The World War II veterans who called Steven Spielberg “an absolute disgrace and an insult”
Having been fascinated with World War II for as long as he can remember, Steven Spielberg would never treat anything he made about the conflict with anything other than the utmost respect and reverence.
His obsession began in childhood, with his father serving in the military during the war, and it served as the backdrop to some of his finest work. Saving Private Ryan is the most obvious, with the filmmaker leaning into authenticity and immersion to create one of the most seminal big-screen war stories ever told.
Then again, some people weren’t entirely happy with it. For the most part, veterans approved of and endorsed the movie that was egregiously robbed of ‘Best Picture’ at the Oscars by Shakespeare in Love, with Spielberg working closely with organisations to assist in making his recreations of the D-Day landings feel as genuine as possible, not that everyone gave him a ringing endorsement.
Schindler’s List won him ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ prizes, and Empire of the Sun unfolded during Japan’s invasion of China that dovetailed with World War II, although even the man himself will admit that trying to turn one of history’s most haunting periods into a wacky comedy didn’t work when he made the first major misstep of his career with 1941.
Even on the small screen, his contributions have been definitive. Co-created alongside Tom Hanks, Band of Brothers remains one of the greatest miniseries to ever grace the airwaves, an ambitious and expansive spiritual successor to Saving Private Ryan that spawned two spiritual successors of its own, The Pacific and Masters of the Air. And yet, as with every one of his WW2 tales, there were dissenters.
Never one to miss an opportunity to stir the pot, six months after shooting had wrapped on the 10-episode event, and months before it had even premiered on British television, a smattering of veterans had spoken to the Daily Mail and described Band of Brothers as “an absolute disgrace and an insult to the millions of brave Britons who helped win the war.”
They were accusing the show of rewriting history and suggesting that the Americans had ridden to the rescue and single-handedly turned the tide. However, since they hadn’t seen it, they were presumably unaware that it was co-created by two Americans, scripted by an entirely American writing staff, with one Canadian exception, and followed an American battalion, so it would always be America-centric.
Ironically, the cast was jam-packed with British and Irish actors, too. Damian Lewis, Dexter Fletcher, Ross McCall, Jamie Bamber, Michael Fassbender, Simon Pegg, Stephen Graham, Tom Hardy, James McAvoy, and Andrew Scott were all present and accounted for, and it was nothing if not understandable that an American production team would tell their World War II story from the perspective of their countrymen.
Band of Brothers was praised for being one of the most historically accurate war dramas ever made, but since it limited its worldview to those from across the pond, it ruffled the feathers of a few British veterans.
