In the Beginning...

Yes...I know it's two paragraphs...but this is my entire intro and the first paragraph doesn't make sense without the second.

A salty sea breeze blew in from the Atlantic Ocean near Charleston, South Carolina. The waves, gently rolling in, beckoned all around to come and cool off from what had been a warm July day.Suddenly a high whistle pierced the calm summer’s evening followed by a large explosion and the cries of men struck by hot pieces of shrapnel. Orders were shouted up and down the lines as explosions occurred at an ever increasing rate. Miraculously reaching the earthen embankment leading to Fort Wagner an impressive figure stood boldly atop it, waving his sword, beckoning his men onward. With a sudden crack and cloud of smoke this man crumpled in a heap, the victim of enemy musket fire. The sounds of battle reached alarming levels when suddenly a lone voice in the distance cried out, “Cut!”
In 1989, a movie was released which told the story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, one of the first official colored regiments in the Union Army during the Civil War. It was the movie “Glory” directed by Edward Zwick. “Glory” and other dramatic historical films have been heralded both as important pieces of historical teaching and as historically heretical. The genre of historical film has been belittled and attacked by numerous historians. They claim that the films revise history or do not show an accurate portrayal of historical events, do not allow people to think critically, and create a historically numb society. To take this stance on this genre of popular film is detrimental to historical learning. Dramatic historical films are an important part of historical understanding and when created and viewed correctly, they can have great influence in society.