Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies

Sickels I An Interview With Steven M Gillon, Host of the History Channel's History or Hollywood An Interview with Steven M. Gillon, Host ofthe History Channel's History or Hollywood. While the intersection between history and the movies has long been an area of academic interest, its popularity with the public has in recent years been on the rise as well. Perhaps the best example ofthis trend is the television show History or Hollywood, which has been intermittently showing on the History Channel for the last few years. The premise of the show is quite simple: a movie is dissected by various experts in an effort to determine whether it is more the product ofHollywood or a film accurately reflecting historical events and circumstances . Films recently featured include Luc Besson's The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, Jonathan Mostow's U-571, and Roland Emmerich's The Patriot. In the future the show plans to air episodes on Roger Donaldson's upcoming Thirteen Days, a film about the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor. The host ofHistory orHollywood is Steven M. Gillon, Carol E. Young Professor of American History and Dean ofthe Honors College at the University ofOklahoma. What follows are excerpts from a recent interview in which he discussed History or Hollywood and his opinions about various Hollywood films, figures and tendencies —Robert C. Sickels sickelrc @whitman, edu Film & History: What was your background or your interest in film prior to your becoming the host of History or Hollywood ! Steven Gillon: I watch film, and I also write about it in sort of a general sense. I am writing a textbook now and I incorporate film into it. When I am writing sections to review popular culture I use film. I have also always been fascinated by films that have some pretense that they are historically based. I guess the one that really grabbed my interest and made me curious and want to pursue the interest further was Oliver Stone's JFK, which I thought was just a farce. I was amazed at the impact that film had in shaping public attitudes about the Kennedy assassination. I saw in my students, if we talked about the Kennedy assassination, after that film came out students would either consciously or unconsciously refer to the film as if On the set of History or Hollywood: The Patriot. it were a scholarly resource, and it was amazing to me. That is, to me, what really drove home the extraordinary power of film in shaping public perception about the past. F & H. In what way? Steven Gillon: It did so in a scary way; and it is actually one of the things when I talk about being involved in the public debate—that was really a critical turning point for me, because what I came to realize was that if a professional historian did not get involved in shaping the public debate about important issues, then charlatans like Oliver Stone were going to do it. So there had to be some outlet, some way for scholars and historians to be involved in shaping a debate . None of us can ever have the power of an Oliver Stone— none of us would be able to gather together 100 million dollars to create something that is going to shape public perceptions, but even if only around the edges, we have to get the information out there for people who want to know it is there. That is what I think History or Hollywood really tries to do. We have maybe 1-1/2 to 2 million people who will watch the show. That is a huge audience. I can go on, on a Thursday night in prime time, and reach 1-1/2 to 2 million people. I think it is an important thing that scholars have to do. We have to recognize the power that film has in shaping public attitude and use that as a tool for educating the public. F & H: Could you tell me how you go about deciding what films to feature on History or Hollywood! Steven Gillon: That is the decision that Steve Jack makes, the producer...