Educating Russ about historical accuracy

Russell Bates wrote:Show writerfella a picture of either Larry McMurtry or CBS claiming that COMANCHE MOON was a documentary or a historical treatise or even a docu-drama.Unfortunately, you lose again, Russ. Here's the information you so obviously missed:

One more ride for 'Lonesome Dove' characters"Buffalo Hump was a historical figure," McMurtry said. "He had a long career. That's not to say that the character in the movie is exactly like Buffalo Hump, but he was a real figure. He was a real leader . . . and he did lead massive raids on south Texas."

Ossana said that, even though the miniseries is "billed as historical fiction," the "Indians are portrayed much more realistically" than in recent Western miniseries.

"They're neither particularly heroes nor villains," the producer said. "They're just realistic. I think their culture is portrayed very accurately. . . . We were adamant about the language being accurate. . . . We felt very strongly that it should be authentic and respectful to a time and a place and those characters."

But it's an inauthentic aspect of Westerns that "has become our national ritual drama," McMurtry said. That would be the classic image of the solitary sheriff taking to the main street of town for a quick-draw showdown at high noon.

It's "the shootout in the street, which, of course, had nothing to do with life in the old West," the Texas native said. "It was entirely invented by Hollywood. In the old West, sheriffs like Wyatt Earp would rather walk up behind their victim and whack him on the head with a gun and drag him off to the jail. They didn't stand in front of him and invite him to shoot them--to draw faster."

It's another cliche that McMurtry is all too happy to shoot down.And:

Wes Studi--Indian Country’s leading actorOssana, in a conference call before the premiere, described Comanche Moon as a fable, a historical fiction which is intertwined with authentic Comanche traditions. She spoke proudly about how the movie’s Comanche actors and consultant were not paid during the time they were partaking in their Comanche traditions. Such as the ceremonial preparation that takes place before an eagle feather is worn. Ossana also excitedly noted that the eagle feathers used in the movie were real, a big first for television westerns with a strong Native American genre.Comment:  So McMurtry shot down the cliché of the shootout while reinforcing the cliché of the marauding Indian savages. Since McMurtry and Ossana claimed their work was accurate and authentic, we have every right to judge it on those qualities. And so I did. Comanche Moon failed as an accurate and authentic look at Indians for the reasons I've given previously.

Let me remind you that Russ couldn't touch my question about historical accuracy in King Lollipop in Comanche Moon. Amazingly, he thinks historical accuracy isn't an issue even though writers such as McMurtry and Ossana have said it is. Perhaps that explains why they're major cowboy-and-Indian writers and he isn't.