# What's the most important event or person that nobody's made a movie about? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 11, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814 "2015-05-11T22:02:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/1 "2015-05-11T22:02:09Z")
Just curious – I want to write a screenplay that doesn’t have to be compared to the earlier version. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/2 "2015-05-11T22:04:39Z")
Fall of the Wall? Invention of writing? Invention of paper? Norman Borlaug’s work on agriculture? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/3 "2015-05-11T22:34:00Z")
Aristotle. He’s been a character is various films about Alexander the Great, but I don’t believe there has ever been a film dedicated to his life and impact. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/4 "2015-05-11T22:42:37Z")
I think we’re overdue for a movie from Pontius Pilate’s point of view. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/5 "2015-05-11T22:52:27Z")
The Big Bang. The origin of the Solar System. The origin of life on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/6 "2015-05-11T23:09:34Z")
I would like an action movie about [Simo “Simuna” Häyhä (aka, The White Death)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_H%C3%A4yh%C3%A4). He was a Finnish sniper who almost single-handedly kept the Russians at bay on the Russian-Finnish border for about 100 days during the Winter War in 1939 -1940. When the Russians decided they wanted to invade, he simply replied ‘Ei!’ and broke out his trusty bolt-action rifle that didn’t even have a scope on it and started popping Russian soldiers like they were party balloons. He is officially credited with 505 kills in less than 100 days (still the record for a sniper by a long shot). The Russians became so alarmed at his very existence that they sent out many of their best counter-sniper teams to take him out. He killed all of them too. The Russians got desperate and started using heavy artillery strikes just to wipe out this terrifying phantom. They eventually got lucky and hit him with an exploding bullet blowing off half his face but of course he didn’t die and went on to make a full recovery except for the face part. This guy makes Rambo look like a Hello Kitty doll. He would make an excellent real-life superhero as long as there is sufficient back story and historical context to go along with it. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/7 "2015-05-11T23:20:29Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I think we’re overdue for a movie from Pontius Pilate’s point of view. There’s a pretty decent book, “The Gospel According to Pontius Pilate.” It could easily be made into a movie. I’ve never seen a George Washington movie. I suppose there have got to be some, but I don’t know of any. (Seems there was a 1984 TV mini-series, so I guess that counts.) Has anyone done a drama of Burr/Hamilton? That could be damn fun! (Ah, yes! 1984, “Duel.” I need to find this!) Is there a good movie about the Spanish American War, specifically the naval battles of Havana and Manila? An “Admiral Dewey” movie? ([Apparently so](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0241156/)…but it doesn’t quite count, I think…) Forgive me; my Google skills are not very good. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/8 "2015-05-11T23:22:11Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > . . . The origin of life on Earth. The Star Trek (Next Generation) movie with Q, showing Picard the origin of life on earth, might count. It’s a quick little scene, but it is shown happening. Or…not happening. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/9 "2015-05-12T00:16:31Z")
Isaac Newton ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/10 "2015-05-12T00:21:25Z")
[Jackie Cochran](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Cochran). Today’s her birthday, btw. I posted [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=609805) thread about her several years ago. She was probably the greatest pilot who has ever lived, and almost no one knows her name. She won the Bendix air race in 1938 on her second try. She was a test pilot _who died of old age_. Think about how rare that was for a pilot in the early days of aviation. If you’ll forgive me for quoting my own thread: _[She was] the first woman to break the sound barrier, being an instrumental figure in starting the WASPs, the first woman to fly a bomber, and the first woman to fly the Atlantic. She set a variety of speed records in several planes (including F-104s and F-84s), and at the time of her death in 1980 **held more speed and distance records than any pilot in history, male or female, living or dead**._ [bolding added] I think she’s way overdue for a movie, but I shudder to think how Hollywood would portray her. Maybe it’s best for the movie scum to leave her legacy alone. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/11 "2015-05-12T00:37:00Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > [Jackie Cochran](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Cochran). > > Today’s her birthday, btw. I posted [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=609805) thread about her several years ago. > > She was probably the greatest pilot who has ever lived, and almost no one knows her name. She won the Bendix air race in 1938 on her second try. She was a test pilot _who died of old age_. Think about how rare that was for a pilot in the early days of aviation. > > If you’ll forgive me for quoting my own thread: _[She was] the first woman to break the sound barrier, being an instrumental figure in starting the WASPs, the first woman to fly a bomber, and the first woman to fly the Atlantic. She set a variety of speed records in several planes (including F-104s and F-84s), and at the time of her death in 1980 **held more speed and distance records than any pilot in history, male or female, living or dead**._ [bolding added] > > I think she’s way overdue for a movie, but I shudder to think how Hollywood would portray her. Maybe it’s best for the movie scum to leave her legacy alone. That is a good one. The only problem is that she was best friends with Chuck Yeager who is much better known. He talks a whole lot about her in his autobiography. You certainly get the impression that she was a complete hell on wheels born into poor conditions and then married extremely rich so that she could fund her aviation interests or anything else she wanted. She is notorious for not caring much about proper protocol and would call anyone from the Pentagon to foreign heads of state to make a personal complaint against anyone if it suited her. Surprisingly, they took her calls and listened because almost everyone was afraid of her no matter how high up they were. She was actually a much bigger deal in the early aviation world than Amelia Earhart but she had enough sense not to get herself killed so she is not that well known today. I could see her story being anything from a feminist biopic to an exciting period drama but there is indeed plenty of material to work with. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/12 "2015-05-12T00:42:56Z")
I don’t think they’ve done one about [Bazalgette](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Bazalgette). He engineered London’s sewers, wiping out Cholera and Typhoid along with the unbearable stink. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/13 "2015-05-12T01:09:11Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I think we’re overdue for a movie from Pontius Pilate’s point of view. The Russian novel [The Master and Margarita](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_Margarita) has a recurring book within a book that’s told from Pontius Pilate’s point of view. It’s been made into a film quite a few times (including a Polish production that was _just_ the Pontius Pilate bits and shot on the location of Hitler’s Nuremberg rallies!) but I don’t think any of the adaptations are particularly well thought of. ---
**Author:** ![BaldDudePeekskill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@BaldDudePeekskill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaldDudePeekskill)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/14 "2015-05-12T01:52:54Z")
I probably blocked it out, but has there been a film made about the WTC attacks from the perspective of someone who made it out alive? I do remember the movie about the plane ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/15 "2015-05-12T02:01:31Z")
Do documentaries count? I haven’t looked yet but I’m guessing that some of the things listed above have been done in documentaries, even if they were just 1hr History channel things. Other than that, I can’t imagine a feature length movie on something like the invention of paper…Of course Helvetica was 80 minutes is called ‘feature length’ (and really good too, if you haven’t seen it). Anyways, my suggestion was going to be Bill Gates. I don’t know of a movie (ala Jobs) about him yet. Regarding the Fall of the Wall, I found [this list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_about_the_Berlin_Wall). I didn’t click on the links so I don’t know how many of them are _about_ it as opposed to just including it because it happened during their time line (like Hedwig) and it doesn’t play a huge role in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/16 "2015-05-12T02:05:19Z")
> [@BaldDudePeekskill](#): > > I probably blocked it out, but has there been a film made about the WTC attacks from the perspective of someone who made it out alive? I do remember the movie about the plane _World Trade Center_, with Nicholas Cage as a star > **[World Trade Center (2006) ⭐ 6.0 | Drama, History, Thriller](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469641/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_35)** > > 2h 9m | PG-13 ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/17 "2015-05-12T02:16:23Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > 505 kills in less than 100 days (still the record for a sniper by a long shot). Aren’t all sniping records set by a long shot? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/18 "2015-05-12T02:30:53Z")
Alhazen and the invention of the Scientific Method? > **[Ibn al-Haytham | Scientific method](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhazen#Scientific_method)** > > An aspect associated with Alhazen's optical research is related to systemic and methodological reliance on experimentation (i'tibar)(Arabic: اختبار) and controlled testing in his scientific inquiries. Moreover, his experimental directives rested on combining classical physics (ilm tabi'i) with mathematics (ta'alim; geometry in particular). This mathematical-physical approach to experimental science supported most of his propositions in Kitab al-Manazir (The Optics; De aspectibus or Perspectivae)... The conquest of the Aztec Empire by Hernan Cortes and about 500 men. > **[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_conquest_of_the_Aztec_Empire)** > > Spanish Empire > Indigenous allies: > Support or occasional alliesb: > Aztec Triple Alliance (1519–1521) The Destruction of the Native Americans by Disease (a major historical event for which there isn’t even a handy term, like the Black Plague or the Holocaust): > **[Population history of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_history_of_indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas#Depopulation_from_disease)** > > Population figures for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas prior to European colonization have been difficult to establish. By the end of the 20th century, most scholars gravitated toward an estimate of around 50 million, with some historians arguing for an estimate of 100 million or more. > In an effort to circumvent the hold which the Ottoman Empire held on the overland trade routes to East Asia and the hold that the Aeterni regis granted to Portugal on maritime routes via the African coas... > **[History of smallpox | Epidemics in the Americas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_smallpox#Epidemics_in_the_Americas)** > > After first contacts with Europeans and Africans, some believe that the death of 90–95% of the native population of the New World was caused by Old World diseases. It is suspected that smallpox was the chief culprit and responsible for killing nearly all of the native inhabitants of the Americas. For more than 200 years, this disease affected all new world populations, mostly without intentional European transmission, from contact in the early 16th century until possibly as late as the Frenc In ... ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/19 "2015-05-12T02:37:20Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Anyways, my suggestion was going to be Bill Gates. I don’t know of a movie (ala Jobs) about him yet. [Pirates of Silicon Valley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates_of_Silicon_Valley) was a movie about the early days of Bill Gates & Steve Jobs and it’s very good. Similar to Bill Gates, I don’t think there’s been a movie made about Warren Buffett where he wasn’t just a periphery character and I’m almost certain there hasn’t been a movie made about Carlos Slim Helu. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814/20 "2015-05-12T02:53:40Z")
How about Benghazi? Of course, we need two totally different movies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-important-event-or-person-that-nobodys-made-a-movie-about/719814.md?page=2)