SpeechProf

Well, as a documentary it's all right, but most of the people in it annoyed the hell out of me. It takes on the theme that the Yankees "deserved" to win the World Series because of September 11th, when it all actuality Arizona was the better team. It's another documentary of New Yorkers wanting to claim September 11th as "their own." What the filmmaker and most people involved need to realize is that Sept. 11th was an attack on America, not just New York (apparently the Pentagon and Pennsylvania crashes aren't as important). Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm not sympathetic, it's just that if anyone deserved to win this World Series, it was Arizona because their team was better.

I live 10 miles away from where this event happened, and as soon as I moved here, I was told I had to read this book and see the movie. This is a pretty good adaptation of the non-fiction book it is based on of the same title. I encourage people to not only see this movie but to also read the book, as you get MUCH backstory on not only the main character (who's real name is Ken McElroy), but also on the community and the area.

Most aspects of the book are the same as the film, although there are some differences. The main one involves the town. Skidmore (Darby in the film) is a much poorer community than what is portrayed here. I do wonder how it was in the early 80's when this happened, but I doubt it was much different. I drove through after reading the book and seeing the movie to see the place where this happened, and if you blink you miss it.

The only thing I don't like is the newscaster at the end speaking out against vigilante justice. When you read this book and see what these people really went through, you can't help but feel sorry for them. And, just as an update, nobody still has been charged or prosecuted for this crime, and the small town of Skidmore still holds the secret to this day, although most authorities (and the entire town) know what actually happened.

This movie was on HBO today and I foolishly wasted 2 hours watching it. It is quite possibly the most unrealistic Western I have ever seen. I have trouble even calling this movie a Western since it is so ridiculous, but I guess if you have "cowboys" riding horses, it's a Western.

Why Hollywood decided the real story of Jesse James wasn't interesting enough and had to add details is beyond me. Heck, the 1939 classic "Jesse James" dances circles around this film and it was made over 60 years ago.

I could comment on the horrific historical inaccuracies, but I see others have already covered that ground. What disturbs me is that so many people are willing to blow these off and say, "Well, it's a movie, it's supposed to entertain me, so therefore it's okay." Well, no people. If a movie is going to be based on historical events it has a responsibility to portray those events accurately. Sure, some things in movies I can live with, such as changing hitting positions of Shoeless Joe in "Field of Dreams," but to portray Jesse James and his gang as a bunch of fun-loving heroes doing the country a justice is wrong. Yes, some people looked up to the gang since they stood up to the big bad railroad, but this was not a sentiment shared by the majority. In truth, James and his gang were thieves and killers. When a movie blatantly ignores history like this, the problem that arises is that people actually believe this is what happened and don't seek out the

truth.