Mel Gibson admits Braveheart inaccuracies!

[The Guy in the Kilt at UC]

To be fair, Gibson was twelve when his family moved. Not so much his idea.

And Australia was involved in the Vietnam war too...

That's good point too, though I wasn't aware of it. I may have known at one time from high school history.

[xena]

Yup. They had the draft and everything...

[Galician]

True that Australia was involved in Viet Nam, but no where near the degree as the U.S., where the draft was presumed to mean being shipped there...and very often was. I'm not even sure if they had a draft in effect there.

I realized that Mel was still a bit young at the time of the move, that's why I said it was the family that moved. It was, however, indicative to me of a mindset in which he was very likely to have been raised.

P.S. Wiki quotes a newspaper article which has the senior Gibson specifically saying that the move was partly prompted by the parents' belief that Mel would not be drafted in Australia.

[ForresterModern]

I've never seen Braveheart. Overlooking any historical inaccuracies, is it a good movie?

It is entertaining and enjoyable, and you get to see lots of kilts, even though it is historically inaccurate thatthey are wearing them in that time period. And only the scots can tell us if the accents are worthy.

[macwilkin]

Looking for history lessons from a movie is like expecting honesty and integrity from a politician. Why would anyone be upset over historical inaccuracies in a movie?

It was a very good movie. And Henry Thomas Buckle was a famous historian, but Buckle probably made lousy movies.

Because my students know only what they see in movies -- and never crack a book afterwards to see if what is portrayed in the film actually happened. As a history instructor, I go to historical movies with extremely low expectations so I will be pleasantly surprised.

Hollywood makes the mess, but history teachers clean it up.

T.

[macwilkin]

True that Australia was involved in Viet Nam, but no where near the degree as the U.S., where the draft was presumed to mean being shipped there...and very often was. I'm not even sure if they had a draft in effect there.

Respectfully: tell that to the Aussie (and Kiwi) squaddies who fought (and in some cases, died) in Vietnam, mate. Yes, they may not have been as involved to the degree as the US, but remember the ANZACs had just come out of jungle warfare experience in the Mayalan Emergency of 1948-60 and then the Borneo Campaign of the mid 60s against Sukarno and the Indonesians. If anyone knew anything about jungle warfare, it was the ANZACs.

You might also want to pick up Gary Mackay's memoir as an Aussie officer in Vietnam, "In Good Company" to learn more about the contributions the Aussies made in Vietnam.

Regards,

Todd

[Inchessi]

It is Hollywood. Have they ever produced a historically accurate movie?

[xena]

True that Australia was involved in Viet Nam, but no where near the degree as the U.S.,...

But there are about 60,000 Australian Vietnam War Veterans who were 100% involved.

...where the draft was presumed to mean being shipped there...and very often was. I'm not even sure if they had a draft in effect there.

They most certainly did. I already confirmed that above. And the draft in Australia, was also an automatic service in Vietnam.

I realized that Mel was still a bit young at the time of the move, that's why I said it was the family that moved. It was, however, indicative to me of a mindset in which he was very likely to have been raised.

Along with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of anti-war Americans, whose children grew up in the US, with similar, if not the same, attitudes.

P.S. Wiki quotes a newspaper article which has the senior Gibson specifically saying that the move was partly prompted by the parents' belief that Mel would not be drafted in Australia.

Are you sure that wasn't regarding Mel's older brother, who would have been a bit closer to draft age, than Mel, who was then six years away from it?

Regardless, if Mel's Dad wanted to avoid the Vietnam war and the draft, surely he would have moved to a country that wasn't involved in that war and didn't have the draft. It would have been a lot closer too - he could have just skipped the line for Canada. Going to Australia was not the best move to avoid the Vietnam war.

The senior Gibson's motives may well have been to avoid Vietnam service, but even so, he went about it all backwards.

I'm just saying...

[macwilkin]

It is Hollywood. Have they ever produced a historically accurate movie?

Yes. I can list a number of them. No movie is 100% accurate, but there are some that at least try to get the story right.

T.

[macwilkin]

But there are about 60,000 Australian Vietnam War Veterans who were 100% involved.



They most certainly did. I already confirmed that above. And the draft in Australia, was also an automatic service in Vietnam.



Along with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of anti-war Americans, whose children grew up in the US, with similar, if not the same, attitudes.



Are you sure that wasn't regarding Mel's older brother, who would have been a bit closer to draft age, than Mel, who was then six years away from it?

Regardless, if Mel's Dad wanted to avoid the Vietnam war and the draft, surely he would have moved to a country that wasn't involved in that war and didn't have the draft. It would have been a lot closer too - he could have just skipped the line for Canada. Going to Australia was not the best move to avoid the Vietnam war.

The senior Gibson's motives may well have been to avoid Vietnam service, but even so, he went about it all backwards.

I'm just saying...

Not to mention that the Aussies were also involved in fighting Sukarno and his boyos in Borneo during the 1960s...

T.