If one didn't know the actual history one might mistake this film for the truth. And that's a shame, since a story as important as this deserves absolute truth. Worse is that the film presents itself as absolutely true, and more than a few reviews here accept that at face value.
FACT: Hayes had multiple friends in his platoon, was widely liked, was friendly and outspoken. He wasn't the shy, easily intimidated pushover surrounded by indifferent or even racist soldiers.
FACT: Hayes's drinking problem was sporadic, and not as devastating as shown. He was in fact a very LIGHT drinker, and thus a few drinks could get him drunk far easier a severe alcoholic could. Ironically this film's stance against racism is undercut by perpetuating a racist stereotype about Natives.
And just plain strange...the film shows the friendship between Hayes and the fictional Sorenson as a thinly veiled frustrated gay relationship. That's because the screenwriter was a closeted gay man back in the days when much of society wouldn't accept that. He projected his own struggles onto Hayes, which is really bad (and confusing) filmmaking.
Almost as strange...the bizarre choice of Curtis as Hayes, done up in heavy pancake makeup that makes him look almost like a drag queen at Halloween. Coupled with his "poor little me" impression of Hayes, it comes off as about as realistic as a boy scout dressed in plastic feathers giving a speech about "us poor Indians." Hayes deserved far better than this, and so does the audience. Thank God for Flags of Our Fathers finally giving the world a far more decent (and more accurate) picture.
FACT: Hayes had multiple friends in his platoon, was widely liked, was friendly and outspoken. He wasn't the shy, easily intimidated pushover surrounded by indifferent or even racist soldiers.
FACT: Hayes's drinking problem was sporadic, and not as devastating as shown. He was in fact a very LIGHT drinker, and thus a few drinks could get him drunk far easier a severe alcoholic could. Ironically this film's stance against racism is undercut by perpetuating a racist stereotype about Natives.
And just plain strange...the film shows the friendship between Hayes and the fictional Sorenson as a thinly veiled frustrated gay relationship. That's because the screenwriter was a closeted gay man back in the days when much of society wouldn't accept that. He projected his own struggles onto Hayes, which is really bad (and confusing) filmmaking.
Almost as strange...the bizarre choice of Curtis as Hayes, done up in heavy pancake makeup that makes him look almost like a drag queen at Halloween. Coupled with his "poor little me" impression of Hayes, it comes off as about as realistic as a boy scout dressed in plastic feathers giving a speech about "us poor Indians." Hayes deserved far better than this, and so does the audience. Thank God for Flags of Our Fathers finally giving the world a far more decent (and more accurate) picture.