Comment by bigiain
1 day ago
> It would be interesting, however, to have a backdrop of steadfast historical “accuracy “ in an otherwise pseudo-slapstick context a-la Monty pythons flying circus. That was kinda part of the gig, but it might be even funnier if they obviously took that aspect with unflinching seriousness.
That can get super grim too.
I saw (maybe read?) an interview with Margaret Attwood about The Handmaids Tale. She took the atrocities committed by Gilead very seriously - and did not make a single one of them up. Every one of them was something historically accurate that really happened somewhere in the world.
Would say I prefer comedy/satire, since you don't run into the danger zone of historical dramas, where you mistake artistic story alterations for dramatic effect for some historically factual narrative.
Those are hard to rectify once internalized, and have a tendency to even overshadow historical research for the general public.
> Those are hard to rectify once internalized, and have a tendency to even overshadow historical research for the general public
The "people told Columbus the earth is flat" is one that is still repeated by people who should know better.
I can’t believe that crap was drummed into us in grade school. I was taught that that was literally the reason for the voyage, that he was out to prove the world was round to the doubt and consternation of his contemporaries.
That shit was fabricated from whole cloth, and why? So.much.absolute.bullocks in my grade school curriculum. It’s like as if the whole point was to make up The most outrageous lies and see if you could trick kids into believing them.
OTOH I’m thankful for a healthy skepticism of institutions and authority.