"The Trouble with Zorro, Part 1. The Curse of Capistrano" Topic
7 Posts
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Tango01 | 15 Dec 2014 11:19 p.m. PST |
"As a child, I loved Zorro. The masked and mysterious hero with the swirling cape and flashing rapier, dashing black clothes, and magnificent stallion; his daring attacks, chases and escapes, even his unexplained urge to monogram nearly everything, including people he didn't like. How could any little boy not love Zorro? And, though you might have trouble believing me after reading this essay, I must admit that for all these same reasons I still love Zorro. I love him even though he drives me crazy, both historically and logically. Let's start with history. Zorro is obviously a fantasy but the stories are set in an actual place and time – California of the early 19th century. I've spent much of my life trying to reconstruct the material world of Spanish and Mexican California authentically, so the factual errors both large and small that I find throughout the nearly 100 years of Zorro stories, books, films, television, plays and comics go far beyond just annoying me. And it isn't just me. The historian Abraham Hoffman wrote that the biggest problem he had with the Zorro legend was, "its existence in a historical vacuum . . ." One that was so unlike the real early California that the, "story might as well have taken place on Mars."…" Full article here. davidwrickman.blogspot.com.ar Amicalement Armand |
Leadpusher | 16 Dec 2014 9:46 a.m. PST |
Very interesting article. But I think that none of the Zorro stories were written with history in mind. They are nothing if not swashbuckling tales of derring-do. Sometimes we just have to, like all Hollywood, suspend belief and reason and just enjoy the story. |
Tango01 | 16 Dec 2014 10:16 a.m. PST |
Agree my friend. But still a very interesting research by this guy. I loved "Zorro" Series and I have the privilege to talk some words with Guy Williams when he reside in Argentina. Also he died here. A very nice guy!. Amicalement Armand |
Henry Martini | 16 Dec 2014 3:58 p.m. PST |
It's disbelief you want to suspend. |
Roderick Robertson | 16 Dec 2014 10:36 p.m. PST |
C'mon, Zorro was written as pulp fiction, by a pulp author, for the action-adventure crowd, not trying for even Bernard Cornwell-level "Historical" fiction. |
zippyfusenet | 17 Dec 2014 10:04 a.m. PST |
So looking for the 'historical' Zorro is like looking for the historical Tarzan. Got it. This is why Karl May's novels of the Wild West, popular across Europe in many languages, have never been successful in the United States. May didn't know and didn't care much about the reality of the western United States, and his novels are fundamentally disconnected from historical reality. They still have all their attractions as works of fiction, but the cognitive dissonance gives American headaches. |
John Miller | 02 Apr 2015 5:45 p.m. PST |
Tango: Rescently acquired a DVD of the Tyrone Power version of Zorro and love it. May not be history but its great fun. I may be wrong but my understanding is that Basil Rathbone, (who plays the villan), taught Power how to fence for that movie. Rathbone was apparently a great fencer in his own right, Hollywood not withstanding. Another one I owe you Tango. Thanks, John Miller |
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