The study raised new questions about the teaching of history after it found that 11 per cent of the British population believed Hitler did not exist and 9 per cent said Winston Churchill was fictional. A further 33 per cent believed Mussolini was not a real historical figure…. Some 27 per cent of people interviewed thought Robin Hood, whose story has been featured in films by directors such as Kevin Costner and Mel Brooks, existed whereas 42 per cent believed Mel Gibson’s Braveheart was an invention. More than 60 thought the Battle of Helms Deep in the Lord of the Rings trilogy actually took place….
Fictional events that we believe did take place
War of the Worlds , Martian invasion – 6 per cent
Battle of Helms Deep , Rings Trilogy – The Two Towers – 3 per cent
Battle of Endor , The Return of the Jedi – 2 per cent
Planet of the Apes , the apes rule Earth – 1 per cent
Battlestar Galactica , the defeat of humanity by cyborgs – 1 per cent—Cahal Milmo —1066 and all that: how Hollywood is giving Britain a false sense of history (Independent)
And I, for one, saulte our new cyborg overlords…
Of course, it’s Hollywood’s fault — how dare Californians presume to educate Britons? Listen to me now and believe me later, U.K. — if you want your sense of history muddled beyond belief, get your own movies!
Honestly…
Note: An editor should have caught this: “More than 60 thought the Battle of Helms Deep in the Lord of the Rings trilogy actually took place.” That should be “More than 60 people out of the survey of 2069,” or, as the last paragraph in the story specifies, just 3%.
I think it was a hyped survey… they might have shown volunters a list of 10 names and said, “Circle all the names that are historical people.” If someone didn’t recognize a name, they didn’t circle it… if they vaguely remembered hearing a name, but didn’t know where from, they might have circled it. That’s different from somebody walking around confidently telling everyone they meet that Winston Churchill was fictional and the Battle of Helms Deep was real.
It’s still rather sad, of course.
So, April Fool’s joke, or just a joke of a survey?
Gold star! Very good.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Hilarious movie.
“On second thought, let’s not go to Camelot. ‘Tis a silly place.”
Citation, anyone? ;)
The “Greville Janner” mentioned in the article is a real person, who has spoken out against Holocaust deniers. I’d need to see the survey — it’s probalby likely that the survey required people to recognize names on a list and mark them as “Real” or “Fictional…” I’m sure the list didn’t ask, “Was The Battle of Helms Deep, featuring humans, dwarves, and orcs, from Tolkein’s fantasy novel *The Two Towers* real or fictional?”
Oh please. This is a rediculous story. The story date says April 6th, but I bet it’s an April 1st story. If you believe this story – you need a little education about reality yourself.
So where do we stand on Arthur? Is Camelot a state of mind then?