Wait, are you saying those latter examples are problematic? I'd have thought those type of movies are exactly the kind of non-historical nonsense you *can* do with historical figures, precisely because they're so obviously fiction, and so obviously intended for other purposes than historical drama.
It's stuff that could be mistaken for a straight dramatization, especially big-budget stuff that *looks* convincing (if you're not learned about the setting, at least), that creates the false narratives, I think. Any dramatic adaptation has a perspective, of course, and fictionalizes at least some unknowable details. (Documentaries do, too, if you want to be rigorous.) That doesn't have to impact the accuracy of *essential* points.
OK, we agree. Braveheart is a great example of being terrible specifically because it's got the production to come across as a serious historical epic, but it's nearly all wrong.
This is millions of people's primary image of Scottish history now.
Wait, are you saying those latter examples are problematic? I'd have thought those type of movies are exactly the kind of non-historical nonsense you *can* do with historical figures, precisely because they're so obviously fiction, and so obviously intended for other purposes than historical drama.
It's stuff that could be mistaken for a straight dramatization, especially big-budget stuff that *looks* convincing (if you're not learned about the setting, at least), that creates the false narratives, I think. Any dramatic adaptation has a perspective, of course, and fictionalizes at least some unknowable details. (Documentaries do, too, if you want to be rigorous.) That doesn't have to impact the accuracy of *essential* points.
OK, we agree. Braveheart is a great example of being terrible specifically because it's got the production to come across as a serious historical epic, but it's nearly all wrong.
This is millions of people's primary image of Scottish history now.