Historical Films and the Real Past: Why Alter History?

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Historical Background of “Newsies”
The Depiction of the Newsboys in the Film
Movie Plot Versus Real Events
Major Themes in the Film
Conclusion
Bibliography

Introduction

Historical films by their definition rely on past events to inspire a story. For movies that are based on real-life events, the incidents and people from the past constitute the main source of working material that can be further developed by screenwriters and adjusted by film directors. However, unlike their name suggests, historical pictures often represent an alternative interpretation of real-life circumstances and figures to create a gripping storyline and attract the audience. In filtrating and editing real stories, films can create a new perspective on the past among the moviegoers and have the potential to rewrite history in terms of its representation in the minds of people. This essay will discuss the use of historical background in the musical film “Newsies” which was directed by Kenny Ortega in 1992. As it will be shown later, the movie offers a loose interpretation of the Newsboys’ Strike of 1899 while shifting the focus from historical events to the timeless story of determination, solidarity, and friendship.

Historical Background of “Newsies”

Being shot at the beginning of the nineties, the film narrates the history of the preceding century, which was likely to be partially forgotten due to the passing of time and major changes occurring in the life of the American nation. The story is set in the period before the introduction of the first federal laws regulating child labor, and thus the daily work of newsboys is portrayed as usual activity for young males in New York. Researchers generally agree that the main precedent of child labor was the Industrial Revolution that significantly increased the production rates and created a new demand in workforce. The change occurred not only in the number of children involved in the job market but also in the quality of their work and the age of first employment. Young children were commonly preferred for simple tasks because they were easier to manage and could be paid less compared to adult workers. The setting of “Newsies” reflects this period of time by showcasing young boys who earn small sums of money while working on the streets.

Although the end of the nineteenth century was marked by a decrease in children’s participation in the labor force in Britain, the United States continued to exploit young workers to support its economic growth. From a string of strikes during the last decades of the century, it can be concluded that the American newsboys were widely dissatisfied with their work conditions. In 1899, the owners of the major New York newspapers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst decided to raise the cost of a bundle of 100 newspapers by ten cents, causing a major riot among their young paper distributors, whose already low profits were considerably damaged by the introduced changes. The film “Newsies” primarily focuses on the confrontation between the New York newsboys and Pulitzer, the owner of New York World, while Hearst plays a secondary role in the plot development.

The Depiction of the Newsboys in the Film

According to Humphries, many of the working children were either orphans or came from poor or broken families. It was not uncommon for the fathers of such youngsters to have been imprisoned, while their mothers either were dead or abandoned them. “Newsies” portrays the newsboys in a fairly realistic light, with many family-less children living together in crowded rooms and earning barely enough to make a living. Being inspired by real people, some of the movie characters are children of immigrants, while others have certain disabilities. The boys are loud and street-smart with no formal education. Nevertheless, it is worth noticing that the film romanticizes its characters and downplays the severity of their everyday lives—the real newsboys were often dirty and barefoot, had peculiar accents, and slept on the streets. In addition, “Newsies” focuses only on the male paper distributors, while it is likely that girls also participated in selling newspapers as this job does not require gender-specific skills.

The Jacobs children, who are new to the group newspaper distributors, decide to join the newsboys in the hope of earning some money while their father cannot work at a factory due to an injury. Unlike other characters, the boys have a loving family and a good upbringing. The elder son David is highly intelligent and has attended school, which makes him one of the leaders of the strike as he supplies ideas to the rest of the boys who do not have the advantage of being educated. At the same time, the Jacobs children are unaware of the street culture and have to learn from the rest of the newsboys the tricks for selling the newspapers with bad titles. It is possible that the character of David was molded after Dave Simmons who was elected as a president of the Newsboys Strike Committee.

In the film, the formal leader of the strike is Jack Kelly. As a typical street boy, whose father is in jail and whose mother is dead, he understands the crowd of the working children and can inspire them to fight for their rights. Interestingly, this movie character is fictional and presents a combined image of various leaders prominent in historical events. The real-life leader of the 1899 strike was likely to be Kid Blink who spoke with a heavy Brooklyn accent and wore an eyepatch. The character appears in the film along with other historically inspired personages, such as Spot Conlon, Racetrack Higgins, Kid Blink and Crutchie, but plays a supporting role.

Finally, the film introduced Bryan Denton, a reporter from the New York newspaper Sun, who takes an interest in the strike and aims to support the boys by covering their fight in his news articles. While information about the newsboys appeared in newspapers, there is no evidence to suggest that any particular journalist was responsible for spreading the word about the newsies. Real historical people involved in the Newsboys’ Strike of 1899 seem to remain obscure. In “Newsies”, however, the character of Bryan Denton plays a central role as he encourages the boys to unite and raise their voices to end the exploitation of children by the city.

Movie Plot Versus Real Events

Guided by the cinematographic principles, “Newsies” alters real-life events to create an attractive story. The events of the strike are condensed in time and interpreted in a distinctive way that helps to accentuate the film’s main ideas. For instance, the plotline of Kelly revolves around his loyalty to other boys: The character chooses to cooperate with Pulitzer to protect his friends, while later Kelly breaks his agreement with the publisher to defend the Jacobs children. The largest discrepancies with historical events occur at the end of the film, where the boys achieve the desired reduction in the price of newspapers and celebrate their victory over Pulitzer’s greediness. In reality, however, the strike resolved in a comprise, wherein the prices remained unchanged, but New York World agreed to buy back the unsold papers.

To establish the right atmosphere for the movie, the script was likely to rely on descriptions of historical events in newspapers. When New York Times reported on a newsboys’ strike in 1889, it stressed such details as fighting among children, confiscation of newspapers, and arrests. Similar patterns of behavior can be observed in “Newsies”, where the characters force each other to join the strike by ripping the acquired papers and disrupting the distribution process by vandalizing a delivery wagon. In addition, the film script places Crutchie at an orphanage after he fails to escape fight breakers.

Major Themes in the Film

A major theme of historical significance that is depicted in the movie is child labor. Denton explains to the boys that fighting for their demands will not be easy as “the city thrives on child labor”; the character further adds that “a lot of people make money that way” and that they are afraid “that the newsies strike will spread.” Nevertheless, the film does not elaborate on the topic of child labor, primarily focusing on the newsboys and their goal of obtaining the old price for newspapers. What is more, once the characters’ demands are satisfied, they return to their usual work, which leaves the problem of child labor unresolved.

In contrast, the theme of perseverance and fighting for one’s rights dominates the film. Realizing that they have been treated unfairly, the newsboys choose to stand up to the influential publisher despite being seen as socially insignificant. As their fight progresses, the children realize that they need to unite to succeed—one of the recurrent themes of “Newsies” is the importance of collaborative effort in achieving major changes. Denton summarizes this idea by saying that “sometimes all it takes is a voice, one voice that becomes a hundred, then a thousand, unless it’s silenced.” Taking this into account, the historically inaccurate ending of the film seems almost inevitable as the boys should be rewarded for their collective striving.

Conclusion

The movie “Newsies” demonstrates how film directors can alter historical material to imbue a story with new meanings. In introducing new plot twists, romanticizing the characters, and changing the outcome, the script departs from historical facts and creates a myth of strong and determined children who were not afraid to fight for their rights. As such, many historical pictures use the past to establish a special atmosphere and awaken the public’s interest, while fictional characters and events can serve as entertainment elements or ways of propagating certain ideas. Even though film directors often consider the question of historical accuracy, they seem not to forget that above all, movies are a powerful tool for communicating with the audience.

Bibliography

Horrell, Sara, and Jane Humphries. “The Exploitation of Little Children: Child Labor and the Family Economy in the Industrial Revolution.” Explorations in Economic History 32, no. 4 (1995): 485-516.

Humphries, Jane. “Cliometrics, Child Labor, and the Industrial Revolution.” Critical Review 13, no. 3 (2008): 269-283.

“Newsboys on Strike; Many Fights and Two Arrests by the Police.” The New York Times, 1889. Web.

Newsies. Directed by Kenny Ortega. Burbank: Walt Disney Pictures, 1992. Film.

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