My idea in how historical events are portrayed has changed by understanding how often the victors or the ones with the most resources often tell the stories of the events that have transpired and their significance for the general audience and for the contemporary world. For example, in the movie The Mission, after the Portuguese and the Spanish attack the independent mission and successfully took over the lands of the mission and made it land for the Portuguese, it is highly likely that future residents of the area learned little of the atrocities committed during the attack along with a understanding as to why the independent missionaries and the Guarani fought against them in the first place. Only after centuries and a re-examination of the history of colonization in South America did a more honest and transparent understanding of what happened arise.
From this example, film can be used as a “public humanities” resource to more accurately depict historical events. For example, the film “Saving Private Ryan” is able to realistically depict the horrors of war by showing the extent of death and violence solely during the first minutes of the amphibious attack of Normandy on D-Day. By doing so, it helped highlight a contrast between how societies often glorify war, especially World War II, and the reality of war itself.