Posted by Vincent at 09-077.101.popsite.net on July 18, 2003 at 17:41:06:
In Reply to: But you DO realize... posted by Championship_Vinyl on July 17, 2003 at 15:34:18:
- inspired the draft riots, rather they have their big showdown on the day that the U.S. military starts to put the draft-rioters down. It's pretty clear in the film what caused the riots, Scorsese used the riots as a backdrop for his "fictional" gang battle.
BTW, the gangs in GANGS OF NEW YORK DID exist. Yeah, the specific story Scorsese tells is "fiction", but it's dramatic fiction set against a historical backdrop. In that sense it's not unlike TITANIC, a fictional love-story set against a true event, and there's lot of interesting info in the movie that is pretty accurate, and it's a pretty accurate portrayal of what it was like to live in New York during that time, as well as the gangs that existed back then and the huge brawls they'd have.
Vincent
: The film 'Gangs of New York' is a fictional story, right? I mean, it's a story about two fictional gangs having a fictional showdown when the U.S. Army lays siege to New York City. The actual mass rioting and consequent martial law was because of Civil War Draft policies and the U.S. government's intolerance and lack of compassion for immigrants and blacks.
: The fictional gangs led by Leo and Danny didn't directly cause any of that (although there was a bit of artistic license used to the point that Scorsese implied such), and therefore, you'll won't be reading about the film's events in a "real" history book.