Nitpicking history to death

"I would have had a hard time recognizing my own brother," said a sibling of T.E. Lawrence after watching his portrayal in Lawrence of Arabia. Intimates of King George VI would probably say much the same after viewing The King's Speech, the movie likely win an Oscar or two tonight. Adding insult to injury, neither Lawrence nor George were anywhere near as handsome as Peter O'Toole or Colin Firth. Critics like Isaac Chotiner ("Royal Mess") and Christopher Hitchens ("Churchill Didn't Say That") argue that Hollywood's version of the stammering king is riddled with historical inaccuracies. Both critiques are right. But both are decidedly beside the point. Writing in the Washington Post, film historian Jeanine Basinger says historical movies use facts to create drama. "History - whether in books, lectures or movies - is always someone's story. Every movie based on a true story has condensed, simplified, telescoped, created explanatory characters, eliminated facts, introduced political significance, altered timelines and omitted details. It's part of the craft."