MovieChat Forums > Idlewild (2006) Discussion > Historical Inaccuracy

Historical Inaccuracy


Does anyone realize that Idlewild was/is a resort town in Michigan? It can be found just off of highway 10. Idlewild was a popular place for middle and upper class blacks to vacation before World War 2. Many jazz and blues musicians were hired to provide entertainment for the vacationers. I find it disappointing that a place with such history is being portrayed as a southern speakeasy on the big screen. The inaccuracy is such a shame. So much for history.

reply

Do you realize that this movie didn't claim to be non fiction? That's the part of the video store just off the tiny documentary section It's a popular place for middle and upper class people to be entertained. Many jazz and blues musicians are hired to provide entertainment in many different places across the planet. I find it disappointing that someone who knows so much about history can't see that this is just a portrayal of a fictional place. The fiction is written so well. So much for fiction.

reply

I took little interest in the movie overall once it was obvious that little of it is remotely historically accurate, from the music, down to the shoes. It's just a thread of the 30's set against the full garish farbric of hip hop modernity. It had some nice moments and good acting (Terrence Howard) and some of the piano solos.... Hopefully people hoping for a glimpse about the true Idlewild, Michigan life and historical community passed on this movie.

reply

I found it odd that it was the 30's, yet they were dancing the jitterbug from the 40's and singing rap, from at least the mid 70's! The movie was very predictable. I wish Macy Gray had a bigger part. Andre Benjamin has a nice voice but so quiet sounding I couldn't hear him sometimes. I fast forwarded though the very predictable violent scenes. Somebody hits somebody who kicks somebody, yada yada yada - then somebody gets shot. Waste of time scenes.

reply

WOW, You guys are sad. Why are you downplaying such an amazing movie because of "historical innacuracies". The movie is obviously fiction and with fiction comes an ability to transcend time. A discussion about the historical accuracy of this film is like criticizing a Sci-Fi flick for scientific impossibilities. Enjoy the film for what it is. The truth is, mixing art forms from different time periods pays homage to the former art form, while creating something original. The juxtaposition of modern rap with jazz/blues from 1930's and swing dancing mixed with elements of break dance is beautiful. You overly intellectual people need to get over yourselves and enjoy a good film.

reply

No one ever said that the Idlewild of the title of the movie is the same Idlewild you're talking about!

reply

Yeah, I live in Detroit, MI and my mother told me about the real Idlewild place up in Michigan. She thought that was where the movie was about/set too..

reply

There are/were many places in the US named Idlewild. JFK Airport was Idlewild Airport before it was re-named, for instance.

reply

I would have to say that seeing how the movie was not based on any place as stated - You should focus more on the movie and the story and not if it makes sence or not. That should not take away from what i thought was a good story.
If it said Idlewild, Michigan then perhaps you would be right... yet seeing how it is only non-fiction its better left unturned.

reply

I believe that Sally asks Percy something like, "What's the big deal about Idewild, Georgia, anyway?" I don't think they are in Michigan, hence the orchards at the end.

reply

Yes, they are in Georgia. The cabs had Georgia license plates.

reply

If anybody here was familiar with Outkast's music, it would be obvious and without argument that this movie takes place in Georgia. Outkast is from Atlanta, which is common knowledge, but they also frequently like to invent fictional places and towns within Georgia, for instance, Stankonia (described as both a small Georgia town OR a compound in the center of the earth). Anyway, the point is, Outkast is from Georgia and makes up names of locations that do not exist, so Idlewild is in Georgia, whether it really exists or not.

reply

When Rooster was giving the train ticket to percival, he said "god dont make no mistakes", which, is the one of the first lines said in "The Train", a song from their Idelwild album, which is said in Big Boi (Rooster)'s voice. So, when Percival got onto the train, i was expecting thats how that song ties into that film and thats what they would play.

Oh well...

reply

I just saw this movie for the first time, and while my late father (died in March at 79 and was a BIG music fan and collector with more than 10,000 records and a "phonographic memory" of all the music from the jazz and swing era) may have "had fits" over some of the historical inaccuracies in the movie (the Idlewild not being in Michigan NOT being one of them, in my opinion, since they FLATLY SAID it was in Georgia in the movie, and there are MANY CITIES across this country with the same name -- except the one in which I live -- for some reason, there's only one Spartanburg), as soon as I saw what they were up to I just shrugged it all off and decided to watch the movie for what it was and judge it on THAT basis.

The inaccuracies, I believe, included things like shoes that didn't exist in 1935 (those black-and-white shoes girls wear, don't know what you call 'em, but I don't think they were around then), many of the styles of dancing, and of course MOST of the singing and much of the musical style, as well... And I'm not a rap fan -- I mostly listen to NPR, classical, some jazz/new-age -- have the "Soundscapes" channel playing on cable TV's "music choice" in the background right now... That said, I thought the way these rap performers incorporated THEIR style of music into something at least RESEMBLING 1930s jazz (swing didn't exist at this point, either -- the popular style of jazz in 1935 was called "sweet" jazz, according to my dad, but then I come from an entirely WASP background, so it's possible there was some more fast-paced jazz being played by many of the black musicians before Benny Goodman's band finally broke through with the Swing revolution in, I believe it was 1937.

At any rate, I found the movie, inaccuracies and a few implausible story lines aside, to be rather entertaining. I enjoyed most of the musical numbers, and the dancing. The acting and action scenes were generally pretty good. Terrence Howard's "Trumpy" was maybe a little overplayed and probably should have had a bit more development before he just PLOPPED into the action... But overall, coming from a white guy who generally is not into the "African-American culture" very much, for a movie that had maybe 200 people including bit parts in it and I think I counted a sum total of 3 whites (a prostitute, a cop and a police photographer, I believe)... on THOSE GROUNDS it was a ROUSING SUCCESS!

Now what do I mean by THAT? I think I mean that a lot of people have tried to make movies that were almost entirely cast with black actors and actresses and be successful with them. I've seen several of those films -- usually on cable -- and quite often what the producers/director have done is either deliberately, or on purpose made a movie that appeals ONLY to a black audience... Often it will talk about "black issues," or show white oppression of blacks, or other things that make it more appealing to a black audience than to a white audience...

But here was a movie with an all-Black cast that was just about PEOPLE. The race issue never came up, not even ONCE -- even though the movie was set in a time and place when race was a MAJOR ISSUE. The reason they didn't show an investigation into the murders of those two characters could be many from the director's point of view, but from MY point of view, in the Deep South of 1935, they just wouldn't have BEEN investigated unless someone with power and influence insisted. That's a South I'm glad we've left behind, and frankly one I'm happy they didn't bother to even touch on in the movie, along with lynchings, "white-only" water fountains, restaurants, and other public establishments. While there was a fair share of violence in the movie, as all the characters were Black, it was all Black-on-Black... Not that THAT'S a good thing, either (it's a really SAD thing in many inner cities, today)... But my point is that by making this movie the way they did, they made a sort of "feel-good" Black Musical that everyone can enjoy if they don't get too picky about specifics like when this or that came about, and I really like that!

Finally, based on the final scene that ran during closing credits and made it really difficult to read cast names because you really wanted to watch the scene, that scene was SO reminiscent of many of the really BIG-PRODUCTION-NUMBER musicals of the 1940s and 50s that THEN it finally hit me that was REALLY what they were going for, and I think they ALMOST achieved it... They made an all-Black, big-production-number-musical, set in the 1930s, except it had rap songs in it -- and they mostly pulled it off!

Pretty amazing, actually!
Jeff

reply

[deleted]

Jeff that's a very insightful review, you should have placed it in the comments section as you may have been able to reach all the white folks out there who stayed away from this movie. I like how you first saw the flaws but that you gradually came round to it's better sides. It is indeed a flawed movie, but in addition to it's 'nearly' achieving it's political and artistic ambitions, I think it's true unmitigated success was in the quality of the camerawork/lighting/animations.
The direction/production team certainly were going for cultural overlays of various modern moments onto the prohibition genre and I think that was very creative on their part. I'm a white girl who before Outkast had little interest in todays black music forms (I love Ella and Louis and every other style that followed them...) But Outkast has a very special style that goes beyond hip hop and reaches out lyrically and musically to a much wider audience, without even "crossing over". They really have the talent to define their own style. Unfortunately this movie was not their most creative musical output. I hope to see much more from them in the future.

***So I've seen 4 movies/wk in theatre for a 1/4 century, call me crazy?**

reply

When you watch this movie if you really look close enough you can see Georgia license plates on the cars. That settles that question! Get over it! Also, there has never been a completely historically accurate movie ever made, no matter what the subject is. Theatrical movies are made for entertainment not for education, otherwise they would be documentaries.

reply

Does anyone realize that "Moulin Rouge" was set during the late 1800s yet the music was from the 1990s? Does anyone realize the latest version of "Romeo and Juliet" was set during the 20th century yet they spoke using original dialogue from the Shakespeare play? Granted both are directed by the same man but if those aren't historical inaccuracies I don't know what are! Basically, what I'm trying to say is "Idlewild" adhires to the same formula. It's about the entertainment value and I personally was thoroughly entertained, historical inaccuracies or not.

reply

I just thought it was called 'Idlewild' because they were two conflicting and opposite words.
Idle and Wild.

reply

I can't remember exactly what show I saw the interview on, but Andre said that they chose the name Idelwild in honor of the real city because of it's history as a black resort in the 30's. They tend to set their movies in GA because that's where they were both born and raised. Most musical movies are not historicaly accurte.

reply

The historical inaccuracies in this movie are relentless. Whether you find this easy to dismiss or not is a matter of personal taste. Whatever your opinion, the writer and producers could have avoided many of the inconsistencies in the film if they hadn't been lazy. For example, the movie is supposedly set during prohibition, which ended in 1933, but the year in which it occurs is 1935 (we know this from the gravestone near the end). Also, was there any need to set the movie in Georgia? Why not set it in the real Idlewild?

reply

Historically Inaccurate? Really? They didn't have talking Roosters in 1935? I guess my flask ran out of things to say a long time ago.

reply

The funny thing is, if you watched the trailer, you'd have been able to pick up on the idea of this movie being a blend of Jazz Age and Southern Hip-Hop elements, from the very beginning.

And if you knew who OutKast were, you'd realize that there was no way they'd make their first movie take place anywhere except in the state of Georgia.

reply

Does anyone realize that anyone who really watched and enjoyed this movie really doesn't give a damn?

reply

Thank you. Finally someone is making sense here. What is WITH them??? Whine, whine, whine . . . Idlewild is an awesome impish film with outstanding music and dancing. It's hilarious and it broke my heart. Not too many movies do all of that.

reply

You must have really torn into The Music Man. Wow, I bet you sure showed THEM what a mess they made of that movie too!

reply