MovieChat Forums > Pay the Ghost (2015) Discussion > Zero witches were burned at the stake in...

Zero witches were burned at the stake in the United States


...or the British Colonies in North America. The ones who were executed were hanged except for one guy at Salem who was pressed to death. No one was ever burned in New York or anywhere else and certainly not in the 1700s. The last execution was Salem, 1692. Just Google the damn thing before you write a stupid screenplay. Would that work for anyone but me?

reply

Zero witches were burned at the stake in the United States.
Just Google the damn thing before you write a stupid screenplay.


It's not about being hisotircally correct - it's about telling a story. Movies are fiction and are not designed to be, nor have any obligation to be, historically accurate. You want a history lesson, peruse a text book.

Also:

* Cars don't explode when they roll over (every action film ever made).

* Shotgun blasts don't send people flying through the air (every gritty action film ever).

* Heavy metal albums don't conjur demons when played backwards (The Gate, Trick or Treat).

* Spinosaurus couldn't take down T-Rex (Jurassic Park III).

* England doesn't have volcanoes (Reign of Fire).

* Iraqi bomb squads never walk the streets alone (The Hurt Locker).

* The English never burned Colonials to death in a church (The Patriot).

* The USA never saved Europe in World War II (every American-made war film).

* William Wallace wasn't a noble hero - he enslaved, raped and murdered his own people. Also England and Scotland were not at war in 1276 (Braveheart)



It's fiction, man, either playing on popular myth, ignorance of the audience, or just wanting to tell the story they want to. Deal with it or stop watching films.

reply

...or the British Colonies in North America. The ones who were executed were hanged except for one guy at Salem who was pressed to death. No one was ever burned in New York or anywhere else and certainly not in the 1700s. The last execution was Salem, 1692. Just Google the damn thing before you write a stupid screenplay. Would that work for anyone but me?
Works for me. But there is such a thing as poetic or literary license, and it is very common.

Like you, however, I am something of a purist (most of the time, anyway) and I am also a writer. But I want my stories to be as true-to-life as I can get them, so I do my homework.

reply

If you had been paying attention the supposed burning happened on Halloween night 1679 falling into your correct time period and not in the 1700's.

Come on, it's a Nick cage movie, lighten up.

reply

It didn't happen in the 1670s either. If this was the only place I ever encountered this nonsense, I'd relax a bit more but it is done constantly in books, movies and on TV and it irritates me endlessly. Those poor souls who were hanged for witchcraft were killed just as dead as they would have been if they had been burned and there is still a whole lot of dramatic potential in a hanging execution without having to make up s**t. I rather suspect many of these writers are going with burning not for the drama but because they think that is what actually happened. This makes them lazy and stupid and makes their scripts annoying and stupid.

reply

I rather suspect many of these writers are going with burning not for the drama but because they think that is what actually happened.


Amen

__ __ __
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"--Pres. Merkin Muffley

reply

So? I don't think it's a problem if fictional movies create fictional events. You aren't that smart for knowing something so basic you thought you had to point it out and educate others.


-
Consider the daffodil. And while you're doing that I'll be over here looking through your stuff.

reply

I made no claims about my intelligence nor did I intend to educate anyone. I intended to bitch about something that annoyed me about this stupid film.

reply

Wait.... are you saying this film isn't factual?!?!?!

I don't love her.. She kicked me in the face!!

reply