City | 9:04 am | February 20, 2013 | By Emma Goldberg

Oscars drama over ‘Lincoln’ comes to Connecticut

Connecticut U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney has accused the film "Lincoln" of inaccurately portraying Connecticut's involvement in the passage of the 13th Amendment.
Connecticut U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney has accused the film "Lincoln" of inaccurately portraying Connecticut's involvement in the passage of the 13th Amendment. Photo by YouTube.

Oscars season is always exciting for Hollywood — but this year, the drama is coming home to Connecticut.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney has accused the Oscar-nominated film “Lincoln” of historical inaccuracy in its depiction of Connecticut’s role in the passage of the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude. According to Courtney, the film indicates that Connecticut representatives voted against the 13th Amendment, when in fact, they were in favor of the legislation.

“How could congressmen from Connecticut – a state that supported President Lincoln and lost thousands of her sons fighting against slavery on the Union side of the Civil War – have been on the wrong side of history?” Courtney wrote in his letter to Steven Spielberg, the director of “Lincoln.”

Courtney has asked that the particular scene in “Lincoln” be refilmed or dubbed before the movie is released on DVD. But Tony Kushner, the screenwriter for “Lincoln,” called Courtney’s complaint ridiculous, telling New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd that Courtney should not receive acclaim for criticizing a 15-second clip in a film that Kushner worked on for seven years.

Comments