| I've been spending time this week with a
great book called "Past Imperfect, History
According to the Movies" by The Society of
American Historians. It's a captivating book for
anyone interested in historic movies. In the
first paragraph of the inside jacket cover is the
sentence "When most people come upon a photo
of General George S. Patton in a history book,
they expect to see the image of George C.
Scott". Interesting observation, especially
for those of us who have an interest in our
ancestry.
How does our perception of particular actors
and actresses change when those people actually
portray people who, according to recorded
history, are our own ancestors? How does it feel
to equate those larger-than-life faces we see on
the big screen as the faces of our own ancestors?
Since ancestors are basically people we would
call grandmother or grandfather, preceded by some
number of "greats", I find that I
increasingly perceive particular actors and
actresses who portray my ancestors as feeling
like my grandparents. It feels good, and I hope
everyone will share this experience. For
instance, this week I watched a 1955 movie about
people who, according to recorded history, were
my ancestors. Maureen O'Hara portrayed a famous
historic character from over nine centuries ago,
a woman who I believe was an ancestress of
everyone who reads this Captain's Log, Lady
Godiva. From this point forward, Maureen O'Hara
feels to me like a grandparent.
As do Sophia Loren and Charlton Heston for
their portrayals of our ancestors in El Cid, and
Katharine Hepburn for her portrayal of our
ancestor in The Lion in Winter, and Richard
Burton for his portrayal of our ancestor in
Cleopatra.
Since cousins are simply people we share
ancestors with, and knowing that as ancestral
lines are extended five to eight centuries into
the past we will share numerous ancestors with
all of these well known actors and actresses,
these historic Hollywood films become in effect
"family home movies" of our cousins
portraying our ancestors.
|
