Hollywood Re-writes History

So, apparently our kids are growing up and learning a Hollywood version of history which is not factual! Read about it here.

It seems that our American cousins are sometimes re-writing history to show the USA in a good light – if you look at most American WWII films you would think that they won it on their own and would have done so a lot quicker if they were not constantly distracted by rescuing us poor Brits….and let’s not even start on U571.

I would like to think that this is not deliberate Soviet-style re-writing of history. No, more likely it is driven from a desire to tell a good story. Or, it could be based upon a lack of awareness of the world outside of America and a lack of knowledge of historical facts.

I once sat in an airport lounge in Athens in 1992 or so and “overheard” a conversation between two very large American businessmen. I say “overheard” but it was clear from the volume of their conversation that they felt a strong need to share their wisdom with the entire lounge. They were talking about the Bosnia-Croatia-Serbia conflict that was raging in the former Yugoslavia…..or at least I think they were. The conversation went something like this (to be read in a southern American drawl) – “Ya’ll heard about this war in Czechoslovakia? Jeez, that would be like Kentucky going to war with Virginia!” In retrospect I think that probably sums up the troubled history of the Balkans pretty well

To be honest though, I am not sure that being flexible with historical fact is restricted to our friends across the pond. I am not sure that the UK’s first venture into Afghanistan was successful because a Scottish regiment lifted their skirts (I know they’re called kilts) as in Carry On Up The Khyber…….