Real History vs. Hollywood History
One of the more vexing aspects of American culture is the insensitivity to, and lack of knowledge of history (even within our community sadly). We tend to believe movies and TV more than reading or reviewing actual history.You'll hear this in casual conversation among ourselves at functions, over dinner, and as general information being passed from person to person within the Black community, especially on social media (YouTube infuencers, I'm looking at you here!). Often those inaccuracies are used to support, supplement or bolster positions and/or arguments or are sometimes the arguments themselves.
Listen long enough and you'll see that typically what most people know about history comes directly from grade or high school textbooks or even worse from a generous helping of TV or movies. Lately you'll also find many folks getting their knowledge from "Youtube University". The problem with this is the fictional gets freely mixed with the actual in a weird gumbo that at best distorts truth, at worst is completely false.
In other words it creates VERY inaccurate portrayals of history, especially OUR history.
When it comes to slavery, many of those inaccurate versions of our history have far more to do with this guy:
Who was the
That movie, Disney's "Song of the South" has been "withheld" from distribution in the US for many years, and for good reason. The setting of the movie is just after the civil war, the characters portray slaves though technically they are freemen. From an African-American point of view, this movie represents the (literally) white-washed view of slavery and reconstruction as a simple place with good natured white folks that lived in harmony with newly freed Blacks. History though tells us this wasn't the case with reconstruction being one of the most violent periods of history for people of color.
The issue (or specifically MY issue) with this particular movie is the general attitude and characterization of these former slaves. They appear as happy, but obviously poor individuals satisfied with their world and going about their daily lives singing, dancing and telling fun stories for the benefit of their former 'slave masters' and their children. Damn if this isn't the good life! None of the horrors and brutality of slavery (and the post civil war reconstruction period) are depicted, referenced or even mentioned ANYWHERE in the movie.
For reasons I can't explain there's a LOT of *ahem* folks that really like this movie and want to see it released! They are passionate to the point of creating online petitions and campaigns for its release.
I remember as a child seeing this movie at New York's grand Radio City Music Hall and wanting to scream "THIS IS BULLSHIT" at the screen.
Even as a child I could see this was about as real a world as my Marvel comics, but in a surreal "this shit can't be happening" kind of way. To me, this movie has as much cultural significance as "The Holocaust, the Musical", and as much cultural sensitivity.
Don't believe me? Look at this clip and judge for yourself:
See anything wrong? The biggest problem with films like this (and others like "The Green Berets", "Patton", "Gone With the Wind", "The Ten Commandments", "Cleopatra" and many others) is they become history, totally sweeping away real history in the collective memory of people. Then, when people try to properly put actual, real events in context, it is through the lens of these movies rather than supported by any real truth.
Real history isn't neat, doesn't have a catchy soundtrack and almost always doesn't fit a narrative. It's messy because human beings are messy. It's grey rather than black & white. The good guys aren't always so good and the bad guys not always evil. Study history long enough and this becomes clear.
Movies, TV and other media are by nature of their design meant to entertain. If they can also educate and inform at the same time it's an added bonus. On the other hand history can definitely teach, inform and yes, even sometimes entertain. But first you have to acknowledge that it won't fit into neat little boxes, or make everyone or every culture a hero or villain.
