Invictus: Hollywood Vs. History

There are many movies based on historical events but how many of them are actually accurate? In the movie Invictus it is a movie based on a historical event and person, Nelson Mandela. In this paper I will be researching Nelson Mandela and the events that happened and I will tell if this is Hollywood or History. From the little research that I’ve doing I think this movie is more history than Hollywood.
Nelson Mandela was a leading activist in the fight against apartheid. Mandela fought for 40 years and 27 of it in jail. He was elected for the first black president for there country shortly after apartheid. “Mandela has been an inspirational figure to people around the world-especially to proponents of racial justice and equality.” (Morningside). Apartheid was a political and social system in South Africa. Apartheid was more strict and systematic then racial segregation. The white people were treated more superior as in other races were mistreated. Apartheid ended in the early 1990s and in 1994 was when democratic government formed. “Mandela was such a powerful leader during apartheid that the white minority government considered him a threat to the state, even from prison.” (Nelson
Mandela). The authorities banned Mandela writings and refused to show the media Mandela’s images. Mandela ended up getting life in prison and he still maintained his dignity and sense of humor. When Mandela was president he proposed that if the whites would back up the democratic elections, the next rugby cup would be held in South Africa. Mandela won and the World Rugby Cup was held in South Africa. The black people hated the Springboks because they were seen as the “Whites Team”. There were 14 white people and 1 black person. Mandela wanted to use to Springboks team to bring the country. “Mandela put on the Springboks hat at a rally in Soweto, endorsed the Springboks, and used the black South Africans to support them too.” (Rugby). Mandela knew that it would take time for the blacks to accept the Springboks but he understood the impact of sports and everyone rooting for there national team would bring their country together. During the World Cup Francois used the crowd and them singing the national anthem to inspire his team. After that the blacks started to play rugby instead of soccer.
In order to compare the movie to real history, you need to know what the movie is about. The name of the movie is Invictus and the director was Clint Eastwood. The production company of Invictus was Warner Bros. December 11, 2009 was when the movie was released. The main actors in Invictus are Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. (Invictus). Mandela is the first black president of South America. When Mandela attends a rugby game of the Springboks he notices the blacks are cheering against their home team the Springboks. Mandela met up with the captain Francois and gives him a poem that inspired him when he was in prison. The Springbok team makes it to the finals and their playing the all BLACKS. During the finals Mandela goes down onto the field and wishes everyone goodluck. The Springbok learned the National Anthem and sang it. Both the teams stay close with the score and end up going overtime. When they were in overtime New Zealand's scored first. Francois used the crowd to pick up and inspire his team. After the Springboks won the world cup it showed the black and white holding up the trophy. In the end it showed the blacks playing rugby instead of playing soccer. In the film Invictus there were some things that accurately portray the true historical events, time, period, and people. When I was doing research on what was true about the film and I came across a couple of things. June 17, 1994 it is true that Mandela did have a meeting with the captain Francois for tea at the Union building. (The Guardian). The meeting that they had was about Mandela was trying to inspire Francois to win the World Cup and Mandela was asking Francois how he was gonna make that happen and how he’s gonna inspire his team to let it happen. Another true historical event was during the World Cup Mandela walked out onto the pitch in a green Springboks jersey with Francois number on the back of it. ( The Guardian). Mostly the white Afrikaner was won over and cheered “ Nelson! Nelson! Nelson! “ Nelson went down there and shook everyone’s hand while the crowd cheered.
Though there are true historical events that are true, there are also some that are false.
In the movie Invictus it shows Mandela giving a poem to Francois that “ helped sustain him during his long years in jail on Robben Island”. (The Australian). That was false. It is true though that, that poem did provide solace to Nelson on the Island. Mandela did not give Francois the poem. He gave Francois “ Theodore Roosevelt’s The Man in the Arena.” Another false fact is close to the end before a rugby game a plane flys over the stadium. In the movie it says that the guards didn’t actually know the plane was gonna actually fly over but in real life the guards actually did know. The plane flew over the stadium that had a sign that said “ Good luck Bokke”. (South
African).
This movie was far beyond good. It showed me a lot and it made me open my eyes about life and how people were treated back then and not only in America. I loved how passionate Mandela was about bringing his country together with just a sport. Mandela has definitely accomplished a lot in his life when most of it was in jail. With all the research that I’ve been doing and what I’ve been reading about I’m still gonna say that this movie is more History than Hollywood.