May 06, 2005
Kingdom of Bunkum
Beautifully Atrocious Jeff has a horrifying round-up of commentary regarding the new Crusader movie Kingdom of Heaven.
I call it horrifying for two reasons:
First, the amount of howling historical ignorance and baseless contemporary moral equivalency displayed in these comments is truly appalling.
Second, consider how many people there are out there, especially kids, for whom this movie will be the first, last and only exposure they ever have to the Crusades, and the warped historical perspective they'll take away from it.
Posted by Robert at May 6, 2005 01:05 PMI just started reading "A Concise History of the Crusades" by Thomas F. Madden. A LOT of information packed into 200 pages. Highly recommended as an introductory overview.
And when my kids grow up, thank goodness they will have it available to read while they are watching "Kingdom of Heaven" as the Saturday afternoon movie.
Posted by: Chrees at May 6, 2005 05:01 PMCalm down, son.
First, shouldn't that be "base" contemporary moral equivalency?
Second, if that is the sole exposure kids get to a historical perspective, I doubt it is Follywood's fault. Try parents and the NEA first.
Third, just what, exactly, do you expect from the film industry? With few exceptions, since WWII, the biz has consistantly undermined core American values. It's what they do.
Lastly, consider that we are paying their bills. They don't wanna eat grapes? We don't wanna see their crappy flics. Try a little individual initiative. Boycott; loudly, publicly, often and in concert. Maybe it could become another VRWC.
Posted by: Mr. Kurtz at May 7, 2005 11:25 AM
