Historical Analysis Of The Movie October Sky: An Adaptation Of The Memoir Of Homer Hickam

October Sky is a film that was released in 1999. The movie takes place in the 1950s in Coalwood, West Virginia. Around this decade the Space Race, a competition to launch the first spacecraft between the Soviet Union and the United States. The film is about a group of boys that have a chance of living their hometown which revolves around coal mining.

The movie is based off the book,'Rocket Boys', a memoir, by Homer Hickam Jr. A memoir is a historical biography about someone's own life. The film was originally going to named after the book, but the title didn't capture the attention of female viewers. Joe Johnston named the film October Sky due to the fact that in a scene the main characters watch the Sputnik arc through the October Sky. Homer Hickam is a American author, Vietnam veteran, and a former NASA engineer. He was greatly involved in the making of October Sky. Hickam approved the final version of the movie. He was aware that some events had to be revised in order to fit into a two hour movie. Both the book and movie send the message of following your dreams even when the world might be against you.

In the article, Real vs. Reel: Author Homer Hickam talks differences in 'Rocket Boys' and film 'October Sky' by Kelly Kazek, Homer Hickam says 'I was on set almost every day when it was filmed and also had a lot of input into the script…'. He also mentions that anything that he didn't approve of was cut from the final film and that he appreciates the work of the editors and director for respecting his wishes. Hickam helped the staff have a better idea of how events, objects and other aspects looked in the 1950s. He pointed out small details that weren't historically accurate.

One of the details in the film that weren't exactly accurate was Homer's father's name, which in reality is Homer not John. The director decided to change the father's name because it'll be confusing for the audience. Another aspect that was altered from reality to fit the film was how many of the boys were in Homer's little group. In real-life there was six boys but since some.of the boys had similar characteristics, they combined them and came out with 4. The last inaccuracy was that Homer never met Wernher von Braun, but he did attend the National Science Fair the same year Homer attended it. He had heard that Wernher von Braun was located in the same build as he was.

While Homer was looking for his idol, von Braun was actually viewing the boys victorious display. Another than those minor changes of reality, everything else in film was highly precise for the most part. There's a minor conflict in the film where the boys were accused and arrested for starting a forest fire with one of their test rockets but when the authorities were told that a rocket wouldn't be able to make that distance, they were quickly released. Homer didn't have to prove the innocence of his friends and himself. Another accurate event that happened was when Homer and his friends accidentally blow up his mother's fence and hit his father's work office. The boys then realized they had to locate to a more secluded spot for launching. One of the final facts that did happen was the illness or Homer's inspiring teacher, Frieda Reilly. Homer's teacher actually had hodgskin disease and died in 1969.

Consider the fact that only minor details were revised, I would give the film a five stars in historical value because it wasn't exactly being flashy with it's little changes. Most of the changes were due to the fact that it had to fit the proper requirements of a successful film. The changes were to appeal to the audience which is common in movies that are based off of history. Some of the inaccuracies were not entirely fake; they had some sort of truth to it. For example almost meeting von Braun at the National Science Fair, and when the boys were arrested for the forest fire. I believe the film was so accurate because Homer Hickam was on set fixing and putting in his thoughts, ideas, and opinions to make the film as valid as possible. It also helped that the director, Joe Johnston, honored Hickam and his perspective. If Hickam wasn't there, I'm sure a lot of events would've been extremely inaccurate. It was good teamwork in play between the author and director of October Sky.

The films I felt were really similar to October Sky were Rebel Without a Cause (1955), La Bamba (1987), and The Founder (2016). I felt that these four films were similar because they all had something that influenced to pursue their beliefs or emotional needs. For example, I'm October Sky, Homer's belief was to be somebody greater than a typical coal miner. He wanted to break the revolving chain of what was expectes of him. It goes the same for the film Rebel Without a Cause. These teens were struggling to find their place in society. They were all missing something in their lives that drives them to be rebellious teens. They were looking for something to fill their emotional needs. In the Founder, it seemed as if Ray Kroc, wanted to be more successful with his life, which led him into investing into McDonald's.

Although in his case, the movie shows that money was his really passion at the end. As for La Bamba, Richie Valens' passion was music. He grew up in a Mexican American household and by the time he was 16 years old he already became the first Hispanic rock star. In these movies, all the characters had something that drove them to either their success or what they believed in.