User talk:73.96.248.21

August 2023
Welcome to Wikipedia. We appreciate your contributions, but in one of your recent edits to Blackbeard's Ghost, it appears that you have added original research, which is against Wikipedia's policies. Original research refers to material—such as facts, allegations, ideas, and personal experiences—for which no reliable, published sources exist; it also encompasses combining published sources in a way to imply something that none of them explicitly say. Please be prepared to cite a reliable source for all of your contributions. You can have a look at the tutorial on citing sources. Thank you. Donald Albury 12:39, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

What would be an acceptable source for location here? The Disney blurb suggesting New England contradicts the dialog of the film, which states that Blackbeard’s final battle happened in the bay near the Inn. I can find at least one contemporaneous review in which the reviewer understood the setting to be on the Carolina coast, https://www.nytimes.com/1968/04/11/archives/article-3-no-title.html, but no other online sources discussing its location. I’ve ordered a copy of the “making of” book to see if it has anything more.

If it helps for determining what sources we need, we can break the edit I want to make into two pieces:

1. Removing the “New England” claim for the setting: It is not positively supported by any elements of the movie, it actively contradicts dialog in the movie, and rests on Disney marketing copy that appears to have been written for the VHS release, and not connected with the original film production.

2. Adding in a statement that places the movie on the North Carolina coast, based on the dialog in the movie.

73.96.248.21 (talk) 14:47, 8 August 2023 (UTC)


 * Right off the bat, the article Blackbeard's Ghost cites this Disney web page, which states that the movie is set in a New England coastal town. The article is not about the historical person Blackbeard, it is about the Disney movie. That means that where Blackbeard actually lived and died is not relevant to the article about the movie. Movies very often diverge from historical facts for story-telling purposes. There may be a purpose in discussing in the article how the movie differs from historical facts if, and only if, that discussion is based on, and does not go beyond, such discussions in reliable sources. Anything beyond that would be original research, which is not allowed in Wikipedia. Even if you find reliable sources that discuss how the movie diverges from historical fact, how and when to include such material in the article is subject to editorial discretion. While you may boldly add such content, if it is challenged, a discussion on whether or not to keep such content may be opened on the article talk page to see if a consensus can be reached. I think you will find that the article about Blackbeard the person is in fairly good shape, but if you see any inaccuracies in it, you are welcome to edit the article, citing reliable sources where necessary to support additions or changes. Donald Albury 16:19, 8 August 2023 (UTC)
 * I am asserting that the Disney site is incorrect about the contents of the movie.
 * No statement or image in the movie includes anything that indicates it happens in New England, the dialog in the movie makes reference to historical events in North Carolina as being "local" without making any suggestion that they have been moved for the story, and the furthest back I can trace the "New England" statement is advertising copy for the VHS release 15 years after the movie was filmed.
 * Do you have any objection to taking "Approach 3" from When sources are wrong, making the main text say simply "seacoast town", and putting in a footnote that Disney's home-release marketing states the town is in New England, but that the dialog implies North Carolina?
 * Rosslhatton (talk) 17:16, 8 August 2023 (UTC)
 * It's a movie. The company that produced the movie is athoritative about where the movie is set. You can propose your action on the article talk page, but please do not add your original research to the article. Donald Albury 23:45, 8 August 2023 (UTC)