Sunday, June 26, 2011 — Yesterday’s post about Courage, New Hampshire certainly stirred up a few people. Frank, Juan and S. Cavallaro seemed most irritated by it.
To his considerable credit, James Riley, the man behind the movie, posted a very civil reply:
Heah, guys, chill. I’m on your side. This is a well researched, well documented drama. Samuel Adams wrote about British soldiers who searched for deserteres in New Hampshire in 1769 and you can look up the Londonderry incident [See note below. — The Ed.] on your own. I happen to have commited the sin, apparently, of believing in limited, Constitutional government and have attended tea party rallies. If you want to use that as an excuse to not watch the show, so be it, but you’re missing out. It’s a great show about the way colonial justices of the peace addressed bastardy cases, and get this: I’m a trained historian with a degree from Stanford. (So, maybe before you bash it, watch it!)
This is not to say that we accept Mr. Riley’s interpretation of history. Given recent mistatements about history by some of the Tea Party’s favorite people, like Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin, a bit of skepticism seems to be in order.
It’s true that we have not seen Courage, only the trailer. We’d happily watch it, but we’re not willing to pay $23.66 for the privilege. However, we would happily swap a one-year subscription to our paper — a $25 value — for a DVD of the film.
What say you, Mr. Riley?
Note: We presume Mr. Riley refers to this incident, related in Rev. Edward L. Parker’s History of Londonderry (Boston: Perkins & Whipple, 1851)
