Taeyeon Kim
Grade 10
1. Pros and Cons of learning history from films.
Strengths
i. Films can make a much more powerful impact especially on our generation—more
familiar with visual media than text—as their special effects and realistic direction
visualize and deliver historical information.
ii. It helps the audience engage much more deeply with the historical context by
allowing them to empathize with the emotions portrayed by the characters.
iii. Historically accurate depictions of buildings, clothing, and food aid in understanding
historical facts within their contemporary cultural context.
iv. Films about war history, in particular, can impart the lesson that war must be avoided
at all costs through their focused portrayal of its brutality and inhumanity.
Weakness
i. Sometimes, for entertainment purposes, movies portray historically unimportant
scenes with excessive drama, which can lead the audience to absorb historical
misinformation.
ii. Moreover, the subjective perspectives of directors or writers run the risk of
distorting history.
iii. If historical narratives are misinterpreted or presented as fact without sufficient
rigor, their excessive spread can lead many people to believe these falsehoods.
iv. Since history is primarily the record of victors, it often excessively glorifies the
winners and fails to mention the historical losers. Furthermore, by focusing on the
drama of heroes, the lives of ordinary people are overlooked.
2. Films I’ve watched and researched
Saving Private Ryan
o The movie begins as the Allied forces launch the Normandy landings – a decisive
operation poised to change the tide of the war – during a time when Nazi Germany was
completely overrunning the European front of World War II. While the film's setting
relatively accurately depicts the brutality of the war and the situation in Europe at the
time, the specific story of "Saving Private Ryan" is historical fiction (or: fiction based on
true events).
Pearl Harbor
o This film is set against the backdrop of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which served
as the starting point for the United States' entry into the Pacific War. It vividly depicts the
peaceful atmosphere of Hawaii before the Japanese assault and the brutality of the
surprise attack carried out on a holiday. While the movie also emphasizes the romantic
relationships of the main characters amidst the war, it realistically portrays the ruthless
Japanese attack, thereby offering a justification for America's involvement in the Pacific
War.
Oppenheimer
o The film realistically portrays the conflicts faced by the scientists, military personnel, and
their families involved in the Manhattan Project – the effort to build the atomic bomb, the
ultimate weapon believed capable of ending the war. Under the strong leadership of the
genius J. Robert Oppenheimer, the project leads to successful atomic testing and
ultimately the detonation of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. It also
depicts the internal conflicts of the scientists grappling with the development of this
inhumane weapon, arguably the most powerful instrument of destruction ever invented
by humankind.
The Imitation Game
o This film depicts the life of Alan Turing, known as the father of modern computer
development, set against the backdrop of World War II. For British intelligence, Turing
developed a machine to decipher enemy codes, and its underlying algorithms became the
precursor to the modern computer. However, despite making such a great contribution to
the war victory, Turing's post-war life was beset by difficulties – stemming from political
reasons and persecution due to his sexual identity, making him, in a sense, a victim
despite his wartime heroism.
3. Events and historical accuracy.
The portrayal of the Normandy landings [in this film] is renowned in cinema history as one of the
most accurate depictions of warfare ever filmed. Although the landing operation is known as the
starting point for the Allied victory, the scene uses powerful sound and visuals to illustrate the
brutal sacrifices made by both sides that lay behind that success.
The portrayal of the Normandy landings [in this film] is renowned in cinema history as one of the
most accurate depictions of warfare ever filmed. Although the landing operation is known as the
starting point for the Allied victory, the scene uses powerful sound and visuals to illustrate the
brutal sacrifices made by both sides that lay behind that success.
The film portrays the Pearl Harbor attack by depicting the aggression of Japan, which struck the
U.S. – a nation historically leaning towards entering the war – at what turned out to be a crucial
moment. Nevertheless, the movie arguably presents a somewhat simplistic, binary view of
history, casting Japan as the villain and the American military as inherently good. Despite this
perspective, it depicts the sheer brutality of the attack itself with remarkable accuracy.
Furthermore, the film examines the advent of a great catastrophe (the atomic bomb) – born from
the Manhattan Project and created by geniuses in physics and mathematics – from multiple, often
highly critical perspectives. By adeptly portraying the conflicts and regrets of these flawed human
beings involved, it ultimately poses the fundamental question of whether history truly equates to
progress.
Furthermore, the narrative illustrates how the destructive event of war paradoxically became the
catalyst for the computer age—a new horizon in human development leading to our modern
society of maximized productivity. Simultaneously, by depicting the hero's tragic end, the film
skillfully intertwines this personal history with the broader currents of human history.
4. Film and History Education
History books inevitably contain the subjectivity of their authors; not everything in them is
perfectly accurate. Ultimately, maintaining complete objectivity and depicting only the facts is
challenging when studying history. Consequently, while films possess highly subjective and
narrative-driven characteristics, it's true that other media share similar limitations. Although
there's a risk that added subjectivity and dramatic elements might distort history, it cannot be
denied that they provide significant help. For young people like us, these films facilitate
understanding the past, comprehending events, and grasping the conflicts within them, thereby
offering invaluable assistance in learning about previous generations and human experiences.
