"Outlander" from a HISTORICAL perspective.....

[CollinMacD]

Aside from all the dramatics and mish mash of "Outlander" I was wondering about the Historical value and timelines that is portrayed in this series, also the dress, customs, and society of the Scottish during this time. I know its a fictional love story, wrapped around some science fiction, but to me there is some value to the visual aspect and historical significance in the background of the story. Any comments on this, from my limited reading on the subject, historically it seems to be done well, the costumes used look very good, weapons good, and the society seems to be done with some accuracy too. Love to hear what the Highlanders think of this? Thanks

[Tobus]

It has been a couple of years since these discussions were first had, and the threads are locked now, but you might try reading these:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...tlander-82374/
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...anguage-85690/

Quite a bit of information there, including some input from Terry Dresbach, who is the costume designer for the series.

*edited to add:

The long and short of it is that while the original author spun quite an entertaining yarn, there's a lot wrong with her story and her depiction of life in that era. This is completely understandable, however, and is common for "historical fiction" pieces like this. She even admits herself that while she did a lot of research to add authenticity to her writing, she also took a lot of liberties. This is, above all else, romantic fiction. It has to appeal to the target audience, which doesn't particularly care about the historic details.

This "liberty" which was taken with the historic authenticity is pervasive. The dress, the language, the actual details of the '45 Rising, historical figures and their loyalties, etc. She wrote the book for Americans, and had to appeal to their romantic sense of Scotland. The actual truth, in most cases, was much different.

I get a bit of a giggle every time I see the iconic images and video montages from the series. Highlanders with full beards (not accurate) wearing pirate boots (not accurate) and riding Friesians (not accurate) is just ... wrong for that time period.

[OC Richard]

I was wondering about the Historical value and timelines that is portrayed in this series, also the dress, customs, and society of the Scottish during this time.

Two perhaps opposing things come to mind

1) If somebody wants to learn about a historical period, it doesn't seem logical to use romance novels as a source.

2) Well-written and well-researched historical fiction is better at giving the reader a feeling of what it felt like to live in a historical period than dry straightforward nonfiction history books.

What comes to mind straightaway regarding #2 are the Aubrey-Maturin books.

In any case the only aspect I'm semi-qualified to comment on are the costumes. They are inaccurate in a number of ways. For one thing the colour-scheme seen in the tartans wasn't invented until the 1940s. Also in common with usual Hollywood practice the British uniforms are the wrong colour.

But! The job of a show such as Outlander is not to be a museum, but rather to be a beautifully shot film. The colours of the costumes aren't chosen for historicity but rather for attractiveness. If somebody wants to see how Highlanders dressed in the 18th century there are plenty of period paintings.

[Luke MacGillie]

It's the right solar system, right planet, even right hemisphere, after that it goes so far off the rails that the effort to "Unlearn" what people get from the show is not a worthwhile investment....

[The Q]

I started watching Outlander when it started showing on UK free to air TV.
I rapidly gave up watching Outlander as it offended my interest in History, and I wasn't interested in watching Programmes in which the producer said, one of his aims was to push the limits of what can be shown on TV.

[Pleater]

One of my professions is making garments out of yarn and I can assure you that the series also takes liberties with garments such as bodices and shawls, - well with just about everything really - and I have had a few internal struggles when people want to pay me money to create 'something off Highlander that is authentic historical garb'.

Anne the Pleater

[Dollander]

One of my professions is making garments out of yarn and I can assure you that the series also takes liberties with garments such as bodices and shawls, - well with just about everything really - and I have had a few internal struggles when people want to pay me money to create 'something off Highlander that is authentic historical garb'.

Anne the Pleater

That's when you ask them, "Which one? Do you want something from Outlander*, or do you want authentic historical garb?"

I understand the frustration when people take period fiction at face value. But like Steve pointed out, it's fiction. It's not meant to be a documentary. It's like scientists picking apart the physics errors in scifi shows. Even a show like Battlestar Galactica that kept fantasy technology to a minimum still had to take liberties for the sake of entertainment, e.g. having sound in space (a commentary track revealed that they tried being authentic, but it was incredibly distracting to watch). Likewise, if Outlander had been full of brightly-colored kilts on clean-shaven men, the bulk of the audience would've reacted "Are you kidding me? "

And yes, I admit, it was a bit of tartanry on my part that got me interested. I was a huge fan of BSG, so it was like, ooh, Ron Moore has a new show? Oh, it's a period drama based on a series of romance novels? But wait, it takes place in Scotland?





* I'm assuming you meant Outlander and not Highlander; otherwise you could say, "I'm sure you could find 80s fashions at a charity shop or on eBay...oh, you mean the flashback scenes?"

[neloon]

Love to hear what the Highlanders think of this?

Could only bear to watch one episode. It''s rubbish!

Alan

[Me cousin Jack]

Fifty shades of plaid, but entertaining, that said one should always take with a grain that which appears on the boob tube.

[KMCMICHAEL]

One of the old threads mentioned the pirate boots. I seriously doubt that pirates wore them either.