How ‘true’ are Hollywood films that are based on ‘true stories?’ From Switzerland’s News, columnist Patrik Etschmayer rails against the Oscars for favoring films that spin ‘truth’ for the benefit of producers and studios, over movies that despite being fiction, tell us much more about reality and ourselves.
For Switzerland’s News, Patrik Etschmayer writes in part:
Colin Firth almost had to get the Oscar, because last year, he lost out to Jeff Bridges – even after his brilliant performance in ‘A Single Man’ … although this year again, Bridges was on the list. While last year, Bridges played a drunken country singer and this year a drunken marshal, Firth failed in 2010 with his portrayal of a gay man who falls apart at the loss of his great love and commits suicide.
Which quite beautifully reflects the Hollywood pecking order: Stuttering Crown Prince beats recovering alcoholic, who in turn triumphs over a suicidal gay. Which on the other hand is nice in a way, because it means that being gay in Hollywood seems to be less a stigma than alcoholism.
Writing a screenplay based on a true story consists of giving the ‘truth’ the right spin to generate a communicable cinematic product out of something unwieldy. For the most part, the creative momentum consist of pleasing the producers, the studio and – if the people concerned should still be alive, not drawing the ire of the persons (or relatives) of the people portrayed.
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