Hollywood 'destroying' British identity

Filmakers in Hollywood have distorted history to the extent that they are "destroying" Britain's national identity, according to a top historian.

09:33 02 August 2004

Filmakers in Hollywood have distorted history to the extent that they are "destroying" Britain's national identity, according to a top historian.

English Heritage's chief executive has told the Independent on Sunday that Hollywood's "sloppy" and "formulaic" filmmaking has left a generation of British schoolchildren confused.

"One of my principal concerns," said the man in charge of the government body responsible for the historic environment, "is that the majority of children now leave school with the sketchiest chronology about English history."

Simon Thurley then added that in the absence of proper teaching youngsters turn to feature films for information.

Antony Beevor, the best-selling popular history writer in the UK, added that the Americanisation of British history was a particular cause for concern.

"You can't turn every hero in the world into an American," Beevor commented.

Particularly grievous offences were committed by "Saving Private Ryan", where the Normandy World War Two landings seemingly removed the British, French, Canadians and others from the event; "U-571" where the Americans, not the British forces, capture the top-secret enigma machine from the Germans; and "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" with an American in the role of the Nottingham outlaw and a distortion of medieval Britain.

Beevor said the trend was "shameless and totally irresponsible - a grotesque distortion of history".

Bettany Hughes, a classical historian, added that more than British history has been misrepresented.

"Hollywood has committed some terrible crimes against history," she commented, noting that the Hollywood epic "Troy" was a "travesty of mismatched cultural references".

"Dead heroes in Greco-Roman dress were cremated with coins on their eyes - before money had been invented," she said.

Money, as we would recognise it, was first created around 1200 BC: Troy fell in 1183 BC.