1492: Conquest of Misconception

By Jaime Miller

[1] Christopher Columbus is considered to be the patriarchal hero of America. He is thought this for one reason: Columbus "found" America. He found it, he named it, and we are all here because of him. In the eyes of America, he is a legend. He is a myth whose fiction diverges from the facts. Five hundred years after his discovery, we pay "homage" to him in a film based on his voyage. In 1492: Conquest of Paradise the audience supposedly sees an accurate portrayal of Columbus. But in a story filled with misconceptions, the movie version makes no distinction between fact and myth.

[2] From the moment the film begins, there is automatically a misconception. In the prologue, even before the introduction of the characters, the audience is prompted to see Columbus as hero, an icon, a man to be remembered for many generations. The prologue describes a ruthless Spanish Inquisition "that persecuted men for daring to dream. One man challenged this power." Yes, Columbus did challenge the power. But it is very unlikely that he was the sole man who challenged Spanish authority. No doubt there were other men, not as famous, who never received the recognition Columbus did. This heroification of Columbus is a complete construction on the part of writer Roselyne Bosch and Director Ridley Scott.

[3] Columbus's first biographer is his youngest son, Fernando, notorious for portraying his father in high regard. The prologue ends (0:03:05) with the voice of this Fernando reminiscing about the words of his father: "Nothing that results from human progress is achieved with unanimous consent. And those who are enlightened before the others are condemned to pursue that light in spite of others." There is no record that Columbus actually said these words, nor others in the scene; they are a complete recreation by Bosch to establish Columbus as the mythic visionary explorer.

[4] This opening scene is meant to depict Columbus as the good father, the teaching father. While he may have been these things, this opening scene is primarily aimed at us, the audience. We are to look at Columbus through Fernando's eyes and react like him. In close-up we see Columbus the tender channel of new knowledge; in close-up we see honor in Fernando's eyes. With a twinkle in his eye, Columbus -- patriarchal hero -- gently guides his biological child and his cultural children to view the "new dawn" so effectively lit in the scene.

[5] But the scene is plainly ineffective. Director Scott uses an orange to help Columbus demonstrate the world as round. Perhaps this strategy would have worked better had Fernando not looked as if he were ten or eleven. In fact, ignorance about the shape of the world is another misconception. Fernando is not supposed to know that the world is round, but in Spain at the time of Columbus, it was already known that the world is round. Thus, had Fernando attended school, he would have learned this lesson already, and to begin the film in this way is to insult the contemporary audience.

[6] And thus this movie about Columbus on the 500th anniversary of his feat begins -- filled with misconceptions and misquotes.