Tuesday, March 9, 2010
D-Day
There have been many movies about World War II. However there have been several movies on one of World War II's most famous events; D-Day or the Normandy Invasion. For example, the movie Saving Private Ryan was based off D-Day. On June 6, 1944 the Allies invaded Omaha, Juno, Gold, Sword, and Utah, all are sectors of Normandy, in the largest amphibious invasion in history.
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A good start Max (and brave to go first as always), but let's steer this conversation. What is it that you want to know about D-Day, or to get across to us? Is it about film references, the importance of the battle itself? Is it that we are putting too much attention on it? Too little?
ReplyDeleteI think too much spotlight is shone on D-Day because, although it was a major battle in the war, it is really one of the only battles commonly known. And a lot of people only know it by name, they couldn't say exactly what or where it was. It wasn't the bloodiest battle or the longest, so why should it be the one that most people think of when battles come to mind?
ReplyDeleteI think people remember D-Day as some huge heroic American effort to save France, so it would seem like a good topic to make a movie about. Movie makers may see it as a topic that could be explored from different points of views, and still be interesting, so it could make them money or win them an award. D-Day just sounds really glorious, while the idea of watching a movie about the Siege of Sevastopol sounds really boring.
ReplyDeleteD-Day is always remembered because of the media surrounding it. Movies like Saving Private Ryan glorify D-Day and inform the public about its happenings, although it could be exaggerated. D-Day is also remembered for the brutality of it and how so many people died on this day.
ReplyDeleteThe media does make a big deal about D-Day, but do you think if the media did not expose it as much it would still be remembered or standout as much as it does in the context of WWII?
ReplyDeletei don't think D-day would stand out as much if the media didn't expose it through movies and books. For example all I know about D-Day is hearing other people's reference to it. Without the media making it a big deal I think it would just be seen as another battle in another war.
ReplyDeleteI agree with with Meghan, where D-Day would not be remembered if the media did not expose it through movies. If not for movies and books, people would not reference D-Day as much. For example, the Civil War is glorified, because movies such as "Gangs of New York" and "Cold Mountain" show the harsh battles scenes. Obviously, the Civil War was a huge war in American History, but many people make references to these movies, and without them, the Civil War would just be learned about in textbooks in classrooms. It's the same thing with D-Day, if not for all these movies and books, it would not stick out as much.
ReplyDeleteThis may be a handy place to look up what D-day is all about to help determine how important it really was as Shawna suggested in class. As Sophie suggested, was this even the bloodiest battle of the war (and does that matter?)
ReplyDeleteI think the movies and exposure of any part of the war is important in the media because like Gina said, if it were not for those, we would only be learning the facts and figures in a textbook. The use of film and documentaries give us a sense of what it was really like so we can put an image or a feeling with a fact. For example, in our textbook there is a picture of soldiers running throught eh water from inside a landing boat on the Normandy beaches. Personally, I think the image is powerful because what if the soldier who took it died right after? How did the camera even surive? Images and film help us understand what it was truly like, and these sources are not just limited to D-Day.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Erin's point about how images and other parts of the media help us connect to an event. Media coverage of D-Day has made it an infamous battle that everyone remembers. More than 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded on D-Day and media coverage allows for people to get an inside look on what the battle and war scene was really like.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that media is important. Just getting the basic facts about a war is not always very interesting. If all we learned about D-Day was the numbers of people killed or wounded or some of the military tactics used, it may not appeal to many people. Saving Private Ryan gives good insight that can capture a viewers attention and get people more interested about history.
ReplyDeletealong those lines, why was this being documented at the time? I believe there is video from the actual landing, and we know there are photographs.
ReplyDeleteI think this was documented as well as it was because of all the things going into the event. This was a highly planned invasion that contained hundreds of thousands of soldiers. This was also a potential turning point in the war had AMerica swept the beaches so it was important to document. Also, the actual day of invasion had to be perfect, requiring a full moon and a spring tide. A full moon for maximum light to allow pilots to navigate and ships to sail on course and a spring tide to allow for a maximum water height so that ships would not get caught up on Axis defense mechanisms in the ocean. Any other ideas why this was documented? and based off the documentations on the internet, was the invasion correctly shown on the internet? did the internet make the invasion seem smaller or larger? etc.
ReplyDeleteI think that in order for D-Day to really get any attention, it sort of had to be played up in the media. When you think about all of the other huge things that happened during World War II like the Holocaust, the Atomic bomb, Pearl Harbor, etc it's easy for D-Day to fade in comparison. Especially when you think about how there are movies about those other events too. I don't think that anyone can say that what happened on that day wasn't a big deal because thousands of lives were lost, but at the same time I think it's important that any movies about D-Day should be historically accurate. I agree with Erin that movies do help us connect to an event better than statistics in a textbook, but I think that people go wrong when they watch a movie, like Saving Private Ryan, as their only source of learning about what happened.
ReplyDeleteD-Day seems like the type of thing that was documented because it could be, and it was planned well, like Max said. They couldn't exactly videotape the Holocaust or Pearl Harbor, so I think people just saw D-Day as a potentially momentous thing, and like with reporters today, joining divisions in the army to get real solid info for Americans, it was something that could boost media ratings.
ReplyDeleteI agree that because it was planned it could be documented. It not only showed people what happened, but how war works. Because technology was so new people couldn't understand the horrors of war. With technology they were able to capture D-Day and show people what war is really like.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Meghan, that because technology was advancing many were able to capture D-Day and show how a war is fought. With such detail going into D-Day, I think that is why it is remembered. I think that any movies made about historical pasts should be showed accurate. Movies enforce the importance of the statistics, and show how bad a war could be. Just learning about D-Day and the statistics in school would not appeal to many students. In order for it to be interesting, and have students enforce what they know, movies and photos should be shown to attract the attention.
ReplyDeleteI think with the movies being so involved in helping people remember what war was like is something film makers have to be careful about. The promise of action and all that can get the viewers atttention, and once they are paying attention, valid details about the war should be introduced.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I have read it does not seem that the internet has made the event bigger than it is. It did seem to be focused on numbers however. I learned that about 100,000 marched brought by 5,000 ships and 13,000 air carfts. The US army website states the 9,000 allied soldiers were killed in the invasion.
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