. The book opens with a conversation between an historian and the filmmaker John Sayles. In it, Sayles says, "If historical accuracy were the thing that people went to the movies for, historians would be the vice presidents of studios...An important point about movies: they exist during those two hours. If you make them, you hope that they have some echo, but the only thing you really have to do for the audience to buy in is to be true to the world you create for those two hours...I ask a lot of the people in the audience. I try not to condescend to them, and implicit in that is a presumption that they will take some responsibility not to believe everything they see and also to see more than one thing."

My claim: the real problem with W.E. is that it's a lousy movie, not that it mucks with history to suit its purposes.

What say you all?

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"
Next Article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon

Here's how it works around here: Mr. Marks does all the heavy lifting, and I sit off in the wings and nitpick. So while I certainly sympathize with his frustration at getting yet another Ban from the Man on Facebook, I would like to offer the following bleat regarding his criticism of W.E.

Marks wanted to "call Madonna out for her willingness to trample the truth in order to bolster a wobbly cinematic 'vision'" - in particular, for her willingness to sidestep Wallis Simpson's Nazi sympathies.

Nazi sympathies are a bad thing. But artists have been willing to trample the truth for the sake of their cinematic visions - wobbly or otherwise - since forever, no? I got my introduction to this way back in 1984, when Amadeus gave us a man-child Mozart and an absolutely diabolical Salieri:

"Go ahead and laugh, but in a couple hundred years, David Bowie is totally going to rock this look."

Imagine my surprise when I learned that this characterization was...not true! Later, a friend actually gave me a book about it: Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies, from the Society of American Historians. The book opens with a conversation between an historian and the filmmaker John Sayles. In it, Sayles says, "If historical accuracy were the thing that people went to the movies for, historians would be the vice presidents of studios...An important point about movies: they exist during those two hours. If you make them, you hope that they have some echo, but the only thing you really have to do for the audience to buy in is to be true to the world you create for those two hours...I ask a lot of the people in the audience. I try not to condescend to them, and implicit in that is a presumption that they will take some responsibility not to believe everything they see and also to see more than one thing."

My claim: the real problem with W.E. is that it's a lousy movie, not that it mucks with history to suit its purposes.

What say you all?

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Thank You, Steve Jobs

Next Article

Casting Call: Bob Balaban

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader