The movie played fast and loose with the facts. Shockingly so.
For example, early in the movie the dour town elders -including the reverend- slip into the back of the classroom to witness Bertram Cates (John Scopes) in the act of teaching evolution. When the mayor had heard enough, he gives the nod to the local constable who dramatically arrests the young Mr. Cates/Scopes in front of his students.
In reality, John Scopes –who was a football coach and sometimes substitute teacher- later confessed in his autobiography that –to the best of his knowledge- he never subbed for high school biology, and he almost certainly never taught evolution. He simply volunteered to serve as a test case when the town leaders asked him to do so. (They town leaders were hoping that all the national attention would be a boon for their small town. It was.)
Also, the movie has a tender scene where Scopes –oops, sorry, Cates- is languishing in the local jail. He’s visited by his fiancée who pleads with him to not adhere so vigorously to his lofty principals so that things might go easier for him. Very tender. Very dramatic.
But the truth is that Scopes never spent a single day in jail. (And what’s more, Scopes didn’t even have a girlfriend at the time –let alone a fiancée.)
And the list goes on and on.
It fact, the movie takes so many liberties with the truth that there are webpages dedicated to comparing what the movie depicts and what really happened in Dayton, Tennessee in the sweltering summer of 1925.
No comments:
Post a Comment