AMADEUS for RockDoc Night

My friends have recently been holding a small gathering once in a while which they call "rockdoc night": a night in which we take turns picking a rock n' roll documentary to watch.  The inaugural night of rockdoc however had nothing to do with rock and roll.  The 1984 academy award-winning film Amadeus, which I hadn't seen since I was eight years old, is really well done! The way the music is incorporated in the movie fits perfectly and creates the dramatic tone that is maintained through out the film. The story line is captivating and although it is over 2 and a half hours long, the audience isn't allowed a moment to lose interest. Although the historical validity is somewhat questionable, the plot was entertaining and the music was great. While watching it I did start to wonder how it is that a type of movie like this impacts the general public. Most people don't know much about Mozart and this hollywood movie while historically inaccurate does expose the public to some knowledge about the composer. Is it better to have a slightly misinformed audience or a completely ignorant one? I'm not sure...

I guess it's hard to gauge the validity of most of the information we are exposed to in the first place. While it is constructive to approach sources critically, we are still susceptible to all sorts of intellectual typos and we are also impressionable creatures who retain information we are exposed to. That's why it is the responsibility of the people in charge of putting out the information to educate consciously. I'm not sure if the producers of Amadeus were aware of their moral obligation but it is still one of my favorite movies.