Did you know that in a survey in American high schools across the country, over 45% of participants thought it was Kennedy who led the Americans in WW2. 50% didn't know how long WW2 lasted, let alone give the years of the start and finish of the war. A very high number (I can't remember so I won't guess) got Lenin and Stalin mixed up or thought they were one and the same. At the start of the Kosovo crisis, a street survey was undertaken, and only ~20% of people got the correct continent when asked to point out Yugoslavia on the world map.
What I want to know is, how may Americans are going to believe that it was an American crew who stole the Enigma machine off the German U-boat, as seen in U-571? In what was considered to be the single most important enforced event of the war, how many people are going to be mislead by what are presented as facts, when such a large number of people don't know that many facts about the war in the first place.
I don't mind historical inaccuracy (at all) in order to get a good film (e.g. Braveheart), but such misrepresentation of the truth pisses me, especially when I know people who lost friends on that very mission. It does their memories no justice IMHO. I can't see how making the crew American adds to the film, or is it really true that the American public are only interested in American characters. That's what the director thinks (Jonathan Mostow), quoting "No-one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the American public". In my opinion, the American public aren't this shallow, though if I am wrong it is a sad thing indeed.
I got my figures from a British TV show, however the surveys were all carried out by Americans. I'm about to go to bed now, and I won't be able to check this message for about 15 hours. I expect a lively discussion of SOME kind when I get back. If you post something in disagreement to me, don't expect a quick response!
I'm not trying to attack Americans here, just the film makers. The first paragraph was simply to point out the potential of the harm that could be done. Take into account that this survey was probably taken across all economical and social groupings. The fact that you are posting on this board probably greatly reduces your chances of you being one of the people who would make such mistakes, so "Everyone I know knows when the war started, those stats are BullSh*t" posts, may go unanswered by me, as it's hardly the point anyway.
What I want to know is, how may Americans are going to believe that it was an American crew who stole the Enigma machine off the German U-boat, as seen in U-571? In what was considered to be the single most important enforced event of the war, how many people are going to be mislead by what are presented as facts, when such a large number of people don't know that many facts about the war in the first place.
I don't mind historical inaccuracy (at all) in order to get a good film (e.g. Braveheart), but such misrepresentation of the truth pisses me, especially when I know people who lost friends on that very mission. It does their memories no justice IMHO. I can't see how making the crew American adds to the film, or is it really true that the American public are only interested in American characters. That's what the director thinks (Jonathan Mostow), quoting "No-one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the American public". In my opinion, the American public aren't this shallow, though if I am wrong it is a sad thing indeed.
I got my figures from a British TV show, however the surveys were all carried out by Americans. I'm about to go to bed now, and I won't be able to check this message for about 15 hours. I expect a lively discussion of SOME kind when I get back. If you post something in disagreement to me, don't expect a quick response!
I'm not trying to attack Americans here, just the film makers. The first paragraph was simply to point out the potential of the harm that could be done. Take into account that this survey was probably taken across all economical and social groupings. The fact that you are posting on this board probably greatly reduces your chances of you being one of the people who would make such mistakes, so "Everyone I know knows when the war started, those stats are BullSh*t" posts, may go unanswered by me, as it's hardly the point anyway.
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