Based on a True Story

I seem to remember reading somewhere that a writer is a person who lies for a living.  When I went searching for such a quote, I found a very entertaining post titled The Art of Telling Lies by Alex Keegan on Writers Write which argues that fiction writers are indeed liars, albeit sometimes in the interest of exposing a higher or more fundamental truth.   It begins with the following quote from science fiction writers, George Scithers & Darrel Schweitzer:

Fiction is lies. There is the Great Lie, the simple fact that the story is a story and not reportage. Fiction writers, therefore are liars — and they have to be good ones.

The thing about fiction, though, is that there is an implied contract with the reader … this is fiction, believe what you want.   If, on the other hand, the book in hand (or these days, in Kindle) is non-fiction, the reader is entitled to expect to read the truth … or at least the author’s perception of it.    Then again, 19th century English historian Thomas Macaulay has said:

The object is not truth but persuasion

In these days of journalistic reporting, that is probably more true than ever.  There is, however, a middle ground where the truth is even fuzzier.  In the world of the film and television, the world of Based on a True Story, there is no contract.

I bring this up because yesterday, Muri and I saw the new release, Dallas Buyers Club starring Matthew McConaughey.  The film is Based on the True Story of Ron Woodruff, a hard-living, homophobic Texas electrician who discovers he has AIDS.  Rejected by his friends and denied medical trials for AZT, he begins to learn about alternative treatments for his illness and means of illegally obtaining the medication he needs to stay alive.  Ever the opportunist, he starts the Dallas Buyers Club, providing the medications to the very gay community he detests for a monthly fee.   Gradually, however … and quite reluctantly, I’d add … he becomes an advocate of alternative medicine in the Dallas area in a sad era when public attitude, medical treatment and government policy seemed largely based on homophobia.   Or so the film implied.

Ever the skeptic about Hollywood productions, it has become my habit to search the internet for the real story behind Based on a True Story scripts, a habit that’s done nothing to reduce my skepticism.   In some films, details are only enhanced or invented to make a better story.  For example, the childhood of Cecil Gaines, the main character of The Butler, was nowhere near as tragic as the film depicted.   And Remember the Titans adjusts many of the facts of the real story, including an exaggeration of the degree of animosity between the players.  Still, I enjoyed both films and see the portrayal of the history of civil rights in this country … particularly to a younger audience that has not lived it … as justifying a bit of creative storytelling.  Then there’s The Hurricane, a Based on a True Story of the injustices visited on Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a promising African-American Boxer, including conviction by a prejudiced court system of a triple homicide … and his eventual vindication based on a key piece of evidence found by his heroic white (Canadian) lawyers.   The truth is that the evidence that Carter was involved in the homicides remains quite strong … and that he was released on a technicality 22 years later.   It is one thing to adjust details to enhance an basically true story and another to change facts that alter the essential truth.  There are times the film maker should just drop the Based on a True Story label.   But then the lies wouldn’t be as persuasive, would they?

So, how about Dallas Buyers Club?  It was a very difficult film to watch, particularly for an old guy who grew up when homophobia was the norm.   My head fully supports Gay Rights but I still find it difficult to watch overtly gay scenes.  The sleazy heterosexual sex in DBC and the suffering of the AIDS victims was just as difficult.   Woodruff, for much of the film, was a despicable character.   It’s hard to say I liked the film, even to say I’m glad I saw it.   But it’s important not to forget a time when we turned our back on a significant percentage of our people because of their sexual preference.   And in a time when government is taking an increasing role in health care, it’s important to remember that bureaucracies are as capable as corporations of placing their own self-interests over those of people in need.   And, as far as I could tell (here and here), the facts of the story are essentially true. The only complaint I could find was the suggestion that it puts too much of the credit for the availability of the availability of alternative medicine in the era on a homophobic misfit and not enough on the activism of a gay community.  It is probably a valid observation, but the gray-hair audience that was in the theater with Muri and I is more likely to watch a drama about the reluctant conversion of a straight man than a documentary on AIDS activism.  And that’s a good thing.   McConaughey is remarkable in Dallas Buyers Club (this from a former hater) although he is so thin for the role, it’s painful to watch.   But go see it.  Better yet, tell your 20-something and 30-something friends to see it.  Tell them it’s a comedy.  More than gray hairs need to see this film.

So, how do you feel about Based on a True Story films … tell me in my comments section.  But first, it’s Top Sites Tuesday #231 and I’m way over my Two Thoughts on Tuesday limit.   Push my button … gently … anyway to make me Number One.

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