As many of you know, I have been raving about the movie Lincoln. And some have asked what I thought of it. so here you go:
I believe the movie was as good as it could be without having someone who was actually there tell us yes that's right or no that's wrong.
My biggest rave of the movie was the details of the movie. Yes movies such as the Titanic had many of the little details correct, but Jack and Rose did not act like they would have during the actual time, they acted like it was 1995. In the movie Lincoln, they gave little details such as his notebook with notes. When he wrote out his telegrams he did sign it A. Lincoln. They gave him a higher voice like he did being born in Kentucky, and he acted like he would have acted best to our knowledge. I know growing up, I always thought he had this deep voice. I also really liked how they portrayed his sense of humor. You can't say "tell me the best Lincoln joke" because he told jokes in context. Lincoln's joke about George Washington is true and very funny. If you don't know what I'm talking about GO SEE THE MOVIE.
My view on Mary Todd Lincoln is interesting. There were not many women in the movie and she leaves an impact on the viewer. On the traditional view, it is shown that she is crazy. She struggled a lot in her life and went through many deaths. She also had to go through many changes in coming to the White House. She had thought she was high society and was from a prominent family, however, when she got to Washington, she got looked down upon. She was the first "First Lady" and speaking out was not common. She redid the white house and there was a huge party to celebrate. Both Willie and Tad had Typhoid Fever, yet they still went to the party. A few days later, Willie died. Willie was considered their favorite son, and he dies in February 1862. Mary went through a ton of grief when her son died. She was getting better, then an assassination attempt was put on Lincoln. She has 2 dead sons, is ridiculed by the press and looked down upon society and now someone is trying to kill her husband. No wonder she had nerves and seemed crazy!
Lincoln did go to see soldiers on the battlefield and the wounded. However, in the first scene when the soldiers recited the Gettysburg address is not really true. At the time, people thought this wasn't his strongest speech. The public did not really notice the speech like they did for the emancipation proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation was in everyone's house while Lincoln was alive, but Gettysburg Address did not become popular until after he died. However the point to use it was to remind Lincoln of what he said and his promise, and how he would have to fulfill that promise...aka leading to the 13th amendment and point of the movie.
When Tad looked at the pictures of the slaves in the movie he very well could have played with them and looked at them. He did have access to them, but they were probably to show that he was interested in what was going on and that when Lincoln saw the pics and his son side by side he may have thought what separates my boy from this boy. He had his uniform and was into following the war. That was realistic. The only thing not realistic in that scene, is the toy soldiers. He would have those yet...but minute details.
Robert, the older son, realized that he needed to be in the war. If you did not fight, then you had nothing after the war. We see it's true looking back as most of the presidents shortly after had war stories. However, Mary doesn't want him to go and Lincoln doesn't want him to go, but he's asked mothers and fathers all over the Union to let their sons go fight. It shows the classic struggle that went on during the time in many families including the family of the President of the United States.
Side note: after talking with my professor, he said he didn't think that Lincoln ever slapped Robert as seen in the movie, but he can let it slide because it does show the significant historical tone of the controversy going on between families.
As far as the history of the 13th amendment I've been getting questions as to why he pushed the amendment in the house. SO here it goes...the 13th amendment could have been passed after the democratic congressmen lost their seats. However, Lincoln knew that the Republicans would not have passed the amendment if there had been peace talks, hence the scene of the final vote. That is why he needed to push the amendment before there were peace offerings. The first view of the North was to restore the Union and in a way it always stayed that way. The north wanted to restore the Union, and realized they needed to stop slavery if they had any hope. But if peace had been made, they probably wouldn't have given a second thought to slavery...at least for the time being. That is why the amendment was pushed before peace talks were made. If they hadn't who knows how much longer would slavery have been around?
Spoiler alert: Thaddeus Stevens really did have a bi-racial marriage. It was very radical of the time, but he believed not only in political equality, but social equality.
Overall, the movie was very good. There was no fight scenes or car chases and you had to pay attention. But it told an important story, and it helped the audience take initiative and wonder if things were true. It promotes the audience to look up information. The stories were true...there were congressmen's seats up for dispute and the names and states were true. After you looked up a few of the congressmen, you realized that they did make this movie as accurate as they could. This movie stretched the limits of film-making and EVERYONE should see it. Even if you sleep through parts of it like my sister did :)
Let me know if there is anything else you would like to add.
