Fact VS. Fiction

The movie Pearl Harbor has sent a collective shiver down the backs of historical purists. “This wasn’t The History (TV) Channel,” says star Ben Affleck in Pearl’s defense. “There’s a lot of interesting stuff that, if the movie turns you on to it, you can follow up on.” Adds director Michael Bay: “It’s about getting the essence of what it felt like.” For those who want to separate fact from fiction we consulted a few experts.

REEL STORY Not only is Affleck’s Rafe a nimble aviator, but he’s skilled in the ancient art of origami as well.
REALITY CHECK The art of folded-paper sculpture was discovered by U.S. occupation troops in Japan after the war. “Prior to the war, Americans didn’t really understand Japanese culture,” says Jack A. Green, a curator at the Naval Historical Center. “And chances are Rafe would not be interested in origami. He’s a fighter pilot; they’re macho guys.”

REEL STORY Only two U.S. airmen shot down Japanese planes during the attack.
REALITY CHECK While several flyers got aloft, Lieutenants Kenneth Taylor and George Welch (loose models for Affleck’s and Josh Hartnett’s characters) were among the few credited with hits. They felled a total of six Japanese planes. “But (in the film) it looks like 20,” grouses At Dawn We Slept co-author Donald Goldstein. “And then they go give blood!”

REEL STORY As the Japanese planes flew in, boys were playing baseball (after presumably eating apple pie).
REALITY CHECK The bombing began at 7:55 on a Sunday morning. “No way you’re going to play a Little League game at 8 o’clock in the damn morning,” Goldstein says. “That’s just stupid.” Fair enough.

REEL STORY FDR stands up!
REALITY CHECK President Franklin Roosevelt (Jon Voight), who was wheelchair-bound from polio, worked overtime to draw attention away from his disability. There’s no record of his standing in a Cabinet meeting sans crutches, bellowing “Don’t tell me what can’t be done!” Says Goldstein: “That scene was impossible.”

REEL STORY Lieut. Colonel Jimmy Doolittle’s attack on Tokyo changed the course of the war.
REALITY CHECK The Battle of Midway, June 3-6, 1942, is actually considered the turning point of World War II, but Doolittle’s 30 seconds over Tokyoon April 18, 1942was a rallying point for Americans. Of course, Affleck’s and Hartnett’s airmen wouldn’t have been involvedno Pearl pilot was. Speaking of Doolittle, Alec Baldwin’s character underwent a metamorphosis, thanks to prodding from Baldwin and Green. “In the original script, he was a boorish, oafish guy,” Green says. “The real Jimmy Doolittle was … soft-spoken, had a Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering. I mean, they had him so he didn’t know what a slide rule was.”

REEL STORY After gunning down a plane, Dorie Miller won the Navy Cross.
REALITY CHECK Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character was one of the first African Americans decorated with the Navy Cross. The mess attendant manned one of the USS West Virginia’s machine guns during the attack though never trained in their use. Unlike the film, the Navy doesn’t credit Miller with bringing down an enemy aircraft. “Whether he shot down a plane is irrelevant,” says Daniel Martinez, park historian at Hawaii’s USS Arizona Memorial and a Pearl script consultant, noting Miller’s heroism in risking his life to help fellow sailors.

REEL STORY Many ’40s pilots sported Hartnett’s sassy soccer-dude bangs.
REALITY CHECK Not even a close shave. “He probably should have a crew cut, some butch haircut like Tom Cruise,” says Goldstein. “He kept pushing it back like a lady does sometimesit gets in your way.” Hey, just like the truth!

From Entertainment Weekly