What kind of lessons has Hollywood been teaching our school children this summer?
Well, for starters, that a ragtag group of mutants ended the Cuban Missile Crisis and that Buzz Aldrin played a key role in covering up the early 1960s moon landing by the Transformers. And that Red Skull was a bigger menace than Hitler in 1940s.
The colorful reinterpretation of our nation’s past continues this weekend with the release of “Apollo 18.” The low-budget horror film attempts to explain the real reason NASA pulled the plug on its Apollo moon missions (Hint: It doesn’t involve budget cuts).
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From “Cowboys & Aliens” to “Captain America,” this summer’s crop of tentpoles took enormous creative licenses with the historical record in a way that makes Oliver Stone’s “JFK” seem slavishly literal.
Even the critically-lauded Civil Rights drama “The Help” has come under scrutiny in recent weeks for its overly rosy picture of life in segregated Mississippi.
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Clearly, with kids returning to school, America’s teachers are going to have their work cut out for them undoing the damage from a summer full of movies that play fast and loose with the facts.
Here’s a look at the carnage on the truth, graded on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of historical desecration.
X-MEN: FIRST CLASSHollywood’s Historical Liberties: Here’s how the Cuban Missile Crisis went down: Instead of a near-clash between two worldwide super powers over the Soviet Union’s decision to install offensive weapons in communist Cuba, it turns out that a mutant ex-Nazi scientist Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) convinced the Russians to arm Fidel Castro.
In this alternate history, Shaw helps the Soviets break through a U.S. naval blockade, but the X-Men ultimately kill him off, preventing the two sides from firing on each other and kicking off World War III.
What It Gets Right: The costumes look pretty accurate, at least if “Mad Men” is any guide. Plus President John F. Kennedy really did order a naval blockade.
Degree of Desecration: 7. The period details are right, but the reasons for the nearly catastrophic clash between the forces of communism and capitalism are pure fantasy.
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
Hollywood's Historical Liberties: Turns out that whole space race was really just an elaborate effort by President Kennedy (him again!) to cover up the crash of Cybertronian lunar craft. No less than Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin cops to the ruse during a meeting with Optimus Prime.
What It Gets Right: Not much, but Aldrin, who played himself, really did land on the moon.
