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Debunking the Myths of the HBO Chernobyl series (2023)

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Re: Debunking the Myths of the HBO Chernobyl series (2023)

#11

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

It was a good show. I've re-watched it a couple of times. The actors are excellent, and it's well-done.

I take it for granted that a lot of it was amped up for drama, but other sources (several documentaries) seem to agree on a lot of the actions and timelines. The show added motivations, and some fictional characters.

I also enjoyed Dopesick, and that's a subject that I have direct experience and knowledge of. I have pretty much the same issues with that show.

But I still enjoyed both of them as dramas.

If I want facts, I'll do my own research.

Re: Debunking the Myths of the HBO Chernobyl series (2023)

#13

Post by catapart »

> It’s like we’ve chosen to ignore the truth in favor of a good story or a good feeling.

Aww, man. I've got some bad news for you about literally any fact you know that isn't derived from math. And even that is still, philosophically, just some stories we're telling ourselves about the observations we're all seeing.

Re: Debunking the Myths of the HBO Chernobyl series (2023)

#14

Post by senderista »

ggm wrote: post #3

This kind of "for the drama" variance is very common. Look at archaeologists reaction to Coogans film about Richard III which went to court. Films, even documentary, don't always get it right and often don't even try because "based on" admits a lot of change. People often don't understand history. "The KGB regiments shot deserters in ww2 Stalingrad" since the KGB was formed in 1954, that's a serious mis-statement of…

Confusing the KGB with the NKVD (different names used at different times for essentially the same organization) is a totally inconsequential mistake and it is disingenuous to pretend it has any significance.

Re: Debunking the Myths of the HBO Chernobyl series (2023)

#15

Post by sqrt_1 »

It really annoys me when fiction is based on real events, takes a lot of liberty with the source material that it enters into the public consciousness.

The classic case is the "The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus" where it was claimed he was aiming to prove the Earth was not flat. My personal peeve is movies like "The Imitation Game".

Re: Debunking the Myths of the HBO Chernobyl series (2023)

#16

Post by osm3000 »

mvkel wrote: post #5

> Legasov commended the swiftness and efficiency of the government response at all levels Sure, but in those times, he would be compelled to say such things. That doesn't mean he believed it. It seems the main faults that OP finds in the show are that Legasov had issues with his government, when in "reality" he thought they were great. But is that "reality," or oppression? I also don't see the fault in highlighting h…

> It seems the main faults that OP finds in the show are that Legasov had issues with his government, when in "reality" he thought they were great. But is that "reality," or oppression?

The tapes were framed in the HBO as an honest message of a dying man to the world to expose the lies that happened. Well, after Going through the tapes, I couldn't find any indication of that...only the opposite.

Now I concede that I don't really know what actually happened, and one can't put a price on the intensity of the situation for everyone at that time.

My point is simple: HBO series said Legasov's position was something that wasn't true

Re: Debunking the Myths of the HBO Chernobyl series (2023)

#18

Post by Papazsazsa »

There is a podcast [1] featuring the showrunner Craig Mazin who is also a very conscientious and prolific podcaster [2] who cares deeply about balancing fact with a compelling narrative.

This is the basic difference between "based on" and documentary. Having worked as a screenwriter myself I can assure you that even if the script had been 100% factual, things would have been changed beyond the creators' control anyway.

1 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-chernobyl-podcast/...

2 https://scriptnotes.net/

Re: Debunking the Myths of the HBO Chernobyl series (2023)

#19

Post by glenstein »

hkpack wrote: post #6

I think we need to also debunk the debunking. You know, some of us were already living then and it is not some distant event we have no knowledge of. For example: > Re: The soviet government did not want to evacuate the town of Pripyat > Debunking: Legasov indicated the opposite. He said that the decision to evacuate was made quickly, even though the levels of radiation in the town were not considered to be dangerous…

I think too often these historical "debunking" exercises are really just exercises in overzealously uncharitable interpretation. Some of the distinctions drawn are asinine especially in the context of a dramatic presentation. And some are even importantly wrong, as you've now pointed out which I wouldn't have thought of on a skim-by reading.

Just like we have functional literacy and information literacy, there should be such a thing as Debunking Literacy. Are you actually debunking or just uncharitably interpreting?

Re: Debunking the Myths of the HBO Chernobyl series (2023)

#20

Post by chemotaxis »

This is a really weird post. The thrust appears to be a contrarian desire to portray the Soviet government as capable and competent, and I wonder if it's the author's naivete or some sort of an agenda. The post latches on small discrepancies, but somehow ignores the entire impetus of Legasov's tapes. He sure didn't record them to praise the government:

"And when I visited the Chernobyl station after the accident and saw what was happening there, I myself drew a precise and unequivocal conclusion, that the Chernobyl disaster is an apotheosis, the pinnacle of all the mismanagement that has been carried out for decades in our country."

The show is obviously a "based on a true story" dramatization that invented personas, added tension where little existed, and so forth. But the overall thesis checks out: it was a massive failure of governance before the disaster and during it, including the well-documented fact that the Soviets were initially withholding information from the rest of the world and turning down aid.

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