Does it matter that the history found in most Hollywood films based on real events and real people is ersatz? Watching 2020’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 and its frequent falsifications, I was reminded of a piece I wrote years ago about how a fake cinematic reality can all too easily substitute for actual historical knowledge. Hollywood producers certainly have the artistic prerogative to not care about rendering an accurate account of historical events, but it’s a choice with consequences (even if often without obvious dramatic rationale). Why? Because the Hollywood version is not only the most vivid account
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