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Docu-Drama Is A Source Of Conflict In Mistress Madeleine

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As a medium for conveying the past, films, specifically docu-dramas, are especially good at making history entertaining. In docu-dramas, this is done through creating conflict between the protagonist and other characters. The weakness of docu-dramas comes from creating conflict however, because in order to do so they sacrifice some historical accuracy. Now this is not to say that docu-dramas have no historical accuracy however, because that is not the case. When docu-dramas sacrifice historical accuracy in order to create conflict they do not sacrifice crucial historical information, they only sacrifice what is necessary in order to create the conflict. In Aaron Kim Johnston’s film Mistress Madeleine, the protagonist Madeleine, is the Metis …show more content…

Joseph is a free trader, meaning that he independently sells furs to the Americans and does not respect the authority of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and therefore the Hudson’s Bay Company wants to arrest him. Joseph does not have trade relations with the Hudson’s Bay Company, and this is not historically accurate. The Indians viewed intermarriage as a way to create “reciprocal social ties that served to consolidate their economic relationships” with the Europeans. Joseph does not have a trade relationship with the Hudson’s Bay Company, and therefore does not have an economic relationship with his brother in law Charles or the Hudson’s Bay Company. Additionally, Madeleine’s marriage to Charles did not create reciprocal social ties between Joseph and Charles. Charles tells Madeleine that Joseph is an embarrassment to him, and that he will not have Joseph ruins his reputation at the company. Charles does not actively attempt to prevent Joseph from being arrested, he simply states that if he is caught in America that he cannot guarantee that Joseph would get a fair trial. Madeleine is not upset by this, but historically she should be upset, because her marriage to Charles should have created social ties, which it did not.8 There are no social or economic relationships between Charles and Joseph because it creates conflict not only between Joseph and Charles, but between Madeleine and Joseph, because Madeleine is torn between loyalty to her husband and to her brother. This makes the docu-drama more entertaining, but at the cost of historical

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