First Man - Flag Controversy Is Overlooking A Key Fact

In article ,
says...

Huge media attention has been given to the Neil Armstrong biopic First Man in not showing the planting of the USA flag. I understand the reasons offered behind this decision. If I was the one querying the director or Ryan Gosling, I would say...

Imagine doing a movie on the life of Edmund Hillary, and then during the scene of reaching the summit of Everest, not showing him raising the British flag.
To quote Vizzini, inconceivable.

Or doing a movie about Iwo Jima, and not showing the raising of the flag.
Boggles the mind.

Now here is what no one is focusing on, given all the buzz:
Skipping that scene is not the only missed 'flag opportunity' that Damien Chazelle passed on. He could have included in his movie what happened to the flag as Apollo 11 blasted off of the lunar surface.

As far as I am aware, there has never been a presentation of the US flag being blown over by the Ascent Stage blast. THAT would have made for a dramatic scene that would have been worthy of intense post-premiere debate.

Back in 1998, Tom Hanks skipped this historical event entirely. His episode dedicated to that mission ended with the flag raising. And other parts of that depiction of the EVA were cringeworthy. In particular, Buzz coming down the ladder. The E2M series on the whole held a high bar, so why they showed that scene in the way they did is curious. I'd be interested to hear Tom Hanks or Ron Howard comment on that. And whether they gave any consideration to showing the
flag blowing over.

My guess is that that's a scene that no one has considered putting into any Apollo 11 movie depiction. Not a production made in the USA, at least.

~ CT

My $0.02.

This is a Neil Armstrong biopic (sp?). The flag is there in the scenes
on the lunar surface. They only omitted the planting of the flag, which
was not considered to be a big thing. They're emphasizing the whole wee
came in peace for all mankind (the actual quote is on a plaque right
there on the moon left there by Apollo 11).

Homer Hickam wrote a good article about this issue. And if you don't
know who Homer Hickam is, look him up and read some of his books (hint:
one of them is famous and was made into a Hollywood movie).

The new Neil Armstrong movie is about more than the lunar flag-planting
By Homer Hickam, September 5
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...anting-was-no-
big-deal-leaving-it-out-of-the-movie-is-no-big-deal-
too/2018/09/05/84096812-b13e-11e8-aed9-001309990777_story.html

Homer Hickam not only lived through that era (later working for USAAMC
and NASA), but he also has experience with Hollywood translating his own
work into a movie. So, I would consider him an authority in this area.

Jeff
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