A true story

[Rena_Muffin]

OMG I just got this one from a friend about ten minutes ago. I have to share it.

So this friend, I'll call her A, works at the electronics area of Fred Meyers. She hums sometimes, and she's a huge disney fanatic so she usually hums, or sings, various disney show tunes. Apparently today she got a tune from Pocahontas stuck in her head (which one I have no idea). She's singing it, business must have been slow I guess, and a teenager comes up to buy a DVD. According to A, the following took place.

T-Teenager. I don't think she was really stupid so much as clueless.
A-the awesome friend

T: OMG was that like "Colors of the Wind?" (A did not say what song she was singing so I'm guessing here.)

A: Yeah. I'm kind of a Disney fanatic.

T: OMG I, like, watched that movie, like, when I was a kid. It's an awesome movie.

A: It's okay. I like Mulan and the Aladdin series more. *rings up the DVD*

T: But, like, Pocahontas was, like, a true story. It, like, really happened.

A: *A is a history fan like me, and we were in the same history class (that's how we met)* Well, it's based on a true story. In reality, Pocahontas was twelve years old when she met John Smith, who was already in his mid twenties. In addition, John Smith was a short, stocky brunette with a crazy beard, not some cleanly shaved blonde adonis.

T: Nuh uh! It was, like, on the movie, so it's like true.

A: *wants to finish the transaction w/o drama so she let's it drop*

T: *before walking off* Like, learn, like, history!

A apparently had to try really hard not to laugh. She called me when she got off work and told me the story. She almost couldn't finish it because when she was doing her impression of the girl, she burst into hysterical laughing for two minutes. She's letting me post it on here, so I hope it brings some lols to people.

I'm still in awe that there's apparently a valley girl in Washington.

[Mytical]

But, like, don't you know that like Columbo was like the first person to like discover America, and like George Washington like freed the slaves? Like oh my gawd..seriously...

Ok if I don't stop that I am going to have to punch myself in the face...*shivers* .

[RecoveringKinkoid]

A friend of mine saw a teenage girl in the bookstore decline to read the book adaptation of Dances With Wolves because "The movie was like way long and she didn't want to do that much reading."

Yeah, this was some time back.

[Shalom]

A friend of mine saw a teenage girl in the bookstore decline to read the book adaptation of Dances With Wolves because "The movie was like way long and she didn't want to do that much reading."

Well, the movie was about three hours long, true.

The one thing that sticks in my head about the book, on the other hand, was that it was mostly whitespace. It was an enjoyable book, but they could have printed it on half as much paper and saved some money. It really wasn't "that much reading".

(disclaimer: I haven't actually seen the movie, only read the book. I guess I'm the opposite of the above teenagerl, because I don't have the sitzfleisch anymore to sit through such a long film. Yes, I saw all three volumes of LOTR in the theaters, but that was an exception; I've bought the extended DVDs and haven't even watched them yet. Now that was a hell of a long book (Tolkien considered it one novel in three physical bindings) and yet that I had the patience for reading multiple times. Oh, and I did see Gandhi when it came out, but that was on assignment with the rest of my high school history class, and it had an intermission besides.)

[Amusement Gal]

I'm still in awe that there's apparently a valley girl in Washington.

You haven't met my mother then. There's a reason I have a spot on, head-desk inducing Valley Girl impression. Someone hits me over the head every time I do it.

Edit: That's it, when I visit, I'm so gonna stalk you.

[Cookie]

T: Nuh uh! It was, like, on the movie, so it's like true.

"Whoa! Really??? Next time I go to Virginia, I am SOOO looking for that talking tree, cuz like, trees live a long time."

[mikoyan29]

But, like, don't you know that like Columbo was like the first person to like discover America, and like George Washington like freed the slaves? Like oh my gawd..seriously...

Ok if I don't stop that I am going to have to punch myself in the face...*shivers* .

And here I thought it was Alexander II that freed the slaves....

[LillFilly]

Columbo...*Snort!*

I almost lost my coffee!

Reminds me of a friend of my mom's who asks for 'Muslims' in the Fabric Store. She means 'Muslin' but can never say it right!

[surreal20]

just one thing... ok so that's two

[firecat88]

I took a Western Civilizations class right around the time the movie 300 came out. Now, this class had two different sections- From the beginning of civilization all the way up to pre-Renaissance, and Renaissance all the way up to present day. I took the former, and it was actually one of my favorite classes I've ever taken in college.

Someone in the class did ask how much of the story in 300 was based on fact and how much of it was pure BS. That sparked an entire day-and-a-half lecture about what *really* happened and what the Spartans were really like. It was awesome, and I'm pretty sure my prof was actually waiting for someone to bring it up.

[mikoyan29]

I took a Western Civilizations class right around the time the movie 300 came out. Now, this class had two different sections- From the beginning of civilization all the way up to pre-Renaissance, and Renaissance all the way up to present day. I took the former, and it was actually one of my favorite classes I've ever taken in college.

Someone in the class did ask how much of the story in 300 was based on fact and how much of it was pure BS. That sparked an entire day-and-a-half lecture about what *really* happened and what the Spartans were really like. It was awesome, and I'm pretty sure my prof was actually waiting for someone to bring it up.

I heard they would celebrate their victories by returning to East Sparta. After they returned, they would drink heavily and start burning couches and tip over police chariots. Evidently, this tradition continues on to this day.

[Android Kaeli]

This is like saying Hercules was correct, and I am not overly familiar with Greek mythology. >.<

Seriously, why do people think that any movie is going to portray history correctly?

[Rena_Muffin]

You haven't met my mother then. There's a reason I have a spot on, head-desk inducing Valley Girl impression. Someone hits me over the head every time I do it.

Edit: That's it, when I visit, I'm so gonna stalk you.

wait, your avatar is awesome so is this really a bad thing?

[mikoyan29]

This is like saying Hercules was correct, and I am not overly familiar with Greek mythology. >.<

Seriously, why do people think that any movie is going to portray history correctly?

Some movies are close but then they change some of the story for dramatic impact. Many war movies will combine two or three people into one character so you don't have as many faces to remember.

[LadyAndreca]

Some movies are close but then they change some of the story for dramatic impact. Many war movies will combine two or three people into one character so you don't have as many faces to remember.

Our professor took great pleasure in showing how often they did that in the movie Troy when we were covering the Iliad. Now that we're on the Odyssey, he's having more fun popping in completely random movies to show just how directly people steal from the classics. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, specifically the scene in the Lotus Casino, was his latest example. (Oddly, I was the only one who recognized the movie, and I'd never seen it or read the book.)