Are Filmed Documentaries a useful source of information? - Historum

Its a Fake! · November 20th, 2012, 03:10 PM

Almost every Filmed Documentary I have ever seen seems to Be either History inaccurate, Edited into making it too action packed, Nationalistic or Just Very very brief.

I admit that I am more Likely to watch something than to read it.

Do you think Filmed Documentaries should be improved?

**Frank81** · November 20th, 2012, 03:33 PM

Those of History Channel, 90% for sure!

These ones are really crapy

HANNIBAL, THE AFRICAN WARRIOR, History Channel Documentary YouTube - YouTube

On the other hand, National Geographic makes excelent history documentaries, many of them of very high quality. In the same line, documentary series of great quality is for example the French "Apocalypse" on the WWII

Apocalypse: The Second World War- Shock (1940--1941) In HD Episode 3 - YouTube

constantine · November 20th, 2012, 03:43 PM

The BBC also makes some fine documentaries, many of which can be found on YouTube.

**unclefred** · November 20th, 2012, 03:59 PM

By nature, documentaries have an editorial point of view, or bias.

UberHistorian1 · November 20th, 2012, 07:35 PM

The BBC makes excellent documentaries (ie The Spanish Civil War series). I don't recommend watching something from the Hitler Channel, oops sorry... History* Channel, they often get basic facts wrong and the information is at times outdated. Many documentaries have a bias, but bias isnt necessarily an issue in reality. What's important is they tell the whole story. If you want to know how legitimate a certain film is, look up the reviews whether they are on Amazon or some critical review site.

**Belloc** · November 20th, 2012, 07:41 PM

BBC documentaries tend to be the best in terms of quality.

funakison · November 20th, 2012, 10:12 PM

Most historical documentaries seem to be out dated or just plain wrong. As for the History channel, we understand the nazi were bad.

**Sargon of Akkad** · November 21st, 2012, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by funakison

Most historical documentaries seem to be out dated or just plain wrong. As for the History channel, we understand the nazi were bad.

I don't think you fully appreciate that they dabbled in black magics and consorted with Aliens. The History Channel still has much to teach you.

Gudenrath · November 21st, 2012, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Its a Fake!

Almost every Filmed Documentary I have ever seen seems to Be either History inaccurate, Edited into making it too action packed, Nationalistic or Just Very very brief.

As with any source they can be a useful fund of information, but they can also be awful, biased or plain wrong. But the same could be same of lots and lots of history books.

The important thing when consuming history is to have a critical mind, and at any point of doubt consult alternative sources. Often times (with books) you will find that several books by established historians can portray the same event in quite a different light, and it is not necessarily because they are wrong, but merely because they are interpreting it from a different perspective. As long as they stress this fact, it is perfectly good and in keep with traditional academic history.

Of course this is usually where a lot of documentaries fail, in order to keep within their timeslot, and probably also in order not to appear too complicated to the average viewer (pandering to the lowest common denominator), they leave editorial considerations out of the final product and become quite one-sided and biased.

amberroberts09 · November 21st, 2012, 02:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gudenrath

As with any source they can be a useful fund of information, but they can also be awful, biased or plain wrong. But the same could be same of lots and lots of history books.

The important thing when consuming history is to have a critical mind, and at any point of doubt consult alternative sources. Often times (with books) you will find that several books by established historians can portray the same event in quite a different light, and it is not necessarily because they are wrong, but merely because they are interpreting it from a different perspective. As long as they stress this fact, it is perfectly good and in keep with traditional academic history.

Of course this is usually where a lot of documentaries fail, in order to keep within their timeslot, and probably also in order not to appear too complicated to the average viewer (pandering to the lowest common denominator), they leave editorial considerations out of the final product and become quite one-sided and biased.

Yes it is a one sided side story....