Real vs. Real in Salem

Marissa Smith

Real vs. Reel in Salem

In the twenty-first century, it’s challenging to tell the difference between realities and fictions when our society tremendously revolves around media influences and the images we see on television and the big screen. When watching a movie that begins with “Based on real events in history”, I always make the assumption that the entirety of the movie will be completely accurate on the accounts of real incidents. This false belief has grown throughout the American community over countless years. The Crucible, originally a play by Arthur Miller, then translated into a movie, is incorrectly believed to be fact in all of its properties. Research of the horrific Salem witch trial in Massachusetts, in primary sources shows otherwise; proving that not everything people see in movies is accurate.

For the sake of movie entertainment, it was apparent that some aspects of the film, The Crucible were edited from what actually happened in history. The movie version of the witch trials appear more dramatic and engage with the audience. In the opening scene of the movie, Tituba leads the young girls into the woods at night where together, they perform dancing rituals and create potions in a cauldron. This depiction in the film is closer to the way we would think about witches today and farther from the truth. Even to our generation; acting in that way would be seen as abnormal and outlandish. In reality, Tituba and the girls occasionally did minor activities together such as palm-reading and telling stories of magic in the kitchen. This behavior would be considered harmless fun in this decade. This scene in the movie was most likely created to wrap the audience’s attention and keep people interested, which is understandable from the perspective of a movie writer and director. Another example of how the story was exaggerated in the film, was by changing Abigail’s age to make for a better storyline. Making her appear to be older, showed her as a strong and threatening leader, and symbolized the power and authority she had. Not only over the other girls who helplessly followed her in the acts of accusing dozens of people of witchcraft, but over the entire town. However, history tells us that Abigail was considerably younger when the majority of the Salem witch trials happened.

Besides overstating certain incidents, parts of the base storyline in The Crucible were completely changed. Take the relationship between John Proctor and Abigail Williams as a prime model. Truthfully, there is no substantial evidence whatsoever that John and Abigail even knew each other before the witch trials, let alone had an inappropriate and intimate relationship together. Abigail was shown as seventeen on screen, while John was shown as forty. Nevertheless, in reality, their ages were about eleven and sixty, leading to no probable cause that they ever interacted. In the movie, it is said that the two had an affair which caused the constant tension and later was the cause of John himself being accused of witchcraft. The main characters were not portrayed accurately together at all, just for more intensity and drama. An additional idea that stood out was on the subject of Giles Corey. The film showed the detail correctly in regards to Giles being pressed to death by heavy rocks placed on his chest. However, it wrongly portrayed that the court of law was only torturing him for going against the court and refusing to give up information on who provoked him to accuse Reverend Parris of stealing land. The article “The Devil in Salem”, tells that Mr. Corey had been one of the accused witches by the young girls which was why he was pressed to death.

These changes mentioned are but a few that were most noticeable throughout The Crucible, especially after researching and learning about the topic of Salem witches. For the producers and directors, the entertaining movie was a complete success. Yet for the historians, the depiction of the trials was an unfamiliar and twisted tale of one of America’s scariest times. Although this film did entertain countless individuals, it also misinformed the public about what really happened in the devastating year of 1692. This situation is not unique to the world’s “historically based” movies and it’s all a matter of opinion. While some prefer to just be entertained, others, like me prefer to be properly educated.