Though it’s not really set in the 1990s per se, the 2007 adaptation Rent was one of the premiere musicals that shows what the 1990s was really like for people living in the Alphabet City in NYC, particularly struggling artists and hipsters.Nevertheless, it’s a remake of Puccini’s La Boheme with music that is most definitely from the 1990s and nobody is sporting big hair that’s more or less remembered from the 1980s.

As far as my cinematic historical chronology goes, the 1990s is a good place to stop since much of the history in the 2000s and later is more or less viewed as current events in my mind. Still, though I was around during this decade (born January 13th, 1990), I probably don’t have as much insight in the decade since I would be only 9 years old when it ends. Still, I do remember the advancement in computers with the early 1990s being the kind of 1980s type models operating with floppy disks, block lettering, and dark and blue screens to the viable Windows and Macs. It was also a time in which the World Wide Web was in its infancy though I wouldn’t have access to that until the 2000s. Nor would I have access to smaller cell phones, video games, or cable TV either despite having to play Spongebob in a play during my middle school years. Still, let’s say this period is marked by the end of the Cold War, the O. J. Simpson Trial, the Clinton scandals that would end up with his unnecessary impeachment, the break up of Yugoslavia, and the Y2K scare. Nevertheless, since this time is relatively recent, many people won’t consider it history but a lot of movies would be made.

1990s America was a good time in America as far as my childhood is concerned, well, okay since it was a stable and peaceful time compared to what was to come. Sure there was Desert Storm, Dan Quayle, and thousands of Americans having their childhood hero get away with killing his ex-wife (The People’s Almanac had O. J. Simpson as the #1 role model for teens in the 1970s, let that sink in). Still, this was the time of the internet boom and the economic boom under President Clinton. It was also a time of the Disney Renaissance from The Little Mermaid to Tarzan with movies that would be remembered as Disney classics (that I do remember, especially since I watched The Lion King in theaters when I was 4 years old). But this was a renaissance of animation with some great cartoons that have never been made since. Nevertheless, it was a time when hip-hop and rap really came of age which caused a moral panic while Seattle became the grunge capital of the world. Oh, and Kurt Cobain would cause a major splash in Nirvanna during the 1990s before dying of an overdose. Of course, there are quite a few films made at this time but many do contain their share of inaccuracies which I shall list.

Bill Clinton:

Bill Clinton won the 1992 Democratic primary against a candidate of almost unbeatable perfection whose own past included snorting cocaine and experimenting in homosexuality. (Contrary to his expy in Primary Colors, Clinton didn’t have much competition in the 1992 primary. Also, Joe Klein’s book Primary Colors shouldn’t be used as a source material if you want to know anything about the 1992 Clinton campaign since there’s a documentary on it.)

Erin Brockovich:

During the Hinkley case, Erin Brockovich hooked up with a hunky biker named George who was the next door neighbor watching her kids. (Contrary to Erin Brockovich, the man’s name was Jorge Halaby but the relationship didn’t last but don’t be upset because Jorge turned out to be a real asshole. Still, after the film was released, he along with her ex-husband Shawn Brown, and an attorney contacted her and attorney Ed Masry and blackmailed them into paying them $310,000 or else they would tell the media that they {she and Ed} had an affair and that she was an unfit mother, which were false. The three would be arrested for extortion, and though Halaby and Brown were later released, the attorney was jailed as of 2001.)

Erin Brockovich was the former Miss Wichita. (Despite being from Kansas, she was Miss Pacific Coast.)

Erin Brockovich used her cleavage to obtain documents. (While Julia Roberts does this in Erin Brockovich, we’re not so sure, though it probably helped.)

While working on a property case for Ed Masry, Erin Brockovich found that the groundwater in Hinkley might’ve been contaminated by hexavalent chromium which was connected to the horrible diseases suffered by the town’s residents. (Contrary to Erin Brockovich, this has been contested by some scientists who said that cancer rates in the town have never been higher than other remote desert communities in California. Yet, many state and federal agencies including the EPA, no less have found credible links between hexavalent chromium and higher rates of cancer {if inhaled long term at least, but consumption wouldn’t be eliminated altogether}. Perhaps this could be a case of both sides being right, I don’t know. Still, whatever the case, it was probably the right thing to sue Pacific Gas and Electric Company whose workers carelessly dumped the substance and let it seep into the groundwater used by Hinkley’s residents even if she wasn’t exactly right. Yet, we’re not sure how much hexavalent chromium was in Hinkley’s drinking water since Ed Masry’s numbers don’t match with the local water authority’s and other sources.)

Thanks to Erin Brockovich and Ed Masry’s efforts the plaintiffs in the Hinkley case against Pacific Gas and Electric with a $333 million settlement that went to the town’s 648 residents with Brockovich herself receiving a $2 million bonus check. (Though Erin Brockovich implies this and Brockovich did receive $2 million from the case, a good chunk of the money like $133 million went to the lawyers, which was over 40% including $10 million on expenses. Also, Hinkley’s residents didn’t get much of what was left until 6 months after the case with each town person getting $300,000 on average, which was less than expected but the distribution wasn’t equal. Some received several million while others got less. It was said that the distribution of money was based on medical records but Hinkley’s residents noticed that there was no rationale behind how much money each individual received. Some would appeal their settlements seeking more justifiable sums.)

Christopher McCandless:

Christopher McCandless resented his parents for some reason. (Contrary to Into the Wild, in the Jon Krakauer book, McCandless’ reason why he resented his parents was because they weren’t legally married. Rather his dad was already married to another woman and had a family with her, which his mother kept secret from him and pretended nothing was wrong for the sake of their reputation.)

Christopher McCandless worked at Burger King. (According to Jon Krakauer, he worked at McDonalds.)

Sports:

Mickey Ward and Dickie Eklund appeared in court together before Dickie went to jail for over multiple serious charges. (Contrary to The Fighter, Micky was arrested for interfering with Dickie’s arrest who committed a relatively minor offense.)

Micky Ward:

Micky Ward met his girlfriend Charlene Fleming in a bar in 1988 just before his fight with Mike Mungin. (Contrary to The Fighter, they actually met around the Neary fight in 2000 {which his mother didn’t attend} through his dad’s acquaintance. Thus, Amy Adams’ character probably shouldn’t be in the film at all. Also, at the time, he was still with his daughter’s mother who’d later leave him for a guy 30 years older. This led Micky to quit his job as a prison guard and take up boxing again. Still, his sisters weren’t happy with The Fighter who said they were portrayed as unattractive and angry drunks and Dickie Eklund actually got into Christian Bale’s truck and cursed him over it. Yet, he was pleased at Bale’s portrayal of him so I think Dickie complained to the wrong guy.)

Micky Ward was knocked down in a fight with Shea Neary. (He never was. Also, contrary to The Fighter, Neary was from Liverpool not Ireland.)

Micky Ward trained for his comeback without interference from his family alone. (Yes, but contrary to The Fighter, the decision to do so wasn’t as difficult because his brother Dickie was in jail and his dad was on his way to prison for defrauding two elderly women, including one with Alzheimer’s out of more than $90,000 which was her life savings. He said he just came back to boxing because he wanted to. Yet, even though his hand still nagged him as in the film, he had been bed ridden for 4 months after an embarrassing and serious work related injury he suffered while paving roads. He jumped off a roller and landed on a metal pole that ripped a one inch gash in his rear end and traveled four inches to his rectum. This required emergency reconstructive surgery of his bowels yet, good luck with finding Mark Wahlberg complaining about that in the movie.)

Dickie Eklund:

Dickie Eklund was arrested by cops while he was carrying on a prostitution scheme. (Contrary to The Fighter, this didn’t happen though he has been arrested after a man he had robbed went to the police. Dickie went to his sister’s house and hid in the closet to avoid police. She gave him up. Also, by 1995, he’s been arrested 27 times. Yet, he didn’t stay clean once he got out of prison and had been arrested in 2006 for cocaine possession.)

Music:

Ike Turner was still serving prison time in 1993. (He was released in 1991.)

John Denver died in 1996. (His plane crashed in 1997. Yes, he left the world on the jet plane but we’re sure he won’t be back again.)

Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg were famous West Coast rappers in 1991. (Snoop Dogg wasn’t famous yet, while Dr. Dre was still part of the N. W. A. and had yet to release his first solo album.)

Sean Combs and Biggie Smalls were responsible for the 1994 Quad Studios shooting in New York where Tupac Shakur was shot five times. (Contrary to the 2009 Notorious, Combs denies this but Skakur believed that they knew about it before it happened. Still, him and Biggie were said to be friends before the shooting happened which led to their feud.)

The Notorious B. I. G. (a. k. a. Biggie Smalls or Christopher Wallace):

Biggie Smalls’ mom mistook her son’s drug stash as old mashed potatoes. (Contrary to the Notorious biopic, Violetta Wallace learned of her son’s drug dealing when her son was arrested in 1990 for possessing an unregistered loaded gun. Of course, she refused to believe it was possible at first but eventually confronted him in which he admitted that the accusations were true. Still, she also learned about some of the bad things he did after he became a star. Still, it’s funny that his real name was Christopher Wallace and that he did tell off his math teacher who said he’d never make it to no more than a garbage man by saying that he’d make more money as a garbage collector than his teacher {and his mother was also a teacher by the way despite calling him “Chrissy-Pooh” and did name him after Christopher Robin}.)

Biggie Smalls’ mother kicked him out of the house when he was 17. (Except, unlike in Notorious, she only kicked him out for two weeks after she discovered he was dealing drugs and took a life insurance policy on him. Of course, it would pay off seven years later.)

Biggie Smalls’ daughter was born in 1990 when he was released from jail. (Contrary to the 2009 Notorious, she was born in 1993 about nine months after he was locked up. But, yes, he had a daughter before he was famous.)

Biggie Smalls met Sean Combs after a friend submitted a tape he recorded. (Well, contrary to the 2009 Notorious, the story is more complicated than shown in the movie. Yet, the friend submitted the tape to a DJ for a rapper known as Big Daddy Kane who Biggie was an admirer of who passed on to an editor named Matty of The Source magazine where Biggie was listed among March 1992 “Unsigned Hype” column. Matty then passed the tape to Sean Combs at Uptown Records after he told him he was looking for some hardcore rappers. Still, Combs was a record producer at the label where he had started from intern to vice-president after dropping out of college following his promotion. He would earn “Puffy” as part of his collection of nicknames for his impatient and unruly behavior in 1993 which caused Uptown Entertainment’s CEO to fire him. He would later form Bad Boy Records taking Biggie and Craig Mack with him.)

Biggie Smalls’ car accident in 1996 impaired his health. (Well, yes, he did have to use a cane after that since the rod in his leg made him unable to walk during his two months in therapy but he weighed over 300 pounds so you do the math. Still, what Notorious fails to mention was that the car accident was a blessing in other respects since Biggie had health problems before the accident that could’ve been fatal if left untreated due to him having asthma and smoking a lot of pot. Thus, while Biggie’s 1996 car accident temporarily crippled him, it might’ve saved his life.)

Biggie Smalls mother had breast cancer. (Yes, but she beat it twice.)

Nobody is sure who killed Biggie Smalls. (Yes, this is true. Yet, contrary to the 2009 Notorious, Biggie’s killer was described as a black man wearing a suit and bow tie kind of like Brother Mouzone from The Wire. Also, he’s said to have driven a dark Chevy Impala.)

Biggie Smalls was supposed to be in Los Angeles at the time of his death. (Contrary to what the 2009 Notorious implies, according to Sean Combs, “That morning I got a call from Biggie. … He was supposed to go to London. He called me and said, ‘I’m not going to London.'” Biggie instead decided to go to LA with Combs to the Vibe party to celebrate finishing his second album Life After Death. Combs would confess, “The call just plays over and over in my head. I’m like, ‘What if he would have just got on the plane?'”)

Sean Combs (a. k. a. Puffy, Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, etc.):

Sean Combs gave Biggie Smalls a $60,000 advance for signing with Bad Boy Records. (According to Biggie’s mom Violetta Wallace, she writes in her book about her son, “The truth is, Christopher accepted the illusion of a friend and mentor for about $25,000. That’s the amount Puffy lured my son with… It was enough money to make my son believe that Puffy was ready to do anything for him.” Still, Combs really did care about him since he said the 2009 Notorious, “Going to watch the movie is one of the hardest things that I’ve ever done. It opened up so many wounds for me.”)

Tupac Shakur (a. k. a. 2Pac):

Tupac Shakur was shot in the head during the 1994 Quad Cities assault. (Yes and twice, he was but the 2009 Notorious ignores that he was also shot twice in the groin as well as the hand and thigh {though some sources said that he accidentally shot himself. He was also robbed of his jewelry. Then again, he was in New York to for a trial for sexual assault in which he was bailed out by Death Row Records who he signed on a 3 year contract and went to the Quad Studios to do a rap song that night.)

Tupac Shakur hooked up with Biggie Smalls’ wife Faith Evans. (While it’s implied in the 2009 Notorious, Tupac and Faith {a songwriter in her own right} were probably no more than acquaintances or professional colleagues. Though a magazine photo with Faith and Tupac made Biggie pissed off, Faith denies whether the two them hooked up. However, while rumors did exist, Tupac milked it for all it’s worth and accused Biggie of plagiarism in the process. Yet, whether Tupac really hooked up with Biggie’s wife or was just saying it to piss him off can’t be confirmed.)

Miscellaneous:

The Trump World Tower existed in the 1990s. (Construction didn’t begin until 1999 yet its appearance in the 2009 Notorious can be forgiven.)

Gary Locke had a thick Chinese accent. (His portrayal in Battle in Seattle is offensive since he speaks English like a native since he’s a 3rd generation Asian American.)

The 21 Blackjack team consisted of white MIT students. (Contrary to 21, the team was almost completely Asian, including the main character and the guy played by Kevin Spacey. Also, they came from other schools like Princeton and Harvard. Also, none of the students got beaten up by Vegas casino security, used strippers to cash out their chips, or even drink, visit strip clubs, or play slots.)

The Stratosphere Tower was in Las Vegas in the 1990s. (It wasn’t completed until 1996.)

The Union Bank of California was around in 1992. (It was formed in 1996.)

The Energy Consol Center was in Pittsburg during the early 1990s. (Why is this in The Perks of Being a Wallflower? It wasn’t built until 2008.)

The Marlboro Man died of cancer. (Contrary to Thank You for Smoking, there has been more than one Marlboro man but the first Marlboro man who appeared in the 1960s commercials died of AIDS in 1996 {and yes, he was openly gay who owned a bar}. Two of the verified guys who appeared as the Marlboro Man are said to be still alive. Still, there have been four guys who claimed to be the Marlboro Man who have died of smoking related illnesses like cancer with two of them being anti-smoking activists. There may even be a fifth.)

Though I have criticized Oliver Stone on JFK, I have to admit that his 1987 Wall Street does ring true of the climate of the 1980s. Starring Michael Douglas, Daryl Hannah along with Charlie and Martin Sheen, this film sort of defines the atmosphere of corporate greed screwing hardworking Americans through stock speculation and all those fancy Wall Street schemes which ruined so many lives. Still, remember that Gordon Gekko’s actions weren’t considered criminal in 1985 when the film takes place (though they were by 1987) yet, they weren’t exactly moral either. Yet, even that doesn’t stop stockbrokers and white collar criminals from Wall Street claiming Gekko, which makes Michael Douglas cringe.

The 1980s isn’t much of a decade that’s grounded much in movie history, yet, that’s because most of the movies about the 1980s were either made at the time or are nostalgia pieces in themselves. However, for some it was a great time with Wall Street, the end of Communism, pop culture, and early video games and personal computers. Yet, for others it was a terrible time with the decline of industry and manufacturing, AIDS, crack in the inner cities and the war on drugs, the decline of Communism, and the rise of yuppie materialism and income inequality. Still, it was also a decade when you have big frizzy hair like the young rock bands of the era or the prime time soap operas. Yet, perhaps there are plenty of films made at the time your parents would want you to watch.

In 1980s America, it was either the best of times or the worst of times. Or something in between since it was the rise of the rust belt in my neck of the woods where a bunch of people lost their jobs but at least my parents met and got married at this time. Still, you have Ronald Reagan as president who is either the closest thing to Jesus or one of the most overrated US presidents of all time depending on your political point of view (as a liberal history nut, I kind of side with the latter). You have the AIDS crisis, the widening gap between rich and poor, more laissez fair economics which will soon lead the country to a recession in 2008, the futile war on drugs as many people in the inner cities destructively become addicted to it, the rise of white collar crime, and of course, mullets. Yes, it was such an epidemic among the masses in 1980s fashion. Still, while there are movies set in the 1980s, they do contain their share of inaccuracies which I shall list.

Ronald Reagan:

Ronald Reagan supported Apartheid in South Africa. (While The Butler erroneously implies this, he most certainly did not. Yet, the film is right that he threatened to veto Congressional sanctions on apartheid in South Africa, yet Reagan states in his diaries that he did so because he disliked sanctions as a policy, arguing that they hurt ordinary people. Yet, as strongly as he held these views, he held them inconsistently. For instance, he was happy to use sanctions when it came to Iran and Cuba whose citizens undoubtedly suffered as a result like Reagan said in his diaries. Not to mention, the fact that South Africa was the only country in Africa to have a strong anti-communist position was also a factor. Still, I have to give kudos for Lee Daniels for portraying Reagan as the flawed human being he really was instead of his demi-god status as seen by the American right. Also, despite the Right hating her, Jane Fonda is a good choice as Nancy Reagan. But seriously, Alan Rickman as the Gipper? Please.)

Ron Woodroof:

Ron Woodroof rode rodeo, drank beer, partied in his trailer, and had sex with as many women as possible. (Contrary to Dallas Buyers Club Woodroof didn’t rodeo yet he was a fan. Also, he may have had sex with a few fellows, too.)

Ron Woodroof tested positive for HIV in 1985. (Contrary to Dallas Buyers Club, Woodroof wasn’t since there were no reliable blood tests available until late 1986 and the term HIV wasn’t used by the medical establishment at the time. Then people were diagnosed with AIDS based on their white blood cell count and other symptoms.)

Ron Woodroof was a homophobe before being diagnosed with HIV. (Contrary to Dallas Buyers Club, Woodroof’s close friends and associates say that he was never homophobic and perhaps even had relationships with men as well as women {he had an ex-wife and daughter and identified as bisexual}. Still, the views his Matthew McConaughey portrayal holds in the film were widely held by many at the time, especially when AIDS was seen as a gay man’s disease and the fact that AIDS could be contracted through unprotected heterosexual sex wasn’t common knowledge. Still, Woodroof did say that he might’ve contracted it through heterosexual sex with a drug addict.)

Ron Woodroof was a lone libertarian warrior fighting the evil that was big government, refusing to listen to the silly old highly qualified doctors with their fancy ideas of double-blind testing. He was a fighter for freedom and his God-given right to dose AIDS patients with unlicensed Peptide T and Aloe Vera juice. (As a TV writer said about Dallas Buyers Club once active in the buyer club movement himself, “The movie distorts the facts about AZT … to make Woodroof seem heroic for his murderous advice to others not to take it.” Also, AZT is still available and has worked for so many patients at an appropriate dose as far as I know. The reason why it nearly killed Ron Woodroof in the film was because he wasn’t much of a responsible person {which led to his conclusion that AZT was poison and doesn’t work} and the fact that self-treatment is never a good idea, even for doctors. Yet, in the 1980s AIDS wasn’t a well understood disease at the time. Still, what Dallas Buyers Club suggests should never be seen as a template for health policy particularly when it comes to experimental drugs. The FDA’s regulations exist for a reason such as protecting the public against drugs that don’t work, are too toxic, or from companies known for selling such drugs with no evidence of efficacy or safety.)

Ron Woodroof’s physician was a woman. (No, his physician was a man and certainly didn’t look like Jennifer Garner. Her character is fictional.)

Ron Woodroof lost a trial seeking to allow him to distribute Peptide T. (Yes, but he and his buyers clubs were involved in multiple lawsuits yet though he wasn’t allowed to distribute the drug, he was allowed to use it for his own purposes. Also, he sued the FDA for not allowing him in the initial trial of AZT, though to be fair, he would’ve been a poor test subject at the time.)

Chris Gardner:

Chris Gardner was a devoted dad to his son. (Contrary to The Pursuit of Happyness, he wasn’t quite the father Will Smith makes him out to be. For one, he was so focused on the job and earning his first million that he actually didn’t know where the hell his son was for the first four months of the stockbroker training program {the boy was with his mother Jackie}. Oh, and did I say that Chris Jr. was conceived while Gardner was still married to another woman {whom he wouldn’t be divorced from until 1986}? He also sold drugs for a time and even did cocaine with his mistress that included small doses of PCP and marijuana. Then again, doing cocaine won’t disqualify you as a stock broker.)

Chris Gardner got the attention of a Dean Wittier executive by solving a Rubik’s Cube. (Contrary to The Pursuit of Happyness, he actually befriended a stockbroker who helped him. The Rubik’s Cube bit is fiction.)

Chris Gardner was paid nothing during his training with Dean Wittier. (He was being paid $1,000 a month by the company. Also, they didn’t hire just one person from the training program but basically everyone who passed the licensing exam.)

Chris Gardner went broke selling bone density scanner. (Contrary to The Pursuit of Happyness, he didn’t. Also, he sold various medical products as well.)

Chris Gardner was struck by a car while chasing after a stolen bone density scanner. (This didn’t happen.)

Chris Gardner’s wife was named Linda. (Her name was Sherry Dyson and she wasn’t his son’s mother either. Chris Jr.’s mother was Jackie Medina who he had an affair with and moved in with when she became pregnant.)

Chris Gardner’s son was five years old in 1982. (Sorry, but Chris Gardner Jr. is 33 years old and was born in 1981, which would make him a year old who was still in diapers. I don’t see eight-year-old Jaden Smith resorting to that.)

Chris Gardner was arrested just before his big interview due to parking tickets. (Contrary to The Pursuit of Happyness, it seems that he was actually arrested after Jackie accused him of domestic violence. Of course, he denies this to this day.)

Eruption of Mount Saint Helens:

There was a highway near Mount Saint Helens that was named 607. (There wasn’t but there was an access road near Spirit Lake called State Route 504 unlike what the St. Helens film says.)

Vulcanologist David Johnston fell in love with a woman while working at Mount Saint Helens. (Contrary to the film about it, he didn’t but he did fall for a girl before working at Alaska’s Mount Augustine volcano.)

During the eruption of Mount St. Helens, there were pilots in the area running into disoriented birds. (No such incident was reported.)

Vulcanologist David Johnston hiked at the Coldwater Ridge to get his observation post. (Contrary to St. Helens, he didn’t have to do this but he had his truck and camper there. According to Wikipedia, “The way up Coldwater Ridge at the time was a series of switchback logging roads that led to a small clearing, at which his truck and camper were located. Incidentally, the propane tank and remnants of his camper were found three miles away from where his observation site was located, in 1993.” Still, he ended up dying there in the exact same way as in the movie.)

The waivers of liability were mentioned on April 30, 1980 in Cougar, Washington. (Contrary to St. Helens they weren’t until the day before the eruption and only brought up by the state’s governor and state police chief as a means to appease scores of home and property owners in Toutle not Cougar. Also, the film makes no mention of the scores of homeowners being led by a State-Patrol convoy to the mountain after the waivers had been signed.)

Nearby Mount Saint Helens resident Harry R. Truman owned a dog. (He didn’t. Rather he owned 16 cats and raccoons all of whom lived indoors with him. Still, better to depict him in St. Helens as a dog owner rather than as a crazy cat and raccoon guy.)

During the Mount Saint Helens eruption on May 18, 1980, there was a man driving down a dirt road and ran his car into a tree. (This was taken for a story of Seattle’s KOMO TV news photographer, David Crockett but he never hit a tree. Yet, contrary to St. Helens, his path was blocked by rapidly developing mudflows taking out stretches of a logging road he was using as an access route.)

Crime and Law Enforcement:

Carl “Tuffy” DeLuna died of a heart attack when the FBI found mob records in his home. (Contrary to Casino, he was arrested during the raid on his house in 1979 and was later sentenced to prison for skimming Las Vegas casinos and was released in 1998. He died in 2008 and may have seen the movie.)

Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal:

Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal ran one casino in Las Vegas. (He ran four for the Chicago Mafia such as Stardust, Hacienda, Fremont and Marina.)

Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal had security crush a cheater’s hands. (According to him, yes, but not in accordance with the circumstances in Casino. Rather, he had two guys electronically signaling each other who were part of a larger group scamming other casinos for an extended period of time. Such actions were meant as a message to the group to deter others from coming back and doing the same.)

Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal and his wife Geri had one daughter. (Unlike what’s seen in Casino, they had a daughter named Stephanie and a son named Steven. Geri also had a daughter named Robin Marmor with her high school sweetheart in 1957 and was 11 when her mother met Frank. She’s not in the movie.)

Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal was a loving husband and father who only made his wife wear a beeper after she tried to run off with their daughter. (Unlike his Robert DeNiro expy in Casino, Lefty was a husband from hell who brutally beat his wife, openly cheated and humiliated her by buy other women more expensive gifts than her. Yet, he was enough of a hypocrite to make her carry around a beeper so he knew where she was at all times. Seriously, Martin Scorsese, I think you owe Geri Rosenthal an apology.)

Geri Rosenthal:

Geri McGee Rosenthal was a selfish low life who cheated on her husband and abandoned her daughter. (Her expy in Casino was the wife from hell played by Sharon Stone. Geri was no saint and was a chip hustler but she used the money to help a sick mother, her sister’s family, and her illegitimate daughter {with the real Lester Diamond who was named Marmor}. People in Las Vegas rave about her generosity and how much of a loving mother she was who certainly did not tie her daughter to a bed {this coming from Lefty so it might not be reliable}. Also, her actions toward her husband were more understandable when you realize the kind of person he really was.)

Geri Rosenthal tried to run off with her daughter and ex-boyfriend. (According to Frank Rosenthal, she did but also with their son and his money.)

Ted Bundy:

Ted Bundy’s colon was backed with cotton to avoid soiling during his execution. (Unlike what his 2002 biopic depicts, this was thankfully discontinued in Florida by 1989. Also, the electric chair was operated by a push button not a flip switch.)

Ted Bundy’s executioner was a female corrections officer with long hair. (Contrary to the 2002 film of him, it was a private citizen who paid $150 to do the honor and was present behind a screen obstructed by the view of witnesses.)

Ted Bundy’s last words were, “Tell my family I love them.” (They were “Jim and Fred, I’d like you to give my love to my family and friends.” Still, I’m not sure if he had any love for them since he was probably a clinical sociopath.)

Ted Bundy was only given one application of lethal electric current during his execution. (Florida procedures said that the current was applied three times.)

Aileen Wuornos:

Aileen Wuornos’ girlfriend was a beautiful Catholic schoolgirl named Selby Wall. (Contrary to Monster, she was a hefty butch lesbian pushing 30 named Tyria Moore who was a hotel maid. All that changed due to legal reasons. Also, Wuornos herself wasn’t nearly as ugly as Charlize Theron portrayed her.)

Aileen Wuornos was a victim of circumstance who honestly tried to change her ways but the cruel world pushed her back and wasn’t without compassion. (Contrary to Monster, she wasn’t the loveable serial killer as portrayed by Charlize Theron. In real life, she was a sadistic {and dangerously psychotic} murderer who enjoyed torturing her victims {though she did have a horrendous childhood that left her really messed up to be fair}. Her claims for killing her first victim were in self-defense with no evidence to back them {I mean the guy was found in a wooded area with several bullet wounds in him}. Oh, and she blew her brass ring by beating up her husband. She never showed any remorse for what she did and firmly believed she was ridding the streets of evil men. Not only that, but she was convinced her mind was controlled by radio waves and believed she was going off in a spaceship to join Jesus by the time of her execution.)

Aileen Wuornos committed 7 murders. (Contrary to Monster, she was convicted of six but she claimed to kill seven.)

Aileen Wuornos was the first female serial killer in the US. (By the time Wuornos came around there have been over 80 female serial killers recorded in the US. Yet, her methods were different from what would female serial killers would normally use such as killing strangers outdoors with a gun for personal gratification, instead of killing family and friends indoors via poison or suffocation mostly for financial gain.)

Most of Aileen Wuornos’ victims were attractive men. (All her victims were men over 40.)

Aileen Wuornos’ first victim was a man who brutally raped her. (Contrary to Monster, Wuornos was said to be raped and knocked up as a teenager by a friend of her grandfather’s {and might’ve been sexually assaulted by her grandfather as well. Nevertheless, she gave up the child for adoption, thankfully}, probably had an incestuous relationship with her brother, and her dad was an incarcerated psychopath sex offender who killed himself {she never met him but that would explain a lot and her mother divorced him a few months before Aileen was born for good reason}. Not to mention, she was a prostitute but had committed other crimes {though she certainly didn’t sleep with 250,000 like she claims since that would mean she had to have sex with 35 men every day for 20 years}. Still, whether her first victim raped her or not, he kind of had it coming since he was a convicted rapist.)

Jim Williams:

Jim Williams shot bisexual prostitute Danny Hansford during a Christmas party in 1981. (Contrary to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, he shot the guy in May. Also, his lawyer in the film didn’t represent him in the first trial and came on the case later.)

Jim Williams died of a heart attack after being acquitted at the place Danny Hansford was shot. (He died of pneumonia and heart failure in 1990. Also, he died in the foyer outside the office where Hansford was shot, contrary to legend. Yet, he died 6 months after his acquittal.)

Sports:

The Miracle on Ice:

Men’s US hockey player William “Buzz” Schneider participated in the “Herbies” drill during the game against Norway. (Contrary to Miracle, he was thrown out for fighting and didn’t dress with the rest of the team after the game.)

Men’s US hockey player Rob McClanahan was in the University of Minnesota’s team when it beat Boston in the 1976 NCAA playoff game. (While it’s mentioned in Miracle, he wasn’t on Minnesota’s team then because he was still in high school.)

The Men’s US Hockey team won two games after they faced Czechoslovakia. (They played two games by this point. Though they won against the Czechs, they tied with the Swedes.)

Men’s US hockey player Kevin Morrow was clean shaven. (He had a beard.)

Men’s US hockey players Mark Pavelich, John Harrington and Buzz Schneider were part of the Smurf line. (It was called the Coneheads line but most people my age wouldn’t get the reference from 1970s SNL. Also, the Smurfs came out in the 1980s.)

Television:

David Letterman wore glasses in the early 1980s. (He didn’t.)

Dolly Parton was on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in the early 1980s. (Not until 1986.)

Andy Kaufman:

The Carnegie Hall “milk and cookies” performance was one of Andy Kaufman’s last after being diagnosed with cancer. (It was during his 1979 show, which was 5 years before his death.)

Andy Kaufman’s death might’ve been a hoax. (Contrary to what Man on the Moon says, it very much wasn’t.)

Jerry Lawler’s wife Stacey “Kat” Carter was at Andy Kaufman’s funeral. (Contrary to Man on the Moon, she and her husband haven’t even met each other in 1984, let alone marry because she was 14 years old at the time. This would make her attending Kaufman’s funeral with him highly unlikely.)

Music:

During Tina Turner’s debut solo performance at the Ritz in 1983, Ike Turner showed up and tried to silence her with his gun. (Contrary to What’s Love Got to Do with It, this never happened because Tina and Ike never saw each other again since their 1978 divorce. Not only that, but Ike was never seen in the public eye for years from that time. Also, Tina already had a solo career since 1976.)

Robert Palmer’s “Simply Irresistible” was a popular hit in 1987. (It was released in 1988.)

Hollywood:

No one knew who Rock Hudson was in 1985. (Most people did since he was active right up until his death.)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day was a popular film in 1987. (It came out in 1991.)

Miscellaneous:

Buyer’s clubs were mostly run by one person. (They were mostly co-operative enterprises run by groups of mostly gay people. Say what you want about Rayon but at least there were a lot more people like him/her than how Ron Woodroof was portrayed in Dallas Buyers Club.)

Buyer’s clubs were the story of the AIDS crisis which were a vehicle for scientific progress. (The buyers clubs were a tangent to activists forcing real scientists to get to work.)

Thanks to a mixture of olive and rapeseed oil, little Lorenzo Odone would be cured of his ALD and live happily ever after. (Contrary to Lorenzo’s Oil, he died of aspiration pneumonia at 30 in 2008 yet he did live about 2 decades longer than originally predicted by doctors. Luckily, his mother didn’t live to see that since she died of lung cancer in 2000. Still, Lorenzo’s oil hasn’t proven its long-term effectiveness in treating ALD at its onset but it’s highly effective if given beforehand. Yet, the real scientist Hugh Moser wasn’t too happy of how the film portrayed him.)

Passports were required to cross the US-Mexican border in 1987. (Not until 2008.)

Rev. Jerry Falwell and Charles Keating knew each other personally. (They never did.)

Challenger exploded in 1985. (Not until 1986. Also, contrary to Wall Street, there’s no such thing as NASA stock.)

The Lady Chablis’ real name was Frank. (It was Benjamin. Still, at least they actually cast a trans woman to play her in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Actually it’s the real Lady Chablis playing herself. Sure she may seem like a walking stereotype but she probably was really like this. Come to think of it, there are a lot of characters in that movie playing themselves.)

After the Jim Williams trial young reporter John Berendt settled down in Savannah with his girlfriend. (Contrary to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, despite covering the Jim Williams’ trials for 8 years since there were four of them {two convictions, one hung jury, and one acquittal}, he probably didn’t move to Savannah to be with his girlfriend. Also, since he was born in 1939, he was in his 40s during the events in the movie and he was going back and forth since he also worked for Esquire at this time. And unlike the John Cusack expy in the movie, he’s gay so he wouldn’t be romantically involved with Alison Eastwood’s character. Also, her character wasn’t involved with her business partner at the piano bar either {who died of AIDS}.)

Larry Flynt’s mother was present at his wife’s funeral. (She died five years before so, no, unlike what’s seen in The People vs. Larry Flynt.)

Eugene Allen decided to retire after realizing at a state dinner that he had been a subservient performer for whites. (Contrary to The Butler, he actually had a good time at the state dinner and expressed great pride in his job as well as kept a scrapbook. The only reason why Eugene Allen decided to retire was because he was simply getting old after working at the White House for 34 years. When he left, President Reagan wrote a tender note and Nancy tightly hugged him. Allen would refer to the White House by writing, “The White House is different because it is the White House. It’s considered the number one house in the world. And just to be around the president and the first lady, every day, it’s different from other people. Even though they are people just like we are.”)

Of course, disco wasn’t the only popular music genre and was actually a craze in the later 1970s yet perhaps because of the 1977 Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta, this is how we remember the 1970s. Sure this may now be a dated look into 1970s hedonistic culture to my Millennial viewers who may not believe that Travolta was actually skinny, but as far as movie history goes, it’s an essential even if it’s not very good and more like a 1970s version of Magic Mike without the stripping involved. Or that seeing John Travolta in polyester may make you feel uncomfortable.

YOLO may be a 21st century term but it definitely characterizes the attitude of the 1970s when love was free and the “Me” decade was in full swing with self-esteem, self-discovery, and individual identity. Of course, there’s the bit of environmentalism and animal rights as well as feminism and hippies which are still around from the 1960s. Also, this is a time when people use recreational drugs, get divorced, cohabitate, and you name it. Of course, costume designers love this time since nowhere is the YOLO spirit of the 1970s demonstrated in fashion. Many men wore polyester leisure suits with flaring trousers and cuffs while sporting their heavily sprayed manicured hair and sideburns and/or the handle bar mustache we tend to associate with porno movies. Many women wore feathered Farrah Fawcett hair and slinky dresses with no bras. Those who could grow a poofy afro did. Still, the 1970s was a turbulent decade with terrorism, economic duress, energy crises, crime, political scandals, you name it. Also, the Cold War is dying down but it’s still showing no signs of slowing down.

Still, in the United States, while the Vietnam War winded down in the early part of the decade, the economy would be on the decline with the rise of the rust belt and the laissez faire kind of economics dependent on the banking industry that would dominate the next few decades which would end with the 2008 recession. You have the energy crisis which raised the price of gas and encouraged people to save energy and protect the environment. Yet, when it abated people forgot about it and then had gas guzzling cars like there’s no tomorrow. You also have the big political scandal extravaganza like Watergate as well as fashions and mores may seem cool by their standards but would lead to lifelong embarrassment in later generations particularly when the young people of this time get married and reproduce (I’m talking to you, Dad). Still, American movies and music flourish in this era with creative filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, science fiction movies we can take seriously, and some of the greatest music ever made that will be cherished for generations. And no, I don’t mean disco music but it’s up there, sort of. TV would also take strides as well with M*A*S*H, Sesame Street, The Electric Company (which featured a little known actor by the name of Morgan Freeman. Yes, that Morgan Freeman), Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Saturday Night Live, and The Muppet Show. Still, you have more women entering the workforce as well as the gays rising with single parenthood no longer taboo. There are a lot of movies made at this time which contain their share of inaccuracies I shall list.

Richard Nixon:

Richard Nixon was an alcoholic. (I’m not sure about this but apparently Oliver Stone believes so.)

Richard Nixon gave Leonoid Brezhnev with a Lincoln Continental at Casa Pacifica. (Contrary to Frost/Nixon, he presented a Lincoln Continental to Brezhnev at Camp David in 1973.)

Richard Nixon was conservative. (He styled himself as a Cold War centrist whose healthcare plan may have been more liberal than Barack Obama’s {which Ted Kennedy opposed but later regretted calling it “the biggest mistake of his career.” Yet, many would beg to differ, as we remember Chappaquiddick} as well as supported the failed Equal Rights Amendment. He’d also start the EPA, Amtrak, and OSHA, increase benefits for government programs, expand desegregation, and ended forced assimilation for Native Americans. Yet, he did start the War on Drugs and cut spending for NASA. Still, if Nixon wasn’t such a dick, he may have been a great president.)

Richard Nixon was a big potty mouth. (He swore, yes. But Jack Brennan never knew of a time when Nixon dropped a single F-bomb. “Expletive deleted” might’ve consisted of “hell” and “damn.” Besides, Lyndon B. Johnson may have been much worse, profanity wise.)

Pat Nixon:

Pat Nixon was an alcoholic with a pill addiction. (This is grossly exaggerated in Nixon yet, you can understand why the Nixon daughters hated it.)

Harvey Milk:

Harvey Milk’s publicity stunt with scooping up dog poop was real. (It was staged which Milk doesn’t mention.)

Most of Harvey Milk’s supporters were young, gay, white men. (Actually contrary to Milk, they consisted of gays of all ages, shapes, sizes, creeds, and colors as well as senior citizens {ironically}, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and women. He fought for their causes with great passion for their concerns, too along with those of gay men. Call his support base a rainbow coalition if you will. “He stood for something more than just him” as one commentator put it, but Harvey Milk has become so identified as a gay icon that he’s mostly associated with gay rights which is fair. Not to mention, his tenure in elected office lasted less than a year. Still, Sean Penn was perfect as Milk despite being straight and not so loveable and his Oscar was much deserved.)

Dan White:

San Francisco Supervisor Dan White was a closeted homosexual. (While Milk implies this, there’s no suggestion that this might have been true, but let’s just say his rampage at San Francisco’s City Hall wasn’t due to chemicals found in Twinkies but mental instability and professional jealousy. Still, Dan White was able to get away with manslaughter with his defense arguing that the killings of Harvey Milk and George Moscone weren’t premeditated {when they totally were} as well as having a jury that his all white, conservative, and straight. Still, San Francisco responded strongly to the Milk and Moscone’s murders since it shortly after the Jonestown Massacre and the killing of US Representative Leo Ryan {the only Congressman to be killed in the line of duty}.)

Dan White’s lawyers argued that consumption of junk food caused a chemical imbalance in his brain. (His lawyers had psychologists say that he was clinically depressed which led to him consuming vast amounts of junk food. However, I think he was just a crazy guy.)

Dan White’s first child was born in January 1978. (His son was born in June, yet Harvey Milk did attend the boy’s christening despite White’s grudge against him.)

Karen Silkwood:

Karen Silkwood was naïve and not quite bright. (A lot of people Karen Silkwood knew weren’t very happy with Meryl Streep’s portrayal of her. According to her father from a People magazine article, “The movie made her look not very bright and a hick Tobacco Road type. Karen was brilliant. She was an A student. I’ll tell you what happened. The lawyers were scared of that damn movie, and [director] Mike Nichols didn’t stick to his guns.” A union official who worked with her said the film portrayed her as more naïve and less political savvy than she really was.)

Sheri Ellis:
Sheri Ellis was a moody lesbian who might’ve betrayed Karen Silkwood. (The real Sheri Ellis was miffed at such insinuation that appeared in Silkwood. After her roommate’s death she invaded the Kerr-McGee plant with a .22 rifle that turned out to be unloaded. Like Silkwood, she was also exposed to radiation on a daily basis and she shared an apartment with her {which had to be decontaminated in which the process took three months}, not a house. Ellis was also fired from Kerr-McGee a few months later for flying a paper airplane in the plant according to her. Still, she didn’t mind being portrayed as a lesbian though but she declined to reveal her sexual orientation.)

Patch Adams:

Patch Adams was just a funny doctor who believed that laughter was the best medicine. (Contrary to the Robin Williams film, Adams’s ideas amounted to much more than that such as having loving and caring doctors as well as sending clowns into war zones, refugee camps, and orphanages. Not only that but he also believed in free care. In fact, his Gesuntheidt Institute was the main reason Adams wanted the film to be made, since he needed money. )

Patch Adams tried to kill himself while he was a middle aged man. (Contrary to the biopic, he was 17 to 18 years old, yet it’s more believable to have him in a mid-life crisis as played by Robin Williams rather as a kid who’s life had just gone through a shitty adolescence such as his dad dying while stationed in Germany, having to adjust to civilian life in Virginia, his uncle and father figure committing suicide while Patch was in college, and his high school girlfriend breaking up with him. Not only that, but he received the nickname, “Patch” by a fellow patient he had befriended who “patched up” the loneliness in his life, not a psychiatrist. He was also hospitalized in a mental institution on 3 separate occasions. So in medical school, he wouldn’t have been much older than most of his peers.)

Patch Adams met his girlfriend Connie Fisher in medical school who was murdered. (Actually his girlfriend was his future wife Linda Edquist with whom he had children with and divorced in 1998. As to the person he knew who was killed, it was actually his best friend who was a guy.)

While in medical school, Patch Adams practiced without a license and stole medical supplies. (Contrary to the Robin Williams movie, the real Patch Adams never did these things which would be considered felonies.)

Sports:

Billy Martin was the manager for the New York Yankees in 1972. (He was the manager of the Detroit Tigers at this time and wouldn’t manage the Yankees until 1975.)

The Baltimore Bullets moved the Washington DC in the early 1970s. (They didn’t move there until after 1974 and displaying support for them wouldn’t be seen cool in DC during the Nixon administration.)

Dickie Eklund knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard in a 1978 fight. (Contrary to The Fighter, he didn’t and says so nowadays though he’d brag about it for years. Most likely, he more or less tripped Leonard but the latter won anyway by a unanimous decision.)

Muhammad Ali:

Angelo Dundee was at Muhammad Ali’s Ali-Quarry fight. (This was the only fight Dundee wasn’t with him.)

Muhammad Ali sat down after each round against George Foreman. (Contrary to Ali, he wouldn’t sit down during the fight at the end of the film. I hope Ali didn’t get grilled, get it.)

Before the Ali/Foreman fight, Muhammad Ali had an argument with his wife Sonji of him seeing Veronica. (Contrary to Ali, it happened before the 3rd round of the Ali/Frazier fight “The Thrilla in in Manila” in 1975. And it wasn’t with Sonji because they were divorced by this point. Rather it was with his second wife Belinda.)

Music:

“Fooled Around And Fell In Love” was a hit in 1970. (It was released in 1976.)

Joe Walsh’s “Life’s Been Good” was hit in 1976. (It was released in 1978.)

Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration” was a popular hit in 1974. (It was released in 1980.)

Steely Dan was a popular group in 1971. (Their first album came out in 1972.)

Bobby Darin:

Sandra Dee stayed with Bobby Darin in the hospital when he was dying in 1973. (She was in an alcohol induced denial at home and was passed out on the floor that her family had to break into her house to find her and notify her of Darin’s death. Also, Darin’s second wife was banished from his room because she couldn’t hold her tears {she’s not in Beyond the Sea though}.)

Tina Turner:

Tina Turner attempted suicide in 1974. (Contrary to What’s Love Got to Do with It, she attempted suicide before a show in LA in 1969 shortly after she learned a friend and fellow Ikette was pregnant with Ike Turner’s child.)

Tina Turner addressed the courtroom to keep her stage name. (According to an interview with Oprah, she said her lawyer did after Tina advised him to drop a potential financial support suit as their divorce dragged on for a year.)

The Runaways:

Joan Jett wore leather pants throughout her career. (Contrary to The Runaways, she said she never did but only wore jeans.)

Joan Jett wrote “I Love Rock n Roll.” (Jake Hooker wrote it.)

Television:

Carol Kane was on the first season of Taxi. (She wasn’t on the show until the second season.)
Andy Kaufman:

Andy Kaufman was the host of SNL’s first episode. (Contrary to Man on the Moon, it was George Carlin.)

Lorne Michaels asked the home viewing audience to vote Andy Kaufman off SNL. (This happened in in 1982 while Michaels wasn’t on the show. He’d return in 1985.)

Andy Kaufman did his Jimmy Carter impression before SNL began. (Contrary to Man on the Moon, Kaufman couldn’t have done this since before the election of 1976, Jimmy Carter was a virtual unknown outside Georgia. Kaufman was from Long Island. Also, SNL began in 1975.)

Andy Kaufman met his girlfriend Lynn while wrestling women on The Merv Griffin Show. (Contrary to Man on the Moon, they met between 1981-82 when his “wrestling” career was dying down. Actually they met during the filming of My Breakfast With Blassie.)

Hollywood:

Deep Throat made $600 million at the box office. (Contrary to Lovelace, according to Roger Ebert, “Since the mob owned most of the porn theaters in the pre-video days and inflated box office receipts as a way of laundering income from drugs and prostitution, it is likely, in fact, that ‘Deep Throat’ did not really gross $600 million, although that might have been the box office tally.” Still, none of the money made went to Linda Lovelace.)

John Wayne died in 1978. (He died in 1979.)

Hugh Hefner was in his 30s in 1972. (Contrary to Lovelace, he was in his forties, but he’s portrayed in the film by James Franco.)

Linda Lovelace:

Chuck Traynor sold Linda Lovelace to five men for a gang bang after the Deep Throat premiere. (Contrary to Lovelace, while both the real Linda Lovelace and Traynor did say that happened {but while Lovelace claimed it was rape, Traynor said she wanted to do it}, it may have took place at the beginning of their marriage before Deep Throat, before their marriage, before fame.)

Porn was a complete hell for Linda Lovelace. (Contrary to Lovelace, the real Linda Lovelace didn’t see doing porn as the worst part of her life. Her relationship with Chuck Traynor was complete hell from the beginning and would never improve. She would be stuck in that really terrible relationship for years and endure a ton of abuse. While porn may not be a recommended career for anyone, Lovelace’s work in the porn industry and her gradual rise as a porn star would allow her more independence as well as gave her a life chance to escape. She always said that Deep Throat was “at once a low point and a salvation.”)

Bruce Lee:

Demons were the cause of Bruce Lee’s early death. (Contrary to Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, they weren’t nor was his death the result of a family curse. His death was more likely due to an adverse reaction to a prescription painkiller called Equagesic {now banned in the UK} given to him by Betty Ting Pei and Nepal hashish marijuana {that he ingested, not smoked}, which is said to be near lethal. He might’ve been allergic to marijuana but let’s just say Betty Ting Pei’s idea of giving him a Equagesic tablet wasn’t a good idea. Not to mention, he’s said to be on anabolic steroids.)

Betty Ting Pei was Bruce Lee’s mistress. (Well, she’s believed to be his mistress but it’s unconfirmed.)

Miscellaneous:

There were an army of policemen present at the 1970 Syracuse University strike who attacked the students with their nightsticks. (Contrary to Born on the Fourth of July, according to New York Democratic state senator Nancy Larraine Hoffmann, a former student who participated in the strike, “It was totally unlike the characterization in the movie. There was no police presence even within sight. At no time was there any show of force, or any attempt to disperse students listening to speakers. It troubles me to see police officers maligned for Hollywood sensationalism.”)

Vietnamese immigration was unlimited in 1973. (It was limited to families of servicemen until 1975.)

President Jimmy Carter suffered from heat exhaustion in 1976. (He suffered from heat exhaustion in 1979. Also, as of 1976, he wasn’t president yet.)

Swifty Lazaar of CBS was much younger than Richard Nixon. (He was six years older than Nixon but Toby Jones is 30 years younger than Frank Langella.)

HBO was around during the 1970s. (Not until the 1980s.)

USA Today was around in 1970. (It’s first issue was in 1982.)

Ms. Pac-Man was around in 1978. (She wasn’t around until the 1980s.)

Wayne Dyer wrote The Power of Intention during the 1970s. (He wrote the book in 2004, yet Jennifer Lawrence cites this all the time in American Hustle.)

New York City bridges had blue necklace lights during this time. (Not until the Manhattan Bridge Reconstruction Program of 1982.)

The Boys and Girls Club of America existed at this time. (Yes, but it was just the Boys Club of America. It wouldn’t’ go by its present name until 1990.)

Food labels had “Nutrition Facts” on them during this time. (Not until 1994.)

The Advocate was a magazine in the 1970s. (It was a tabloid newspaper at this time. It would become a magazine in 1992.)

The New York City Rockettes had a black member in the 1970s. (They didn’t have a black member until 1988.)

Lever doorknobs existed in 1971 in most public buildings in the United States. (Not until the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.)

The Met Life building existed during the early 1970s. (Yes, but it was known as the Pan Am building.)

The World Finance Center and the World Trade Center were around in 1971. (The World Trade Center was just being constructed while the World Finance Center hadn’t been built yet.)