Film and History

Marc Ferro published an article (jstor) about the place of history and film, specifically in political and social commentary films. His main point is that film should not be viewed simply as a reflection of history, but as an additional source and agent within history- "Grasping film in its relation to history... must look at the historical function of film, as its relationship with the societies that produce and consume it, at the social processes involved in the making of the works, at cinema as a source of history. As agents and products of history, films and the world of films stand in a complex relationship with the audience..." 

Ferro brings up a good point in how influential film can be. On the other side of the spectrum from holocaust portrayals, we can see from the iconic movie Deepthroat how much film can act as an agent of cultural history. "Deep Throat, strange as it may seem, changed America's sexual attitudes more than anything since the first Kinsey Report in 1948," argues movie critic Joe Bob Briggs. I remember my mom telling me that she went to see the movie with friends as a casual night out... if nothing else, this has convinced me that Deepthroat was influential in redefining sexuality. 

For this reason, I think Ferro has a very good point in suggesting that film can advance historical understanding if we recognize how powerful it can be. With that, however, must come the understanding that this power can just as easily distort our historical understanding.