And You Thought Braveheart Was Bad...

     I am one of many historical novelists who rolled her eyes and cried "Welladay!" watching the movie Bravehearrt with its wildly fanciful and downright irritating historical inaccuracies. No, William Wallace was not the father of Edward III... I know someone who was told that her recounting of the execution on Blacklow Hill of Piers Gaveston could not be accurate because everyone knows Patrick McGoohan threw him out a window. Read the Randall Wallace novel... it's just as bad, and he admits it's all fantasy and that he thinks it should have happened the way he said, not how it really did. Tell Gaveston that! Heck, tell Isabella that! "Mais non, I will not couchez avec this smelly blue Scottish man!"
     But... given the choice I would rather the kids I know got their history from movies like Braveheart... than from video games.
   That's one thing I learned during my little "Battle of Hastings" party with the neighborhood boys that I wrote about in yesterday's blog. Throughout the video two or three of them kept telling me about scenes in games the movie reminded them of. One boy's brother's name is Jason. I told him about Jason and the Argonauts and how Jason was a famous hero. He replied, "Jason wasn't always a hero because sometimes he fights other good guys." In the game. Another boy proceeded to describe all the weapons a medieval soldier would carry into battle, axes and swords and crossbows and morning stars.. all at the same time. I noticed in the game Stronghold that in the Dark Ages version the otherwise acceptable stronghold has a neat line of latrines and numerous eel pond.
     I never have been an old fuddy duddy when it comes to games. I had an old Sega Genesis once and only stopped playing with it because my eyesight and it were no longer compatible. But I worry about kids' understanding of the history of the peoples of our planet. I can imagine how hard it is to teach history these days.. constantly having to correct peculiar notions of what Beowulf was about or how much of the sort of goofy magic was in a legendary hero's story.
     I don't know what I am proposing.. nothing really. The average parent is not going to be able to sit down with their kids and calmly explain that knights did or did not do this or that. So just be aware as you are writing your novels that you probably will never be able to compete for the 15 year old mind.
     However, if any game companies are interested, my novel of Anglo Saxon England is definitely available for licensing.. Ah, "An Involuntary King: The Game". Splendid.