A World of Irony

Ironic Movies

Isn't it ironic how some moviemakers go to great lengths to get historical details right, but then completely overlook others?

I rented Gladiator this weekend and was intrigued by the commentary of the producer that ran during the movie. He talked about how hard they worked to get details right or, when historical details were lacking, to figure out what logically must have happened. And yet they never commented on how the thumbs-up, thumbs-down symbolism was backwards. When the emperor put his thumb down, it meant "ground your sword" or stick your sword in the ground. That meant the victim would live. When his thumb was up, it meant, "keep your sword up" or kill him. Not only did the movie get it wrong, but the commentators never even talked about it during those scenes. Here's a good article on the subject: http://www.ur.ku.edu/News/97N/SepNews/Sept29/thumbs.html

posted by Karl Richter @ 3/13/2005 11:09:00 PM