You Call This Sam Adams?

I'm a history purist.  Or snob.  Take your pick.  I love my history anyway I can get it, and I don't mind historical fiction at all.  I love it in fact.  But when you are THE HISTORY CHANNEL, and you are producing a program called "The Sons of Liberty" based on well-documented real-life people about actual events that happened in our country which caused our country to become a united nation, then freaking get it right!  These are not fictional characters.  These are not made up events.  I get the idea that you have to condense/combine/omit things, but for goodness sake, at least get the main people right!

Don't get me wrong.  I am enjoying "The Sons of Liberty" as a piece of historical fiction because I know the real truth.  What bothers me is that many people who watch this will think this is how things really happened because it was on THE HISTORY CHANNEL.  I think when you bill yourself as that, you have a responsibility to get it right on shows that are about real people and real events.

For example, Samuel Adams.  I will freely admit that Sam on SOL is very easy on the eyes and his badass ways make the show really exciting to watch.  He is smoking hot, HOWEVER, in real life, Sam may have been a badass, but he was born in 1722, making him in his 50s during the Revolutionary War period.

Here is a picture of Sam Adams from SOL.  Does this guy look 50 to you?

This is a portrait of the REAL Samuel Adams, painted in 1772, when he was 50.  Do you see any resemblance between the two?  No, me neither.

I'm watching the show the other night as Sam is chased through the streets of Boston, and it looks like Kyle is playing Assassin's Creed 3, with all of the jumping from rooftop to rooftop.  The chase was fun to watch, but real? No way.  The actual Sam would have thrown his back out doing something like that!

Then there is the way that THE HISTORY CHANNEL plays up all of the stereotypes and mythology surrounding the American Revolution.  The homeless, alcoholic Sam Adams...The clandestine love affair between Dr. Warren and Margaret Gage...The brutality of the British soldiers...George Washington showing up in his uniform to the 1st Continental Congress (it was the 2nd)...Paul Revere's midnight ride shouting, "The British are coming!" No, he didn't get into a fight with British soldiers BEFORE getting to Lexington.  He was actually arrested AFTER warning the citizens the Regulars were on their way.

And there is so much more!

I realized after the first night that THE HISTORY CHANNEL'S promo, "To learn the real story behind the Revolution, go to thehistorychannel.com," was a clue that this was not exactly a factual show, and that just really irritated me.  Americans know precious little enough about the men and women who risked it all to make this country.  You are THE HISTORY CHANNEL.  Please don't add to their ignorance.