I have conflicting views on this.
On one hand, I congratulate what the reenactors do to honor the indescribable bravery, sacrifice and patriotism that the soldiers of our nation have shown in the past. Reenacting is very expensive and time consuming, I did it for a short time in the mid 80's.
On the other, I'm a stickler for detail (unfortunately it can be extreme). I enjoy reading and being able to use my imagination to visualize the events, but I also enjoy seeing movies and the opportunity they give me to not have to use my imagination, but to actually see a portrayal of the events, albeit recreated. I know that much expense and attention to detail was taken to make the movie, EXCEPT, and to me it is a big EXCEPT, the physical appearance of the reenactors. They typically are the extreme opposite of what you would have seen in reality. It seems to me that if the makers of the movie or documentary are going to so much expense to make it realistic, that they would be as accurate as possible, when possible. I thought that was interesting about the Romanians. A sad statement on the physical shape of a typical American male! Now is not the time for me to go look in the mirror.
I realize the difficulty of the issue, without the reenactors there is no movie. And I also realize it's only an issue for me because of my (too?)strict attention to historic detail. Some things I just have to make myself get over when watching movies.
Just wanted to throw this out there!
Fld. Lt. Mark Davis
Adjutant, CSA Western Theater
4th Bde, 1st Div, III Corps
Army of Alabama, CSA