In high school, my AP World History teacher Mr. Summers disappointed many in my class by refusing to play the Disney animated film, Mulan (1998) because he felt it misrepresented history strongly. He said it was a fine film that he enjoyed as a parent, but as a history teacher, he just couldn’t stomach showing his students a movie supposedly about Chinese history whose primary villains are the Huns, a nomadic people who migrated into Europe in the 300s AD and were never close to China. But without even showing us the film, Mr. Summers took the time to explain to us why the film is historically inaccurate and teach us something about history.
What is historical fiction?
Historical fiction is, broadly speaking, a genre of storytelling with any combination of narrative and real history and can overlap with other genres like biopics and war films. It can include only a slightly altered depiction of a real, specific event, an original story set in a historical era that may have historical figures as ancillary characters, or a story that only superficially purports to take place in some vague historical period while otherwise being wholly fictional.
This means that a biographical film like Lincoln (2012), with its painstaking attention to detail, is technically in the same category as 300 (2006), a film where only the names and its one-sentence summary even remotely resemble a history book. Obviously, the educational value of 300 is limited. But even films that aren’t nearly as blatantly ahistorical still have problems, as it is impossible to portray history 100% accurately where some measure of editorializing isn’t necessary, and of the kinds that are typically shown in school, they typically fall on the lower ends of the accuracy spectrum for a number of reasons.
Why are historical films often inaccurate?
Even if not trying to, the medium of film isn’t conducive to sober, highly detailed depictions of historical events, and this is especially true of movies that are “school-appropriate.” This latter category of films is almost always family films or films with a very limited amount of swearing, violence, and nudity, unless with a specific purpose such as Schindler’s List (1993) that requires special permission.
Naturally, films aimed at children and families prioritize narrative, visuals, characters, and other engaging film qualities over the accuracy, which is understandable for the filmmakers. But it presents a conundrum for teachers who wish to (or in some cases need to) show a historical-fiction movie to their students that they would intrinsically enjoy, but whose educational value is limited or even counterproductive.
Additionally, kind of media that does portray history very accurately like documentaries and history series tend to be either not school-appropriate or in such a large volume that they are difficult to consume in a classroom setting, where putting on a single relevant episode of a 20 part documentary may prove confusing or simply lack the context to be helpful.
Why do teachers show historical films?
Despite this, films have and will continue to be useful tools for teachers. Films are an easy lesson plan for teachers to make for substitute teachers, and films can also be a simple way for an overworked teacher to take a well-deserved break, or serve as a reward or reprieve from the typical cycle of education students have to endure.
How can historical films be taught more accurately?
The burden thus falls, as it so often does, on teachers. Not every teacher is necessarily equipped or trained to teach about media or filmmaking, and as overworked and underpaid as they are, perhaps expecting teachers to attempt to squeeze media literacy into their already crammed curriculum is unfair.
But these films have a regular place in classrooms anyways, and as such there might as well be educational value grafted onto them.
Why is accuracy in historical films important?
Many historical fiction films are often key instruments in the sociocultural mythologization of our past or the particular narrative our society considers a “true” depiction of our history. An example of this is the prototypical Western film, depicting the march of progress and Manifest Destiny onto a backward, savage west. This narrative isn’t true of history, but there was a time when these films were considered an accurate reflection of that time and place in American history.
Acquainting students with this utility of historical fiction can be an incredibly important lesson a teacher can impart, in the low stakes of family-friendly historical fiction, providing students the critical lens to analyze the other myths and historical narratives they are exposed to throughout their lives.
How can professors teach historical fiction films?
With that in mind, here are a number of techniques teachers can use to guide their students through historical inaccuracies in the films they screen for their classroom.
- Tying the films you show to the curriculum is a pretty clear first step, though teachers may not have access to a library of films that connect to all historical time periods, and may have to make do with the films at their disposal. A common way teachers do this is by giving students worksheets while they watch the film, but this is more often busy work to keep the students paying attention rather than a tool for enhancing their learning
- Provide a pre and/or post-film debrief to add more context that the film leaves out, point out things that were omitted entirely, and discuss the truth behind certain characters, events, and storylines
- Turning the viewing into a game; ask the students to write down 10 parts of the film they think are accurate and 10 parts that aren’t and see who gets the best score
- Perhaps, at a certain point, just drawing the line, like Mr. Sommers did, at films whose content is so historically inaccurate it isn’t worth showing, even if it’s a film the students would or do enjoy.
- Equipping students to discern on their own level: There can be something particularly rewarding about watching a historical film and having the context to understand more of the story than even the screenwriters are presenting. Letting students feel smarter than the films they’re watching can be a great way of allowing them to appreciate and seek out this historical information on their own terms.