Historical Significance

// December 15th, 2009 // Jesse, Random Movie Musings

by Jesse

I want to pose a question to everyone.  Do you think it’s okay for filmmakers to change the outcome of a true story with historical significance for the benefit of their movie?  For example, if a filmmaker makes a movie about a war, do you think it’s okay for them to change important details, like how the war ended?  I’m not asking about documentaries because I think we would all agree that the very essence of a documentary is that it is supposed to be 100% accurate.  I’m asking about a dramatic representation of a true story.  In the movie “Titanic,” a story line of two young lovers was added to make the movie more enjoyable for the average audience.  Do you think it’s a big deal that they did that?  Now, what if they made it so the boat didn’t sink?  Would that be okay?  What about taking a real person and changing their story for your movie?  Do filmmakers have complete creative license to change the facts as long as they’re not claiming it to be completely true?  Let me know what you think.

7 Responses to “Historical Significance”

  1. nic says:
    December 15, 2009 at 7:57 pm

    I feel like the answer is so obvious that this simply *must* be a trick. Yes, I think artists should be able to make any adjustments they want. Are you asking whether it should be illegal? Whether it’s morally wrong? Whether it’s socially acceptable? My answer may change based on your definition of ‘okay’.

  2. Jesse says:
    December 15, 2009 at 9:11 pm

    I guess I’ll try and clarify. I’m not really asking if it should be illegal or not or whether it’s morally wrong or not. I’m asking if, as a partaker of the art of film, does it bother you that filmmakers change important facts about historically significant events? This is an extreme example, but what if, for example, someone made a film about Hitler and made him into a hero and martyr? Would that bother you, as a patron of the arts?

  3. Jake says:
    December 16, 2009 at 12:07 am

    I think it depends on the event that is being changed. If Hitler was made into a hero that would definitely bother me. Did this post come about because of the movie Inglourious Basterds?

  4. nic says:
    December 16, 2009 at 7:28 am

    As a patron of the arts, what would bother me is if the person had no artistic reason for doing it. If he/she were trying to challenge conventions, or create an aesthetic experience, or remove us from reality, that’s cool. But if they did it just to be a douche nozzle, that wouldn’t so much bother me as just dissuade me from patronizing them.

  5. bryan says:
    December 16, 2009 at 8:24 am

    Hahaha. You called someone a “douche nozzle.” That’s hilarious.
    Anyways, if someone were to make a movie of my life (and for some strange reason was an important historical event) and changed things in my life, ya, I would be upset. I wouldn’t care so much if they changed tiny things, but if they changed significant things then I wouldn’t be happy. Especially if they changed how I died, well, unless they made it more awesome.
    Yes, it would have bothered me if they wouldn’t have sunk the Titanic, because it sank. So I guess my answer would be yes. Yes, it would bother me if they changed the outcome of a historical event just because they wanted their movie to be more interesting.

  6. Jason says:
    December 16, 2009 at 8:19 pm

    I think they can change whatever they want as long as it does not claim to be ‘based on a true story.’ If they just want to rob a story out of history for their film and change it to make it more interesting then that’s fine as long as it isn’t advertised any different.

    However, it would bother me greatly if they claim it is based on a true story and they change it like you are describing. That is beyond artistic license. That is theft.

  7. Jesse says:
    December 19, 2009 at 9:43 am

    Jake: yes, I got the inspiration for this post after watching “Inglourious Basterds” but I didn’t want to ruin it for anyone, so I didn’t use it as a specific example.

    Jason: Here are some interesting essays on the subject of “based on a true story”:
    http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/213325/based_on_a_true_story.html?cat=38
    http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2289329/what_does_based_on_a_true_story_really.html?cat=40

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