elevision, movies, and streaming platforms have become an important source of information in recent decades. Many media have been inspired by humanity’s histories, as it is an interesting source of information about the exciting travels of women and men across the world since the beginning of time. However, movies, series, and TV shows do not seem to be interested in informing with rigor, but to create products that are easily consumable and that look interesting to the largest group of people possible. In this sense, this kind of content should not be used as study material, as it is not designed with an educational purpose. In the following paragraphs, there are some arguments to support and expand this position.
Movies and TV shows, and study materials are different, as they have their own design processes and aims, goals, and objectives. This is relevant to mention because while massive media productions are more interested in achieving the best profit outcomes possible, educational endeavors often intend to facilitate the learning process. We can see this issue when movies and TV shows distort and often exaggerate the content in order to show an appealing version for their audience. Educational materials make an effort to organize information to be understandable and easy to comprehend, which often is more demanding and time-consuming. Also, this requires the participation of experts in history, who are not so familiar with media productions in general.
Another recent issue is that historical events can be very different from what has been shown traditionally in movies and TV shows, which can be challenging to change in media productions. History can have different interpretations, and there can be some versions more popular than others. Then, as media productions try to capture most people’s attention, the historical versions they use often are the more popular. This can be a problem because, in a global competitive market, it leaves a small space for people who want to explore different and alternative narratives for small and non-general audiences.