Introduction
Movies rarely capture an accurate portrayal of events because their sole purpose is to entertain viewers. Even when a movie is based on historical events, there is always a high possibility that it is heavily fictitious to enable producers to make money. This paper will review a movie titled Posse, directed by Mario van Peebles, within the historical context to show why viewers should treat it as fiction. Working Title Films and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment produced the movie in 1993.
Posse lasts 111 minutes, depicting a historical era from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. It covers essential topics like the American-Spanish War of 1898 and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The essay will focus on how the movie portrays these historical events to determine its accuracy as a source of learning about America’s past.
Historically Accurate Items
Some of the events the movie covers are historically accurate. For example, the movie starts by capturing the American-Spanish War of 1898 (Peebles, 1993). The film captures this event accurately by showing how the U.S. provoked Spain.
America was concerned that the conflict between Spanish and Cuban forces was going to affect the future of the Caribbean region (Mahmada, 2020). The U.S. wanted to ensure the dying Spanish empire did not leave the Caribbean region open for another European power to take over. The blacks participated in this war in large numbers, given that many formerly enslaved people inhabited Caribbean countries (Mahmada, 2020). Therefore, the movie accurately portrays this when it shows many blacks in the army fighting in 1898.
Another accurate historical event in the movie is the power of the KKK during the early twentieth century. When the authorities arrest the ‘posse,’ the KKK plans to murder them in jail (Peebles, 1993). The local authorities cooperate with the KKK, terrorists operating outside the law.
Later on, Father Time and Jesse rescue the arrested comrades by posing as members of the KKK (Peebles, 1993). This accurately portrays how the KKK carried out extrajudicial killings to suppress the blacks and ensure they could not exercise their rights (Newell, 2020). The way the film portrays the KKK as a powerful and dangerous outfit that hunted down blacks who believed in freedom is accurate.
Elements Added or “Assumed”
The movie added several things that are inconsistent with the historical records. First, the film shows that the Spaniards only fought the outlaws the U.S. had sent to steal gold (Peebles, 1993). This is inaccurate because it shows that the U.S. Army never fought the Spanish Army directly. However, the U.S. Army fought and defeated the Spanish Army in the 1898 War (Mahmada, 2020).
Second, when the deserters reach the West, Little J claims that the whites feared the blacks. Little J explains that the whites fear the colored men because they do not know or understand them (Pebbles, 1993). However, this is inaccurate since whites understood African Americans enough to degrade them. Besides, white Americans were not afraid of blacks. Instead, African Americans were afraid of white racists who burned and destroyed their properties (Newell, 2020). Nevertheless, the inaccurate portrayal of facts supports the movie’s plot.
Interesting Items
Watching the movie while one is aware of the historical context it portrays makes some elements captivating. For example, it is interesting how the American commander sends some men to steal the gold case from the Spanish army (Peebles, 1993). After stealing it, the commander intercepts them and tries to kill them. Jesse asks him what the gold is, and the commander replies that it never existed (Peebles, 1993). This is intriguing because it is supposed to explain the cause of the American-Spanish War of 1898. The U.S. provoked Spain to protect its economic interests in the region (Mahmada, 2020). The attempt by the commander to kill the troop he sent to seize the box and cover up the mission is supposed to show the cunningness with which America started the 1898 war.
Another interesting thing is the terrain the movie portrays. The background of the areas that the deserters pass through shows it is uninhabited (Peebles, 1993). This is fascinating because it portrays the idea of the Wild West, a common phrase in the early twentieth century.
A second after seeing the deserters in thickets, the film shows a train on the move and indicates the “western frontier” (Peebles, 1993). It shows different backgrounds to illustrate how fascinating the Wild West was. The wild west is characterized by grassland and forest cover. The movie portrays this by showing Jesse and his comrades in a thick forest in one moment before showing them riding horses on grasslands a few seconds later (Peebles, 1993). Most importantly, the changing sceneries are interesting because they are supposed to show that black cowboys also roamed the Wild West.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the viewer is advised to treat most of the content of the Posse as fictional. Only a small percentage of the film is historically accurate despite the movie being based on a real story. On the positive side, the movie captures historical developments like the 1898 War and the KKK activities in the early 1900s accurately.
On the negative side, it assumes the viewer has good historical knowledge since it does not explain the events it covers or their significance. It also adds a lot of fictitious events to make the film captivating. Lastly, the film portrays some historical events in interesting ways that can mislead the viewers. For example, the United States did not start the 1898 war to steal gold from the Spaniards. Overall, Posse is worth watching for viewers interested in the Western genre.
References
Mahmada, S.S.S. (2020). A reading of the historical contexts of the American-Spanish War in 1898. Humanities Journal of University of Zakho, 8(1). Web.
Newell, M. (2020). Comparing American perceptions of post-Civil War Ku Klux Klan and transnational violence. Security Dialogue, 51(4), 287-304. Web.
Peebles, M.V. (Director), Holmes, P. (Producer), & Steele, J. (Producer). (1993). Posse [Film]. Working Title Films & PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.