Teaching American History with Feature Film

Author(s): MICHAEL STURMA

Source: Australasian Journal of American Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1 (July 2001), pp. 66-75
Published by: Australia New Zealand American Studies Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41053843
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RESOURCES

TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY WITH FEATURE FILM

MICHAEL STURMA

A recentspateof moviesincludingU571, Gladiatorand The Patriot,have elicited

familiarclaimsbyreviewers andcriticsaboutthedistortion ofhistorybyHollywood.
The typicalfocusof academichistorians, too,has beento examinetheproduction of
filmswithina specifichistorical contextand to assess theiraccuracyin termsof the
historical record.1Despitea recentoutpouring of literature
on filmand history, there
has been relatively littleattentionto theways in whichincorporating filmintothe
curriculum of historycoursesrelatesto studentlearning.In his book Visionsof the
Past: TheChallengeofFilmtoOurIdea ofHistory, RobertA. Rosenstone notesthatas
yetthehistorical profession has failedto reacha consensuson someofthemostbasic
questionspertaining tofilmandhistory. Thesequestionsinclude:Whatcanfilmstellus
aboutthepastthatthewritten wo rdcannot?How can we situatefilmsin relationto
writtenhistory? Whatkindofhistorical knowledgeandunderstanding can a historical
filmprovide?2Rosenstonedoes notattempt to fullyanswerthesequestions,at least
buttheyprovidesomeusefulparameters
directly, forconsideringtherelationbetween
filmandhistory. In thefollowing discussion,I wantto addressthesequestionsas they
relateto theteachingoftwentieth century AmericanHistoryto university students.In
partI willbe drawingon myfirst handexperience usingfeaturefilmintheclassroom.
Moresubstantially, though, thediscussionis basedon surveysandinterviews withthe
students I havetaught.

Background
forthefirsttimea twentieth
In 1997 I offered centuryAmericanHistorycourseat
MurdochUniversity HollywoodandHistory.
titled: Giventhatmuchofthe'knowledge'
AustralianshaveaboutAmericanHistoryhas beenabsorbedthrough popularculture,
filmsseemedanappropriate
feature vehicleforintroducing
studentstotheUnitedStates
inthetwentieth In additiontolectures
century. andtutorials,
a feature
filmwas screened
inthecourseeachweek.
HOLLYWOOD AND HISTORY COURSE OUTLINE
TutorialTopic Lecture Film
FilmandHistory GunfighterNation Shane( 1953)
ProgressiveEra ProgressiveEra Birthofa Nation(1915)
GreatDepression Inter-warYears Grapesof Wrath ( 1940)
WorldWarII Hollywoodat War Best YearsofOurLives( 1946)
Cold War The Fifties Dr Stangelove( 1964)
JFK Camelot JFK(1991), partone
The Sixties Woodstock JFK(1991), parttwo
CivilRights MalcolmandMartin MalcolmX ( 1992)
VietnamWar The Livingroom War ApocalypseNow( 1979)
Watergate Hollywood'sAmerica All thePresident s Men ( 1976)
ReaganEra Reagan:The Movie Fatal Attraction(1987)

The courseobjectivesemphasisedthatthereare at leastthreeways thatfilmscan

66

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 JOURNAL
AUSTRALASIAN OF AMERICANSTUDIES 67

contribute
toanunderstanding ofthepast.Firstly, filmsprovidea representation
historical
of thepastthatin somewaysmaybe moreeffective thantraditional
written history.
Secondly,films can influencethevalues and attitudes
of a givenera. films
Thirdly,
reflect
tovarying the
degrees social,politicaland cultural
milieu,whichproduced them.

Choosingwhichfilmstobe includedwas a difficult process.A number ofcriteriawere

used whichincludedpersonaltaste,availabilityon video and whethera suitable
complementary readingcould be found.For reasonsdiscussedbelow,the latteris
especiallyimportant forplacingthefilmsin an intellectualcontextforviewingand
discussion.Eventuallya groupof filmswere selectedwhichrepresented particular
historical
eventsand/or reflected
theculturalmilieuofparticulareras.Morerecentfilms
tendedto be overrepresented. Of thefilmschosenforthecourse,fivewereproduced
beforethe1970s,andfiveinthepost-1970 period.Morerecentfilmshavetheadvantage
of beingmorereadilyavailableto studentswishingto view themoutsideof class.
Experience has also shownthatmanystudents havedifficulties
relatingto silentfilms
suchas TheBirthof a Nation(1915) or even filmsin black and whitesuchas The
GrapesofWrath (1940).As becameapparent fromsubsequent students
appraisals, were
unanimous
virtually thatthefilmsaddedinterest
tothecourse.According toeducationalist
DavidBuckingham, acknowledging theroleofpleasureinthelearning processmaybe
important in itself.3Buthowdidthefilmsaffect students' of
learning history?

Fromthebeginning ofteachingtheunitthisappearedto be an important question.In

thehopesof addressing this,students in thecoursewereenlistedto participate in a
seriesof anonymous questionnaires over the semester and to givetaped interviewsat
theconclusionofthecourse.4Whilethenumberof student is a
participants relatively
smallsampletogeneralisefrom, thisallowedtheirresponsestobe considered insome
depth.Quotations from students cited here are identifiedas coming from either a
or
questionnaire interview, along with an identificationnumber, the student'ssex and
majorfieldof study.Of theforty-five students whoparticipated in thequestionnaires
andinterviews, nineteenwerehistory majors while theremainder camefroma variety
ofotherdisciplinesincluding media studies and education.A preliminary surveyofthe
students revealedthatwhilethelargestproportion ofstudents enrolledinthecourseto
gaina betterunderstanding of U.S. History, themajority also expectedto gainsome
critical of
appreciation the films.
Most of thestudents indicatedthattheyalreadywatched
at leastone filma week,and all excepteightofthestudents had alreadyseenat least
one of thefilmsto be screenedas partof thecourse.The students'commentsand
experience contributessomeinsight intotheissuesraisedbyRosenstonein discerning
therelationbetweenvisualandwritten history, andwhether feature filmscan provide
someuniqueformsofhistorical knowledge.

Whatcan filmtellus about thepast thatthewrittenword cannot?

In a recentarticleon themindand themedia,GavrielSalomonmakesthepointthat

different
forms ofrepresentationafford
theopportunitytolearndifferent
typesofthings.5
Whatarethosedifferent things? Thehistorians
JohnChambers and David Culbertstate
thatthevalueofhistorical filmis inhelpingtovisualisethepastandevokinga feeling
forit.6Numerousstudents in thecoursecommented on thebenefitsofhavingevents,

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68 AUSTRALASIAN OF AMERICANSTUDIES
JOURNAL

peopleandobjectspresented ina visualformat.As one student putit,film'givesa face

towhatyou'rebeingtold.'(Interview,23,male,media studies).Perhapsmostobviously,
filmrepresentsthematerialcultureof a particular era moreeffectively thanwritten
text.For instance,students
got a clearersense of what fashions or motor carsmight
havelookedlikeat a particular
period. One student commented:

Theyworethis,theydid this,theysang this,fine. YouwouldnÌ

havea clueunlessyouhada picture.Butwitha filmyouactually
see thesethingslikemovingandbeingandhavingaplace . . . you
actuallysee themin thecontext. . . ThenI can go back to the
readingandsortofsee inmyheadandgeta better understanding
ofthewordsI'm reading.(Interview, 55, female,generalarts).

Thisemphasison moviesrepresenting thephysicalworldmaybe wellplaced,sinceit

seemsthatfilmmakers expendmoreeffort
often inreproducing authentic
material
culture
thanproviding a balancedinterpretationofevents.I havealreadycommented thatfilm
reviewersand academichistorians oftenappearfixatedwithassessingthehistorical
accuracyoffilms.In termsofmaterialartefacts, itseemsfilmmakers frequentlyshare
thisobsession.Bill NicholsindicatesthatHollywoodcinematraditionally givesclose
attentionto elementssuchas dress,architecture and locale.7AlthoughOliverStone's
versionof President JohnF. Kennedy'sassassinationis extremely his
controversial,
production company was meticulous in the
re-creating material of
circumstances the
early1960s,fromclothingstylesto hairdos.Beforeshootinghis filmJFK (1991) in
Dallas, StonehadtheTexas SchoolBook Depository, whereLee HarveyOswaldwas
accusedoffiring thefatalbullets,carefully Dealy Plaza,whereKennedywas
restored.
shot,was a
given thorough makeover to replicate sceneas itappearedin 1963.8
the

The filmAll thePresident s Men ( 1976), whichcoverstheearlypartof investigations

intotheWatergate scandalby Washington Post journalistsBob Woodwardand Carl
Bernstein, offersanotherexample where enormous was expendedin creating
effort
accuratephysicaldetail.Almosthalfa milliondollarswas spentre-creating a replicaof
the Washington Post newsroomin Burbank,California. Not onlywere200 identical
deskspurchased, butalso 270 cartonsof rubbishfromthePost's wastebaskets were
flownoutto California tobe placedinthewastebaskets on set!Actorswerealso hired
largelyon thebasis of theirphysicalsimilarityto thecharacterstheyportrayed.9 The
idea notedby Chambersand Culbertthathistoricalfilmsare valuablein evokinga
'feeling'forthepastis somewhat moreelusive.It is neverthelessan idea,whichfinds
somesupport fromotherfilmhistorians. Rosenstone indicatesthatfilmsarebetterable
toportray theemotional contentofissuesthantraditional history.10Similarly,Leonard
QuartandAlbertAustercomment on theabilityoffilmstoevokethemoodandtoneof
societyin an historical
era.11

Accordingto someresearchers,filmbyitsverynaturerequiresmoreofan emotional

responsethana written In
text.12 thisrespectitis perhapsnotsurprisingthatfilmsmay
conveytheemotional or of a
atmosphere feeling period more effectively a traditional
than
book.
history Afilm likeTheGrapesof Wrath (1940),mightelicita greater
appreciation
ofthedesperationandmiserysomepeopleexperienced duringtheGreatDepression.

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AUSTRALASIAN OF AMERICANSTUDIES
JOURNAL 69

Onestudent commented, forexample,'I didn'trealisejusthowbadtheDepressionwas

oranything likethat... thefilmmadeitmorereal.'(Interview, 46, female,sociology).
Itis possiblea similarresponsemighthavebeenelicitedfromreadingJohnSteinbeck's
originalnovelonwhichthefilmisbased.To thisextent theuseoffilmmightbe compared
insomewaystoincorporating in
writings a history
fictional coursetoconveytheflavour
ofthetimes.

How can we situatefilmin relationto writtenhistory?

Some students believedit was easierto absorbinformation fromfilmsthanwritten

texts.According toonestudent, 'timeperiodsanddaysandeventsandseriesofevents',
couldbe muchmorequicklyconveyed bya visualsource.(Interview,7 1, female,general
arts).Giventhepowerofvisualimages,onemight also assumethatinformation obtained
froma visualformat wouldleave a moreindelibleimpression thanthewritten word.
Yet if we can extrapolatefromcurrent research,thisdoes not seem to be thecase.
Experiments using university studentssuggestthattheyare betterable to recall
information fromprintednews storiesthanthosepresented on television.The main
explanation putforward forthisis thatreaderscan exercisemorecontrolovertheir
information processingthanifwatching something in a visualform.13

Based on theirresponses,it appearsthatmoststudents doingthecourseappreciated

thatthefilmsusedwerecomplementary to written
sources,rather thana substitute
for
them.Commenting on TheBestYearsofOurLives(1946) anditsportrayal ofAmerica
immediately aftertheSecondWorldWar,one student observed,'withthatsortoffilm
you weremore able to sort
of connectwith thesocietyatthattimeso itreallywas that
thehistorybook was providing you with one side of thestoryand thefilmperhaps
providingyou with theother.' 89,male,EnglishandComparative
(Interview, Literature).
Therewas infacta generaltendency toassumewritten sourcesweremoreauthoritative
andreliable.One student explained:

Like visuallyyou could accept everything thatwas happening

andjustgettoknowthatsortofera ina sortofwashedoutsortof
wayand whenyou thenread thewritten documents you really
focussed on thetruefactsofthat time so nothingreallydistorted
itjust gave you sortof likean underlying foundationand then
youneededtobuildon topofthattofindthefactsthatyoureally
trulyneeded. (Interview, 71, female,generalarts).

Thenotionthatonegotthe'truefacts'fromtextbooks as opposedtofilmwasreasonably
common. Another student stated,'You cangetcertain
bitsandpiecesoutofthemovies,
buttextforthefacts,a thingthat'sactuallyhappenedand it'stherein wordsin black
andwhite.' 5 1, female, theatre
anddrama).Thesecomments
(Interview, tendtoreinforce
theclaimof Bill Nicholsthatour cultureprivilegesthewritten essay or book as a
higherlevelofdiscourse.14

It seemsthatone important
advantageofincorporating
filmsin thecourseis thatthey

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70 AUSTRALASIAN OF AMERICANSTUDIES
JOURNAL

oftenprompted studentsto seek out moreinformation so thattheymightjudge for

themselves a movie'sveracity. One student, forexample,remarked that,'I wantedto
be able tojudge whether thatmoviewas tellingme something realisticor not,and I
couldn'tdo ituntilI'd donethereading. ' After
(Interview,33,female,history). viewing
OliverStone'sJFK, another studentremarked that, 'Soon as I saw that,I thought well
I'd liketofindsomesortofmorecredible evidence'.(Interview, 86,male, media studies).
Whena questionnaire was administered a week afterscreeningJFK, two-thirds of
students that
responded they had done additional reading on thetopic or discussed
Kennedy'sassassinationoutsideof class. One studentnoted,forinstance,thatthey
foundadditional readingsatthelibrary andontheinternet and'discusseditwithlotsof
people,debatedwithmyhusbandseveraltimes.'(Questionnaire, 46,female,sociology).
Thissuggestsoneofthekeydifferences betweenfilmanda written history text.Films
areina sensemoreportable, inthatstudents areprobably morelikelytodiscussa film
thana written textwithpeople outsidetheclassroom.At leastsome of thestudents
seemedcognisant ofthepotential forfeature filmstodistort theirunderstanding ofthe
past.One student commented, forexample,'I don'tfindmyselfquestioning whatwas
beingdonewhilstI'm engrossedin thatstory, itwas onlyafterwards.' (Interview, 33,
female,history).Againitwas written texts,alongwithclassdiscussions, thatwereseen
as themainantidotes to distortion.
Accordingto thesamestudent:

Thereadingsassociatedwiththem[thefilms]isprobablythemost
importantaspectofthewholecourse.I don'tthink youcouldjust
lookat themovieswithoutall thatcriticalanalysisofthem.. . .
Otherwise the movies would have distortedperceptions
enormously 33, female,history).
(Interview,

One ofmymaincriteria inselectingfilmsforthecoursewas theavailability ofsuitable

journalarticles or book chaptersin order to put the movie in historicalcontext.Not
the
surprisingly, readingsassigned in the course could profoundly shape students'
responseand interpretation of the films.This is well illustrated by the resultsof
questionnaires administered beforeandafterscreening thefilmFatalAttraction (1987).
Whereasmostfilmsin thecoursepurported to represent specifichistoricalcharacters
andevents,Fatal Attraction was includedas a reflection of certainvaluesduringthe
Reagan era. A week before the film was shown in class, studentswere given a
questionnaire on the movie. Most students(53%) had alreadyviewedthefilm,andof
thesethemajority describedthemovieas abouta psychotic/aggressive woman.None
of therespondents describedthefilmas anti-feminist or as deprecating independent
women.As partoftheirassignedreading, students subsequently reada persuasive essay
bySusanFaludi,arguing thatFatal Attraction was symptomatic ofa broaderbacklash
againstfeminism and theindependent womanin the 1980s.15Whena questionnaire
was againadministered a weekafterscreening thefilmin class theeffects ofFaludi's
ideasseemedveryapparent. Overhalfofthestudents described thefilmas anti-feminist,
and manyrelatedtheirviewsdirectly to Faludi's essay.One student commented for
example:

ThefirsttimeI saw Fatal Attractionwas aboutnineyearsago

and whenI watcheditthenall I reallysaw was a psychological

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AUSTRALASIAN JOURNALOF AMERICAN STUDIES 71

thriller.
ThistimearoundI saw thefilmfroma verydifferent
Thefilmreallyseemstobe a strongslap in theface
perspective.
for thefeministmovement.(Questionnaire,34, male, media
studies).

Some students ofthefilm,butwhether

rejectedFaludi'sinterpretation
explicitly they
ofFatal
agreedor disagreedwithFaludiheressayremainedcentralto theirreception
Attraction.

Whatkindofhistoricalknowledgeor understanding
can a historicalfilmprovide?

Inthebroadest sense,filmsmightbe seenas contributing

tohistorical
knowledge simply
byaddingtothewebofimagesandinformation, whichenrichone'sappreciationofthe
past.Beyondthisitis noteasyto generalise. As mediaresearchersacknowledge, itis
extremely difficultto separateout the influenceof filmor televisionfromother
variables.16
Thehistoricalknowledge orunderstanding,whichcomesfroma film,must
dependonthefilmitself, thecontextinwhichitis viewedandtheresponsesofdifferent
individuals.
Eachmember ofanaudiencemaynegotiate themeaning ofa filmdifferently,
depending on theirknowledgeandprejudices.17

Studentreactionsto OliverStone'sJFK illustrate just how enormously variedthe

reception of a film may be. A number of students
professed that
the film did moreto
confusethaninform them.Theyfoundtheuse offictitious characters
andtheblending
of factwithspeculation One student
frustrating. commented thatStone'smovie 'just
reallyconfused me so I totallyignoredthe JFK filmand whatever was aboutitbecause
I justdidn'tlikeitat all.' (Interview,
36, female,media A numberof
studies/history).
studentsdescribedthe filmas 'dangerous' in its use of visual effects,its re-
contextualisation of archivalfilmfootageand becauseof thedifficulty in discerning
whatwas 'real'.Clearlytheuncertainty betweeninterpretationandsomeultimate 'truth'
madesomeviewersuncomfortable. On theotherhand,manystudents feltreasonably at
ease withthefilm'sambiguities orcopedwithitindifferent ways.Theyprofessed they
didnottakethemovieat facevalue,and foundita usefullearningtool.One student
notedthattheyknewlittleaboutKennedy'sassassination, and'thatJFK hasprovided
me witha lotof information the
regarding possible alternative
theoriesofKennedy's
death.'(Interview, 64, male,commerce). Anotherstudent commented:

/ thinkJFK was good in thewaythatitpresented facts. . . like

've
you got thedates and
down, you sortof know and itintroduces
thefact thatmostpeople do believein a conspiracytheory and
thathe wasn'tkilledbya lonegunman.(Interview, 87, female,
anddrama).
history/theatre

Thequestionnaires
giventostudentsbeforeandafterscreeningJFKsuggestsomething
aboutwhatkindsof'facts'students
retainedfromthefilm.Inthepre-film
questionnaire
a weekbeforethefilmwas shownin class,forexample,less thanhalfof
administered
students
(49%) knewthatKennedywas killedin 1963.Partofthequestionnaire asked
students
toidentify
a number ofpersonalities
associatedwiththeKennedyassassination.

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72 AUSTRALASIAN JOURNALOF AMERICAN STUDIES

Most studentscould identifyLee Harvey Oswald as thealleged assassin, butrelatively

few could identifyotherindividuals such as Jack Ruby or JimGarrison.In the post-
film questionnaire administered a week after the film was screened, students
demonstrateda much bettergrasp of factual detail. Over ninetypercentof students
correctly indicatedtheyearKennedywas killed,and mostshowed a markedimprovement
in being able to correctlyidentifyindividualsassociated withtheassassinationsaga. At
thesame time,however,studentsappeared fairlydiscriminatingin theamountof detail
theyrecalled. For example, althoughthe filmmakes numerousallusions to the timeof
Kennedy's shooting,only one-fifth of therespondentscorrectlygave thetimeas 12:30.
This is not to imply thatthe exact time of Kennedy's death is significant.Rather it
indicatesthatstudentsfilteredout whattheyconsideredrelativelyunimportant despite
the filmmaker'semphasis on certaindetails.

Since JFK was viewed in the contextof otherreadingsand discussion, it is difficultto

determinehow much knowledge was directlyretainedfromthe filmand how much
absorbed fromothersources. It is equally difficultto accuratelydeterminehow farthe
filminfluencedstudentinterpretations of the Kennedy assassination. In the pre-film
questionnaireless thana thirdof studentsbelieved Kennedy was killed by more than
one gunman. In the post-filmquestionnairethis proportionshot up to 73%. On the
otherhand,theproportionof studentswho accepted thefilm'scontentionthattherewas
a right-wingconspiracyinvolvingthemilitary-industrial complex, the CIA, Mafia and
anti-CastroCubans changed relativelylittle,increasingfrom32% to 39%.

As withmany filmversionsof the past,JFK tendsto privilegethe role of individuals,

makingthemthemostimportantagentsof change. In thisrespecthistoricalfilmsfollow
a long Hollywood traditionin which events are filteredthroughthe subjectivityof
(usually male) characters.Such character-centrednarrativesmay offersome historical
insight.As historianRobert Brent Toplin observes,a featurefilmcan provide scope for
about individualmotivationandrelationships.18On theother
speculating hand,Chambers
and Culbertsuggestthattheemphasison individualdramaunderlinesa majorweakness
in featurefilms,which is the inabilityto representcomplex causation.19Bill Nichols
also identifiescharacterand motivationas two areas whereHollywood cinema tendsto
take greatlibertieswiththehistoricalrecord.20

The studentquestionnaireson JFK further suggesthow thisfocuson individualsaffects

viewerresponses.The filmJFK is essentiallythestoryof New Orleans districtattorney
JimGarrisonand his quest to expose a conspiracybehindPresidentKennedy's murder.
In thepost-filmquestionnairealmostone-thirdof students(30%) statedtheyidentified
withtheJimGarrisoncharacterplayed in JFK by Kevin Costner.Perhaps surprisingly,
another15% indicatedtheyidentifiedwiththeLee Harvey Oswald characterplayed in
the filmby Gary Oldman. It is this identificationwithcharacterswhich largelyserves
to draw viewers into the imaginary world of film.21Some studentsconceded this
identificationinfluencedtheirviewing of the film,while others believed thattheir
knowledgeof eventsallowed themto maintaina criticalstance.
At leastby manystudents'own accounts,theyfoundelementsofthefilmverypersuasive,
butconsidereditin lightoftheirown readingand discussions.Accordingto one student:

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AUSTRALASIAN JOURNALOF AMERICAN STUDIES 73

Thisfilmwas veryconvincing and it is understandablewhyit

was so influential.I triednottomakejudgement onJFK'sdeath
through wasquestionable
thefilmas thisinitself material.Itmade
methink though.(Questionnaire, 69, female,history).

Overhalfofstudents
(58%) indicatedinthepost-film thatthemovieJFK
questionnaire
influencedtheirinterpretation
of Kennedy's death,but almost half (48%) also
acknowledgedtheinfluenceoftheirreadinganddiscussions.

As alreadynoted,themajorityofstudentsweremotivated readingon the

to do further
discussionsoutsideoftheclassroom.Accordingto one student:
topicand/orinitiate

You're not looking just at a film and getting different

outof that,butlistening
interpretations to lectures,byreading
thetext,by talkingwithotherpeople,you comeback and you
realisewhatStonewas trying to do and thenyou can breakit
down. (Interview,40, male,history).

In fact,whether lovedorhatedthefilm,theyappearedunableto stoptalking

students
about it.As one studentputit,thefilm'producestheneedfordiscussionon theJFK
assassinationanditsimplications
ofgovernment powerandprocedure.' (Questionnaire,
22, female,generalarts)Historicalfilmsthushelpexplicatethepastnotonlythrough
representationsofhistory,
butbyencouraging discourseon thepast.In thissensethey
echo in theclassroomthebroaderroleforhistorical filmsclaimedby Chambersand
Culbertas 'discursiveevents',whichstimulate publicdiscussionand debateon the
The
past.22 dangerhere, as claimed by MichaelAndereggin relationto theVietnam
War, is thatcinematicrepresentationsmay become thediscourseof thepast to the
exclusionofotherformsofanalysis.23

An unanticipated outcomeis thattheincorporation of filmsin thecourseapparently

broadenedmanystudents' notionofhistory. As one student putit,thefilmsreinforced
theidea thathistorywasn't 'just stuffy historiansand lots of factsin textbooks'.
70, female,history).
(Interview, The filmshelpedmakeexplicittheidea thathistory is
notsimplya bodyofuncontested facts, but a construction.This echoes the of
finding
EricPorter,thatfilmhelpsstudents 'learnfromtheoutsettoviewhistory as something
constructedrather thansimplydiscovered'.The variousdecisionshistorians makein
termsofselection,drawing connections and explicatingevidence become more explicit
andvisiblein filmmaking.24 In thisrespecthistorical filmscan be usedto analysethe
processesthrough whichhistory is represented byhistorians as wellas filmmakers.
All buta handfulofstudents that
professed they watched films screenedinthecourse
than
differently if theywere looking at them forpure entertainment. Theyvariously
describedthisdifferent
viewingstyleas more'analytically', or'historically'.
'critically',
One student explained:

Wellyou'relookingat whether whattheyshowinthefilm,whether

itdoesreallyagreewithwhatyou'veread;you'relookingatperiod
I
dress,perioddécor,cars,just everything. think
you moreon
're

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74 AUSTRALASIAN JOURNALOF AMERICAN STUDIES

theball becauseyou'repayingmoreattention, you're notjust

back.
sitting 20, female,generalarts).
(Interview,

approachtothefilmsofteninfluenced
itseemsthata critical
Interestingly, theirapproach
to othersources.A numberofstudents commented thatthescepticismtheybroughtto
thefilmscarriedoverto theirappraisalofwrittentexts.One student
remarked:

Thefunnythingaboutthiscourseis, morethananything else,it

broughtup how the
subjective writing was, not the I
films mean
youknow but
that, italso brought the
up fact that all thereadings
muchsubjective
arepretty 5 1, female,theatre
as well. (Interview,
anddrama).

In a similarveinanotherstudent
observed:

/ thinkit made me realise as well because theres a lot of

between
contradiction thereadingsandfilmanddifferent peoples
pointofview,whereasI've probably reada book in the
past and
thoughtthat'swhathappened, now I know to questionit more.
46,
(Interview, female,
sociology).

Itseems,then, offilmsinsomecaseshelpeddevelopandstrengthen
thattheincorporation
a critical
approachtoothersources, thecontested
reinforcing andmulti-representational
natureofhistory.

Conclusion

The responsesof students outlinedabove,I believe,takesometentative stepstoward

answering the questionsraised by Rosenstone. In part,students
considered thatfilms
imparted a knowledgedifficult to obtainfromwritten sources,suchas thematerial
cultureor affective dimensionsof a particular era. The filmscould providevisual
confirmation ofjust how different (or similar)thingswere in some earlierperiods.
Despitethefearsoccasionallyexpressedaboutfilmssuch as JFK shapingpopular
historicalconsciousness, it seemsthatmoststudentsappreciatedthesubjectivity of
historical films.Although written textsweregenerally privilegedoverfilmsas a more
authentic ofthepast,itappearsthatthefilmsinstilled
interpretation a greater
appreciation
of written texts'subjectivityas well. In otherwordstheinclusionof different media
does notso muchdisplacewritten texts,as reinforcethecontested natureofhistorical
interpretation. Perhapsmostvaluably, itseemsthattheuse offeature filmsmaysharpen
students'understanding of theconstructed natureof historicaltextsand reinforce a
criticalattitude towardhistorical sources.

ENDNOTES

1 See forexampleMarkC. Carnes(ed.),Past Imperfect:

History AccordingtotheMovies,
New York,HenryHoltand Company,1995; RobertB. Toplin,HistorybyHollywood:
The Use and Abuseof theAmericanPast, Universityof IllinoisPress,Urbana,1996;
JosephRoquemore, HistoryGoes to theMovies,Doubleday,New York,1999.

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AUSTRALASIAN JOURNALOF AMERICAN STUDIES 75

2 RobertA. Rosenstone, VisionsofthePast: TheChallengeofFilmtoOurIdea ofHistory,

HarvardUniversity Press,Cambridge, Mass, 1997,p.122.
3 DavidBuckingham (ed.), Watching MediaLearning:MakingSenseofMediaEducation,
TheFalmerPress,1990,London,p.224.
4 Interviews wereconductedby Sarah Veitchand JudithMacCallum,who assistedin
collatingmaterialforthisresearchbutwerenotinvolvedinteachingthecourse.
5 GavnelSalomon,'Of MindandMedia:How Cultures SymbolicFormsAffect Learning
andThinking', Phi Delta Kappan,January, 1997,p.377.
6 JohnWhiteclay ChambersandDavid Culbert,WorldWarII, Filmand History, Oxford
University Press,New York,1996,p.157.
7 Bill Nichols,Representing Reality:Issues and Conceptsin Documentary,Indiana
University Press,Bloomington, 1991,pp.115,171.
8 NormanKagan,TheCinemaofOliverStone,Continuum, NewYork,1995,p.183; Oliver
StoneandZacharySklar,JFK: TheBookoftheFilm,ApplauseBooks,New York,1992,
pp.221,354.
9 Toplin,HistorybyHollywood,p.189; SethCaginand PhilipDray,HollywoodFilmsof
theSeventies, HarperandRow,New York,1984,p.250.
10 Rosenstone, Revisioning History:Filmand theConstruction ofa NewPast, Princeton
University Press,Princeton, 1995,p.6.
11 LeonardQuartandAlbertAuster, AmericanFilmand Societysince1945,Praeger, New
York,1991,p.2.
12 Leena D'Haemens,'ArtsProgramming on PublicTelevision:AnAnalysisofCognitive
andEmotionalViewerReactions',EuropeanJournalofCommunication, vol. 11,no. 2,
p.153; David Boud and MargotPearson,'The Use of TriggerFilmsas a Stimulusfor
Affective Learning',in OrtonZuber-Skerritt (ed.), Videoin HigherEducation,Kogan
Page,London,1984,p.197.
13 JuliettH. Walmavan derMolen and TomH. A. van derVoorst,'Children'sRecall of
Televisionand PrintNews: A Media ComparisonStudy',Journalof Educational
Psychology, vol. 89,no. 1, 1997,p.82.
14 Nichols,Representing Reality,ppA-5.
15 Susan Faludi, Backlash: The undeclared WarAgainstAmericanWomen,Crown
Publishers,New York,pp.112-139.
16 See forexampleGraemeBurton,More thanMeetstheEye: AnIntroduction to Media
Studies,EdwardArnold,1993,London,pp.159,165.
17 ElizabethEllsworth, 'EducationalMedia,Ideology,andthePresentation ofKnowledge
through PopularCulturalForms',in HenryA. Girouxet al. (eds), Popular Culture,
Schooling, andEveryday Life,BerginandGarveyPublishers, Granby, Mass., 1989,p.61.
18 Toplin,HistorybyHollywood p , .5 .
19 ChambersandCulbert,WorldWarII, FilmandHistory, p.150.
20 Nichols,Representing Reality,p.115.
21 Ibid.,p.29.
22 See ChambersandCulbert,WorldWarII, FilmandHistory, p.148.
23 MichaelAnderegg(ed.), InventingVietnam:The Warin Film and Television, Temple
University Press,Philadelphia, 1991,p.1.
24 EricPorter, ' atLa TrobeUniversity ' Austr
TeachingHistory , alianHistoricalAssociation
Bulletin,no. 82, May 1996,p.24.

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