Nick's Crucible Paper

A movie is a story or event recorded by a camera as a set of moving images and shown in a theater or on television; a motion picture. Movies, or films, are often based on real events in history. For example, the movie called The Crucible , the film based on the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and 1693, was built and written by our historical knowledge of the true events in our American history. Many other movies such as Lincoln, 127 Hours, and Braveheart are all based off of past events in history, but added onto in many ways.

The directors and actors/actresses are in the film industry for the payment, to make a living, not to tell a story and inform the world about significant events in history; this is why you will notice embellished historical moments from history in films, or events that are exaggerated immensely. As an example, the movie The Crucible  has added personalities, changed character names, and fragments of what really happened along with some ersatz scenes to spice up the entertainment value. If the director, Nicholas Hytner, chose to make an exact film of the trials, it would be impossible to recover exact words and the body language of the characters involved, but it might also not be as suspenseful, dramatic, horrific, or eye-opening. Editing from actual events to film changes many aspects of an actual story, even from a play-to-movie or a book-to-movie.

The witch trials were barbaric, but not very attention grabbing in the reading, “The Devil in Salem”, but watching the movie based on the actual event put a lot more interest and knowledge into my mind, as I am a visual learner. Although you read this story and feel sorrowfully towards the “witches” killed at the time, you really don’t fully understand their strife. When you view the film or play, it hits you pretty hard, emotionally. Characters like John Proctor and Abigail Williams make you want to holler at the screen because they are so emotional and make insane decisions that you may or may not agree with. In all, films express emotion better than any other method of production.

In conclusion, films derived from true stories are always going to be altered either heavily or 

lightly, obviously depending on the believed facts and events inside the story. The past re-lives itself,

and this is why every culture needs to learn about themselves and other cultures, especially their 
past. The Crucible depicted the Salem Witch Trials very emotionally and suspense-fully. The movie was informational yet entertaining, which is a perfect way to portray our history without losing the interest of your audience; in this case, the students in my Global Education class!