Thanks to Tim at Random Observations for alerting me to this interesting commentary on John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. The book and the movie derived from it have formed our national image of the Depression and the Dust Bowl. The trouble is, that's a false impression. Like Amadeus and Braveheart, The Grapes of Wrath tells a good story based on historical events, but without letting the truth get in the way of the narrative.
Someone with a solid knowledge of the historical situation might be able to imbibe the story without harm, but the rest of us, unfortunately the majority, are learning history through these media, and learning it wrong. We're left with a mish-mash of fact and fiction we may never sort out, and upon which we will unconsiously base our philosophical, political, social, and moral decisions.
Whoever said (I've seen various attributions), "Let me write the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws," might just as well have been speaking about its popular books, television shows, and movies. The only antidote besides a healthy (uncynical) skepticism is a solid grounding in history, preferably from several viewpoints. Mea culpa; my own knowledge of history is abysmal, and I did not do much to help our children achieve more. But if I were designing a home eduation program now, the tripod on which I would rest the entire academic program, beginning from the earliest stages, would be: language, mathematics/logic, and history. Those who are strong in these three areas will not easily be duped.
