True Stories and Taking Liberties

I love stories, (books or movies) that are based on true stories. My fourth book, John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu, is based on the true story of John Dunn, the White Chief of Zululand. Sure, I took some liberties, one of which was when I had him marry the daughter of King Cetshwayo, the Zulu king. Although he did marry several daughters of Zulu chiefs, he did not marry, (in real life,) any daughters of the top guy, King Cetshwayo.

(Note: the Zulu kingdom was composed of several "kraals" which were like separate villages within the Zulu boundaries, and each "kraal" had its own chief. One of these chiefs was John Dunn, thus the reason he became known as the "white chief" of Zululand.)

But John Dunn did have 49 Zulu wives, plus his original wife, who was half white and half Xhosa, which was a black tribe in another part of South Africa, (Nelson Mandela was of the Xhosa, I read somewhere.) So I thought it made an interesting subplot to have one of those Zulu wives the daughter of King Cetshwayo, especially when the Zulus went to war against the British, and the British forced John Dunn to choose a side--their side.

Now the movie 300 was great, to me, since it was about the true story of the 300 Spartans who held off the Persian invading army for three days. It ranks as one of my favorite movies, even. And I was glad to see the sequel come out, 300: Rise of an Empire, which focused on the true story of the Athenian Naval victory over the Persian fleet, that sealed the Greek victory over the invading Persians.

But to me, Rise of an Empire took some liberties that were highly questionable. The female warriors. Both the Persians and the Greeks were chauvinistic societies. Sorry ladies, but it's true. Unfortunate, even. But true. In Rise of an Empire, they gave us a mighty female leader of the Persian fleet who fought like she was Wonder Woman. This was going too far. No way, no how would the mighty Persian fleet be led by a woman admiral. That was going too far, and a woman who fought in the front lines as if she were Hector or Achilles? No.

And then in the end, you had the Queen of Sparta, the widow of King Leonides, in the front lines battling away with sword in hand, (and no shield,) as if she were a seasoned veteran of battles. Nope, no way, no how. These were liberties that just did not work. I still enjoyed the movie, but it doesn't rank as an all time favorite. And nothing against women or women warriors, mind you. I know they existed. But not in Persia, and not in Greece. (And, excuse me, but I consider the myth of the Amazons, to be just that. A myth.)

And even if women warriors did participate in those Greek-Persian wars, it wasn't the Queen of Sparta, and it wasn't as an Admiral of the Persian fleet. Oh well. It's Hollywood. Bring on 300: part 3. I'll be there in the front row! (Well, actually, not the front row, but I'll be there.)