Authenticity of “The Great Santini”Comparison Between Movie and History After watching the movie from Hollywood and reading the actual thoughts of Pat Conroy of whom the story is based on, there is significant evidence supporting the basis that The Great Santini was made on and Hollywood very accurately filmed The Great Santini. It isnt to say that all military veterans were abusive and hard on their families. However, men in the military return from the service and seem to take a great sense of pride in their families and America.
To this day some people are the same way as Bull Meechum. There are many similarities between Bull Meechum and Donald Conroy. For instance, they both lived life in the fast lane and to its full extent. In the movie, Bull Meechum mentions how fast and free it feels to fly. Donald Conroy also felt the same way as he flew over the American troops and proceeded to bomb the Koreans. They were both alike in the aspect that they lived for an adrenaline rush.
Meechum and Conroy both loved life and lived it to its greatest. The two men also were excellent soldiers. Donald Conroy was said to at one time, been the most decorated man in the military. Bull Meechum moved his family to South Carolina in order to take a position in training other pilots.
Although neither were great family men, both soldiers had been trained in the art of killing other people as quickly and as many as they could. Another similarity that Donald Conroy had with Bull Meechum was the way he pushed his family to be better and tougher. In his eulogy, it states that if Donald Conroy would have seen the tears that his family cried at his death, he would have yelled at them and been embarrassed of the fact that his boys were behaving like girls. They both wanted the best for their family.
Since the movie is based on a true story, there arent very many parts that happen in the movie that never happened. The movie is extremely accurate in its portrayal of the military emotionally hardened father. Because of this, no discrepancies exist. However, the only part of the movie that possibly could have went to far and strayed away from the life of Donald Conroy was when Bull Meechum began hitting his wife and the kids came down.
It was never stated directly that Donald Conroy abused any of his kids or wife but the document, being read at his funeral, it isnt likely that his abusive episodes would be mentioned.
