tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post648073363835289261..comments2024-03-14T04:07:39.792-07:00Comments on Earl Pomerantz: Just Thinking...: "Accuracy Shmaccuracy"Earl Pomerantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16963705121297866334noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-20632920161082914862011-02-24T13:51:22.073-08:002011-02-24T13:51:22.073-08:00Night and Day...the Cole Porter story based on a t...Night and Day...the Cole Porter story based on a true songUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07054650240402405535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-15757323104112877142011-02-24T12:11:08.819-08:002011-02-24T12:11:08.819-08:00I take your point, although with "The King...I take your point, although with "The King's Speech" I was happy to go along with the whole thing as harmless entertaining nonsense. Colin Firth did a great job in making you root for him anyway. <br />I once did a rewrite on a "based on a true story" script in which the actual true story was totally discarded, and replaced with bits copied from successful films. It was shockingly derivative and brutally unfunny. My argument was that the true story was way better than anything in the script. Their argument was "People want to see stuff they've seen before, just with different characters."So, as they were spending the money, we parted ways. <br />I felt slightly vindicated when the actual subject of the film read the script and said 'None of this ever happened. I wouldn't mind if it was good, but it's shit and it never happened."Macnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-25062894188596658732011-02-24T07:29:30.062-08:002011-02-24T07:29:30.062-08:00Well, I sort of agree with you to a point, but on ...Well, I sort of agree with you to a point, but on the other hand I've just come to accept that the phrases <i>"Based on a true story"</i> and <i>"Inspired by actual events"</i> pretty much as the equivalent to the fine print and super-rapidly spoken legalese underneath and at the end of ads.<br /><br />Everyone KNOWS the legalese says that everything we just blared in your face not only isn't necessarily so, it may be outright lies! Also, the FDA has not evaluated these statements and this product is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any condition and always consult your doctor before using this overpriced and dangerous product. Actual results may vary. Side effects may include dizziness upon standing, drowsiness, weight gain, dry mouth, dry skin, rash, excessive bleeding, diarrhea, constipation, etc... Do not drive or operate heavy machinery.<br /><br />Ooh, and then there's my new personal favorite qualification: <i>"<b>Emerging</b> research <b>suggests</b> that our product <b>may</b>..."</i> Ok, <i>anything</i> which follows that is obviously complete and utter fabrication!<br /><br />We are told that certain things have been "proven" in clinical studies, but are not told that "clinical studies" are a far cry from unbiased, well-researched scientific, double-blind, peer-reviewed studies published in well-established and respected journals (and then confirmed by yet MORE equally rigorous scientific studies).<br /><br />At any rate, when it comes to movies I believe what you may be looking for is a <b>documentary</b>—I mean, if you're gonna be a stickler about the "Based on..." phrase. (And yet it's probably not even all that unusual for some documentaries to be heavily slanted, if not actually misrepresentative, simply by virtue of what the filmmaker chooses to show or omit.)<br /><br />But let's turn the discussion back to your usual subject of comedy... Are you saying you've never—<i>be honest!</i>—related a true incident, yet not "slightly" (probably significantly) exaggerated details to accentuate the comedic elements? And telling the same story multiple times, does the comedic exaggeration not grow with each telling in an effort to elicit more laughs? Eventually the story will bear less and less resemblance to the initial incident.<br /><br />That's all the drama folks are doing too with "Based on..." They're accentuating the elements they <i>want</i> to accentuate for the sake of heightening the drama or the romance or inspiration.<br /><br />Now that being said, I do absolutely agree there is a theoretical line one may cross where beyond it the phrase "Based on..." should no longer be used and yet that doesn't seem to be the case. And even so, how would that line determined and by whom?<br /><br />On those rare occasions where it comes out that someone's alleged "memoir" was essentially a fictional novel, well, that's just wrong.Dimension Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05392348422733549988noreply@blogger.com