"Outlander" from a HISTORICAL perspective.....

[CollinMacD]

Aside from all the dramatics and mish mash of "Outlander" I was wondering about the Historical value and timelines that is portrayed in this series, also the dress, customs, and society of the Scottish during this time. I know its a fictional love story, wrapped around some science fiction, but to me there is some value to the visual aspect and historical significance in the background of the story. Any comments on this, from my limited reading on the subject, historically it seems to be done well, the costumes used look very good, weapons good, and the society seems to be done with some accuracy too. Love to hear what the Highlanders think of this? Thanks

[Tobus]

It has been a couple of years since these discussions were first had, and the threads are locked now, but you might try reading these:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...tlander-82374/
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...anguage-85690/

Quite a bit of information there, including some input from Terry Dresbach, who is the costume designer for the series.

*edited to add:

The long and short of it is that while the original author spun quite an entertaining yarn, there's a lot wrong with her story and her depiction of life in that era. This is completely understandable, however, and is common for "historical fiction" pieces like this. She even admits herself that while she did a lot of research to add authenticity to her writing, she also took a lot of liberties. This is, above all else, romantic fiction. It has to appeal to the target audience, which doesn't particularly care about the historic details.

This "liberty" which was taken with the historic authenticity is pervasive. The dress, the language, the actual details of the '45 Rising, historical figures and their loyalties, etc. She wrote the book for Americans, and had to appeal to their romantic sense of Scotland. The actual truth, in most cases, was much different.

I get a bit of a giggle every time I see the iconic images and video montages from the series. Highlanders with full beards (not accurate) wearing pirate boots (not accurate) and riding Friesians (not accurate) is just ... wrong for that time period.

[OC Richard]

I was wondering about the Historical value and timelines that is portrayed in this series, also the dress, customs, and society of the Scottish during this time.

Two perhaps opposing things come to mind

1) If somebody wants to learn about a historical period, it doesn't seem logical to use romance novels as a source.

2) Well-written and well-researched historical fiction is better at giving the reader a feeling of what it felt like to live in a historical period than dry straightforward nonfiction history books.

What comes to mind straightaway regarding #2 are the Aubrey-Maturin books.

In any case the only aspect I'm semi-qualified to comment on are the costumes. They are inaccurate in a number of ways. For one thing the colour-scheme seen in the tartans wasn't invented until the 1940s. Also in common with usual Hollywood practice the British uniforms are the wrong colour.

But! The job of a show such as Outlander is not to be a museum, but rather to be a beautifully shot film. The colours of the costumes aren't chosen for historicity but rather for attractiveness. If somebody wants to see how Highlanders dressed in the 18th century there are plenty of period paintings.

[Luke MacGillie]

It's the right solar system, right planet, even right hemisphere, after that it goes so far off the rails that the effort to "Unlearn" what people get from the show is not a worthwhile investment....

[The Q]

I started watching Outlander when it started showing on UK free to air TV.
I rapidly gave up watching Outlander as it offended my interest in History, and I wasn't interested in watching Programmes in which the producer said, one of his aims was to push the limits of what can be shown on TV.

[neloon]

Love to hear what the Highlanders think of this?

Could only bear to watch one episode. It''s rubbish!

Alan

[Me cousin Jack]

Fifty shades of plaid, but entertaining, that said one should always take with a grain that which appears on the boob tube.

[KMCMICHAEL]

One of the old threads mentioned the pirate boots. I seriously doubt that pirates wore them either.

[CollinMacD]

Interesting comments, and I did go back to read the threads from several years ago. I have to agree with most comments here. History can never be put to film, too many variables, to little research done by the movie company, and to be frank, budgets for the movie product limits what can be done, so what can be done is mass appeal to all.

OK, so I enjoy the series for entertainment value, and do think they try to do a good job historically, but just cannot be done.

Thanks for all your posts and thoughts, find it interesting.

Regards....

[Tobus]

History can never be put to film, too many variables, to little research done by the movie company, and to be frank, budgets for the movie product limits what can be done, so what can be done is mass appeal to all.

Yeah, it's sad to say, but that's pretty much the gist of it. It is possible to do an authentic historical reproduction, with full research and attention to detail. But that would be more in line with a documentary piece, and would probably lack the sort of appeal that's needed for a blockbuster film or a popular television series. Historical reality, sadly, lacks the romantic fantasy that it takes to appeal to the masses. They are competing with shows like Game of Thrones. How on Earth is a documentary supposed to compete with that?

But as we so often say here on this forum when we see inaccurate portrayals of Scottish history (like the unfortunate Braveheart movie, Rob Roy, etc.), at least it's a "teachable moment". It gets people curious and provides an opportunity to attempt to enlighten them on what actually happened, or what life was really like. Some people genuinely want to know. But others will continue to show up at Highland Games and Scottish festivals wearing blue face paint and carrying two-handed claymores.