Latest news with #historicalaccuracy
The Independent
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Downton Abbey star says role felt like a ‘straitjacket' at times
Elizabeth McGovern, who plays Cora Crawley in Downton Abbey, has stated she wished her character had been given "more interesting" storylines. The actor said she found it challenging to portray Cora due to the "straitjacket" of the period, reflecting the limited agency women had at that time. However, McGovern said that it would have been historically inaccurate to grant Cora more political or social power. The popular period drama ran for six seasons and has produced two films, with a third, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, scheduled for release this September. McGovern also commented that the presence of the late Dame Maggie Smith, who played Violet Crawley, still "permeates" the filming atmosphere.
Yahoo
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
If even Pride & Prejudice has to have a ‘diverse' cast, the English period drama is dead
Five years ago the BBC website published an article headlined: 'Is It Time the All-White Period Drama Was Made Extinct?' Well, it clearly is now. These days every period drama has an ethnically diverse cast, regardless of when it's set: the 1920s (Wicked Little Letters), the 1530s (Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light), even 1066 (King and Conqueror, the BBC's forthcoming serial about the Battle of Hastings). So it came as no surprise to read, this week, that Netflix's new adaptation of Pride & Prejudice will have a diverse cast, too. Personally I find this a fascinating trend. Producers of period dramas always go to the most painstaking lengths to ensure that costumes, furniture and decor look scrupulously authentic. Yet when it comes to casting, they do the opposite – and pretend that, 200 or 500 or 1,000 years ago, England was every bit as multicultural as it is in the 2020s. They would die of embarrassment if, in the background, viewers were to glimpse a set of solar panels, or double yellow lines. But black Anglo-Saxons? No problem at all. It's a peculiar combination. If we've decided that historical verisimilitude no longer matters in casting, surely we should be consistent, and decide that it no longer matters in clothing or behaviour, either. Let Regency noblemen wear Arsenal shirts. Show the Normans riding into battle in Chinooks. Have Sir Thomas More take a selfie on the scaffold. At any rate, the author of the BBC's article about making the 'all-white' period drama extinct seemed to approve of this new trend in casting. 'Finally,' she wrote, 'the industry is demonstrating that period drama is a genre in which racial diversity can be both reflected and celebrated.' This is all very well. The trouble is, it makes it look as if racial diversity has been 'celebrated' throughout our history. To viewers, this must be puzzling. In recent years, we've been endlessly told that Britain's past was shamefully racist. Yet period dramas tell us it was a multicultural utopia, in which people of all races were welcome at every level of society. Still, we mustn't carp. I'm sure this colour-blind approach to casting applies equally to all. I look forward to the BBC airing a period drama about the Windrush, in which the main passengers are played by Hugh Grant and Keira Knightley. At last: a Labour policy I actually like Normally I believe that a job should always go to the best-qualified candidate, and that preferential treatment should not be given to 'under-represented' groups. On this occasion, however, I'm going to be brazenly hypocritical and toss my principles aside. This is because, from now on, the Government wants all civil service interns to be working-class. And I think it sounds like a great idea. Of course it's not meritocratic. But Whitehall is the one place that might actually benefit from a bit of naked class warfare. Remember that Laura Kuenssberg documentary from 2023, which revealed that, the morning after the EU referendum, civil servants were 'in tears'? How many working-class staff would have reacted like that? If Nigel Farage is worried that a Reform government would be stymied by Brexit-hating mandarins, this dramatic change in recruitment policy should please him no end. The trouble with the 'Islamo-Left' In 1999, the writers of the satirical website The Onion published a very funny book called Our Dumb Century. It consisted of spoof newspaper front pages, inspired by the key events of the previous 100 years. And among its countless highlights was the headline of a story about Japan entering the Second World War on the side of Nazi Germany. It read: 'Japan Forms Alliance with White Supremacists in Well-Thought-Out Scheme.' I always remember that phrase 'Well-Thought-Out Scheme', whenever I read about the Western anti-Israel LGBTQIA+ group that calls itself Queers for Palestine. Yet, no matter how often critics argue that it might as well call itself Chickens for KFC, its members remain undeterred. Mind you, they aren't the only ones who believe there's a happy and united future for the so-called 'Islamo-Left'. The new party led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana is likely to attract many others who see no drawbacks to forming an alliance between one group that's extremely liberal on social issues, and another that is sometimes, shall we say, a bit more conservative. I wonder how many of these adorably well-meaning Corbynites are aware of what happened a few years ago in Hamtramck, Michigan. When the city elected America's first ever all-Muslim council, local progressives were jubilant. This was a glorious victory for marginalised minorities – and a crushing defeat for small-minded bigots. Imagine their shock, therefore, when the Muslim council then banned the flying of the LGBTQIA+ Pride flag from city property. According to the Washington Post, the local progressives felt not just appalled, but 'betrayed'. 'We welcomed you,' wailed a retired social worker. 'We created nonprofits to help feed, clothe, find housing. We did everything we could to make your transition here easier – and this is how you repay us, by stabbing us in the back?' Sadly, as Robert Burns more or less put it: the well-thought-out schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley. Way of the World is a twice-weekly satirical look at the headlines aiming to mock the absurdities of the modern world. It is published at 6am every Tuesday and Saturday Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The fake AI-generated Holocaust 'victims' duping thousands on Facebook - as Auschwitz museum slams 'dangerous distortions'
At first glance, it is a heartwarming photo: a little girl feeding the ducks on the canal in pre-war Amsterdam. A lengthy description explains that the girl, 'Hannelore Cohen', would 'skip along the cobblestone paths' each morning' - until 'the ducks never saw her again'. What follows is the claim that she was murdered at Sobibor death camp by the Nazis in the Holocaust - but it is not true. The photo has been generated by artificial intelligence, and the story that accompanies it is equally fictitious. The fake post is among dozens of similar ones featuring AI images of supposed Holocaust victims and details of what allegedly happened to them that are being shared to thousands of people on Facebook. Now, the Auschwitz Memorial museum has hit out at the growing phenomenon. A spokesman said: 'While these posts may seem well-intentioned to the audience, they are in fact dangerous distortions. 'They invent stories of people who never existed and present them as real victims. The lengthy post about alleged Holocaust victim Hannelore Cohen 'They exploit Holocaust memory for clicks, shares, and reach. They contribute to confusion and the erosion of historical accuracy.' 'The photos are AI-generated — eerily perfect, stylized, and not drawn from any historical archive. 'Some of the names do not appear in credible Holocaust victim databases and the entire biographies are fabricated.' The post featuring 'Hannelore Cohen' has been shared in a group called Historical Figures, which has more than 110,000 members. It was written by a page named 'Epic Movies'. The page is followed by more than 5,000 people. The post has used the name of a real Holocaust survivor who is listed on the website Refugee Voices as having come to England as part of the Kindertransport scheme for children in 1939. But the invented girl's life story bears no relation to the real Ms Cohen. The post says: 'On 10 September 1931, in the graceful, water-laced city of Amsterdam, a little girl named Hannelore Cohen was born. The accompanying life story says that she was born in the French city of Marseille, that every day she would 'skip to school, her pigtails swaying behind her like banners' and that she loved to read 'Her eyes sparkled with curiosity, and her soul seemed to be stitched from kindness. 'She loved simple pleasures, and few things brought her more joy than walking to the canal near her home, a paper bag of breadcrumbs in hand, ready to feed the ducks. 'Each morning, Hannelore would skip along cobblestone paths, the scent of tulips and fresh bread in the air. She'd stop at the edge of the canal and crumble the bread gently, tossing pieces into the still water. 'Ducks gathered near her like she was their friend. She giggled as they quacked and jostled, and sometimes she named them—"Willem," "Rosa," "Pieter." 'She spoke softly to them as if they understood.' It then adds: 'In 1943, when she was just 12 years old, Hannelore was taken from her home and sent to Sobibor, one of the cruelest death camps. There, her life was stolen. 'Her laughter, her crumbs, her gentle kindness—gone in a moment of merciless inhumanity. 'The ducks never saw her again. The water rippled, but no bread fell. 'And Amsterdam wept in silence. But we do not forget.' Another fake post - this time on a page with more than 14,000 followers called Days Gone By Memories - shows a young, bright-eyed girl named as Nadine Levy. The accompanying life story says that she was born in the French city of Marseille, that every day she would 'skip to school, her pigtails swaying behind her like banners' and that she loved to read. After being rounded up and sent to the notorious Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, the biography says she read stories to lift the spirits of other inmates, and kept a secret diary. On the morning of her death, she is said to have 'whispered a goodbye to the rising sun,' and that after the war her diary was found 'pages worn but full of hope.' In another fake Holocaust post on the Epic Movies page, a girl named as Anja Bakker is seen standing in a field of daisies. According to her biography, before the war she 'ran barefoot in the grass, her laughter mingling with birdsong,' and she loved making daisy chains. The fake post then claims that after being murdered in Sobibor, 'the daisy chains she made' and 'the stories she told, lived on in the memory of survivors.' Established in May 1942, by the time it was closed 17 months later between 170,000 and 250,000 Jews had been murdered in Sobibor. Less than 60 inmates are known to have survived. The Auschwitz Museum spokesman also claimed that Meta, the owner of Facebook, has refused to act to remove the fake posts. They said: 'While some pages simply copy our posts, we can see more and more posts that either add AI-generated photo (sic) or are entirely fabricated. 'Even more troubling, Meta (Facebook) has so far refused to act on this. 'They claim that posts with AI-fabricated images or AI-fabricated information on Holocaust victims do not violate their platform's rules. 'This failure to act sets a dangerous precedent. 'Memory must be protected — not invented.' The accounts featuring the fake images and stories have been approached for comment.
CBS News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Stockton to remove incorrect Lindsay Point plaque outside city hall
STOCKTON -- If you've ever stopped by Stockton City Hall, you may have noticed a plaque on your way up the steps. This, as it claims, is Lindsay Point -- the site of the first building in Stockton. Even though these words are etched into the bronze as fact, the history is all false. "The correct location is actually across the street, close by the water," Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi said. "It is near where we have the Veterans Memorial. That is actually that lawn area. That part is actually Lindsay point." But that's not all. The plaque states that Thomas Lindsay and other settlers built the first dwelling, a tule hut, on the site. That is another false statement, according to historians. "The plaque very explicitly states that that Mr. Lindsay built the first structure in San Joaquin County, and that it was a tule hut, which is obviously problematic given that indigenous peoples had probably been building tule huts for 10,000 years prior to that," San Joaquin County Historical Museum Executive Director Phillip Merlo explained. The city and historical museum have also received dozens of complaints over the years about the description itself. "Vernacular language and linguistic norms change over time," Merlo said. "I think that the use of the term Indian is not historically accurate. It also can be considered offensive by some, and in many ways, rhetorically, it is offensive." The plaque claims Lindsay was murdered, found with six arrows. Like much of what's written, that cannot be confirmed. With all that considered, the city decided unanimously that it's time to take the plaque down. "We were not the first people here," Mayor Fugazi said. "I want to make sure that people understand that people that look like me, we were not here. Even though my family came in the mid-1800s, there were people here before then. We need to make sure that we are accurately reporting on the actual history of this area." As of right now, there is no set date for when the plaque will be removed. The city clerk said they are reaching out to museums and other agencies to see if they'll keep it for historical purposes. If not, the plaque will be kept within the city's archive.
