Rather than picking out a couple of five-minute clips to show the whole class, I would break students into small groups and have each group watch a different twenty-minute segment of the movie. Then I would have students go to the internet to compare those scenes with what really took place in the Scopes Trial. It was going to be a lesson in discernment. Truth Investigators: Hong Kong edition.
It went well. Better than expected. My students proved themselves to be astute and insightful. As a class, we had a really great conversation about history, Hollywood, and who controls our collective stories.
We decided to leave the evolution/creationism debate for the science and Bible classes. Instead, as a history/literature class, we had a meta-conversation in which we talked about how we talk about all the talk that surrounds the ongoing faith-science talk.
My students concluded that while people are free to think what they want: new earth, old earth, evolutionary creationism, intelligent design, atheistic evolution; it’s important that both sides not be mis-characterized.
Despite its star-studded cast, critical acclaim, and continued use in American classrooms, Inherit the Wind is a sad example of what happens when those who control the storytelling are willing to sacrifice the truth for the sake of an ostensibly higher cause.
I hesitated to bring America’s heated culture wars into my Hong Kong classroom. I was kind of hoping to leave all that baggage at the gate. But this was too ripe of an opportunity to teach my students one of history’s most important lessons: Truth is the first casualty of any war.
Jack-
ReplyDeleteI think you missed the boat on this one... the authors make a point of saying that the play was a work of fiction based on some actual events - their point was to blast the climate of communist hunting and the actions of McCarthy and his toadies. Intellectual freedom was under attack - the story (both the play and movie) are drawn very broadly to DRAMATIZE the restrictions being placed on the free exchange of ideas in the 50s. And more importantly - this just makes a better story and more interesting narrative
Ed Koehler
Ed, you are absolutely correct. The movie makers did intent the movie as a commentary on McCarthyism. But the movie is also about something else. Despite the moviemaker's coy protestations to the contray, it most definitely is a movie about the 1925 Scopes Trial. Just not a very accurate one.
ReplyDeleteWhether the movie makers ever intended it to be so or not, the narrative put forth by the play and movie have become a stand-in for the actual events of the Scopes Trial. Misconceptions abound about the 1925 Scopes Trial and so much of those traces back to "Inherit the Wind." The play is read widely in high schools, continues to be a popular high school stage production, and the movie has actually been on State's list of recommended material for teaching education.
If the movie makers wanted to make a movie about McCarthysim, well then, they should have made a movie about McCarthyism rather than cribbing from history.
Again: a movie about vigorously pursuing the truth that plays fast and loose with the facts. That's about as good of an example of irony as there is.
Jack-
ReplyDeleteYou're confusing reality with Hollywood -remember what has been often said -"Hollywood is like High School - but with lots of money...."
Not sure that the cultural climate at the time would have allowed a direct slam at McCarthy - using this conflict as a stand-in for head-hunting simply makes a point and a good story. That's all it intends to do - Hollywood doesn't exist to tell the truth....
Ed Koehler
Hollywood claims that ITW is a movie about McCarthyism. I see a different point: Hollywood thinks that fundamentalist Christianity is socially, sexually, and scientifically dangerous. There are 100 examples of this sentiment against Christianity in ITW. The McCarthyism claim is a misdirection, in my opinion; it's sleight of hand. See www.themonkeytrial.com or www.allegedthemovie.com. Thanks.
ReplyDelete