Don’t Learn Your History Or Culture From Movies

Listen, I've got nothing against movies. I love a good film as much as the next person. But somewhere along the way, we started confusing entertainment with education... and that's where things get messy.

Here's what I mean. A buddy of mine once told me he understood the partition of India because he watched some Bollywood epic. Three hours of melodrama, beautiful cinematography, a love story stitched into tragedy. I asked him if he'd read any actual accounts from people who lived through it. He hadn't.

And there's the problem right there.

Movies aren't made to teach you history. They're made to sell tickets, win awards, make you feel something. Which means they simplify. They dramatize.

They take a thousand shades of grey and paint everything in black and white because nuance doesn't fit into two hours and twenty minutes.

The director has an agenda - even if they don't realize it. The screenwriter has biases. The studio has a market to please. And you... you're sitting there in the dark, absorbing someone else's interpretation of events as if it's gospel. As if that's how it actually went down.

I've seen people quote movie dialogue like it's historical record.

I've watched entire communities shaped by how cinema portrays them - for better or worse.

It's borrowed knowledge. Second-hand wisdom. You're learning history through a game of telephone played by people who care more about narrative arc than factual accuracy.

Real history is boring, man. It's contradictory. It's messy. It doesn't have a three-act structure or a satisfying ending. The heroes were flawed. The villains had reasons. The timeline doesn't build to a climax - it just... happens, in all its chaotic, uncomfortable glory.

You want to understand your culture? Read the primary sources. Talk to the elders while they're still around. Sit with the uncomfortable parts that don't make for good cinema.

Question everything - especially the stories that make you feel good about yourself.

Because here's the thing about movies - they're mirrors that reflect what we want to believe, not necessarily what was. They comfort us. They give us clean narratives in a world that doesn't offer them.

And look, I'm not saying don't watch historical films or cultural stories. Watch them. Enjoy them. Let them spark your curiosity. But don't stop there. Let the movie be the trailer, not the feature.

Let it be the question, not the answer.

Your ancestors deserve more than a Netflix summary of their lives. Your history is richer than a screenplay. Your culture is deeper than a director's vision.

So go ahead - watch the movie.

Just don't graduate thinking you attended the class.