The Conspirator

Tracy and I just finished watching the movie The Conspirator about Mary Surratt who was tried and hung as a conspirator  in the plot to kill President Lincoln.  The movie was fascinating and what I liked most about it was the way it really dug into thorny historical issues while still telling a compelling story.  

A lot of historians (including me occasionally) gripe about historical films, and while I still think it's important to try to be accurate to the issues and events of history, I also think there's something to be said for using a good story to interest people in the events of the past.  As I've mentioned before, I'm not sure I would have become a historian without things like the Little House books and Young Riders.    I think historians need to look pop culture straight in the eye and acknowledge it's strengths and it's weaknesses. 

A great example of this - On the first day of my graduate level "History as Archaeology" class my professor showed a pivotal scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark,  not as a cautionary tale, but as a way of acknowledging it as the first place many of his students heard about and became interested in the field of archaeology.  He then used it to prompt a discussion about what archaeology is and what archaeology isn't, all while admitting that he too wanted to be Indiana Jones.