Making it up as they go along?

The other evening I watched Darkest Hour with Gary Oldham.

In case you don’t know …

The movie is about Churchill becoming Prime Minister with the primary focus on the evacuation at Dunkirk and Britain’s further involvement in the War.

It is a good film and Oldham’s performance was worthy of the Oscar.

I enjoy films of this nature – providing there isn’t too much violence  – and I invariably like to check all the facts and figures where possible. Aren’t we so fortunate that these days we have the internet, and one can fact check almost instantaneously?

SPOILER ALERT

There is a scene in the film where Churchill’s car gets stuck in London traffic. On the spur of the moment he gets out the car, goes down the Underground (Tube) where he boards a train. During the brief journey to Westminster he has a conversation with a group of ”ordinary people” to find how they would react if England was to be invaded by the German army, which at that stage was only a few miles from the French coast, and invasion was a distinct possibility, if not imminent.

Every person in the carriage was adamant that they would fight to the bitter end.

This sentiment is what finally swayed Churchill over the issue of entering into negotiations with Hitler regarding peace terms, vindicating his personal belief that one can never negotiate with a tyrant.

It is sterling stuff, and I found myself thinking: Damn straight! and similar thoughts.

But there is one thing to bear in mind …

The scene on the Underground never happened. It is a piece of fiction.

And yet, had it not been for Google, I would never have questioned it, assumed in its historicity, and would likely have touted this as ”evidence” should  the topic of what finally convinced Churchill to throw everything including the kitchen sink into the war effort.

I imagine that most people under such circumstances would react similarly.

However, once shown the fictitious nature of such a claim these same people would, like me, smile, accept that the writer and director of the film had merely used ”poetic licence” to make a point, and move on. No hard feelings, and one’s enjoyment was not really diminished.

So why on earth do so many people refuse to accept that the Bible is nothing but Historical Fiction and, like the Churchill movie, many of the characters and scenes in the bible are completely fictitious, included in the narrative solely as plot devices.

Maybe the next time you hear or read someone touting the veracity of the Bible you might take a moment to consider Gary Oldham’s Oscar winning performance as Winston Churchill?

 

Ark.