The World of Political Correctness Comes to Wargaming
I am not a fan of political correctness, which is nothing more than fascist groupthink, but no place is it more out of place than in the world of wargames. After all, as historical simulations shouldn’t they portray, ya know, history? Such as, believe it or not, swastikas were painted on the tail fins of German aircraft. Or that statues of German eagles often clutched swastikas, not crosses. Funny how no one says boo about the hammer and sickle, yet Communism has killed more people than the Third Reich did.
This is not a rant about Nazi symbology versus Soviet symbology in wargames though. Rather, this is a rant about my shock at finding an article about how factually inaccurate the movie ‘300′ is at depicting Persian culture. Guess who posted the article?
The New York Times? A mainstream media outlet?
No, Osprey Publishing.
My question is why? As one of the most highly regarded publishers of military history their reference books are used extensively by wargamers. Find me a wargamer that doesn’t own at least one of their books, if not an entire shelf’s worth.
We know that ‘300′ is fantasy. We know that the Persian army did not contain orcs, armored rhinos, or grenadiers. We know it’s based on a comic book and it was solely aimed at entertainment. It’s like complaining the God of War series on the PS2 does a poor job depicting Greek mythology. In the immortal words of school children everywhere, duh!
So why does Osprey put up a nineteen page essay that talks about how racist Hollywood is? I don’t get it. Osprey’s audience isn’t your typical moveigoer, and your typical moviegoer isn’t going to head to Osprey for this information in the first place. And even then, I don’t think anyone is that stupid to think ‘300′ is an accurate historical depiction.
Any ideas?
If you read through that piece and wanted something a little more interesting to read I suggest checking out Lou Zocchi’s article on Japanese bombing and torpedo accuracy . Besides being enjoyable it’s written by the gawdfather of kewl dice, who even has his own character in the Lost Worlds series of fighting books from Flying Buffalo. You know you’ve made it in the gaming world when you’re a freakin’ character in a game system.
Until next time, have a great Friday the 13th!
-Scott
I ain’t superstitious,
When a black cat crosses my path
And I ain’t superstitious
As I break the looking glass
Ain’t afraid of no demons,
Don’t make me laugh!
I ain’t superstitious,
Under the ladder I go
And I ain’t superstitious,
It’s all bullshit, don’t you know!
I ain’t afraid of no shadows,
I like the dark anyway
And that’s a fact! Ha!
-I Ain’t Superstitious/Megadeth/Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?
It seems that “he” has seen/heard that the movie is ‘historical’. Can’t say I have read or heard this anywhere, but quite the opposite, that it is ‘fantasy’ based on the 300 Spartans. Also, he says he is an Iranian descendent, and that his studies are based on Iran, and the movie isn’t being nice to “Iranians”. I don’t associate Persians with Iranians anymore than I would Italians with Romans.
worried that Hollywood will once again, screwer history as it has done with such things as the French Foreign Legion, and the uneducated will believe it, as I’m sure many will.
I think he is overly (or not
To clarify…I very much enjoyed the movie…as ‘entertainment’.
Comment by Strider — 4/13/2007 @ 6:34 pm
Uh, guys
“I Ain’t Superstitious” was a cover song. It was an old, old blues tune originally written by Willie Dixon, and covered (at various times) by Clapton, John Mayall, Rod Stewart/Jeff Beck, The Rolling Stones, Green River, The Grateful Dead, and Tesla, in addition to Megadeth. But if you’re quoting the lyrics, it’s customary to quote the original, unless there’s been a change to them.
Happy Friday the 13th!
Comment by brant — 4/15/2007 @ 7:11 am