4 ms·

That's OK because I assume that's the case for all movies "based on a true story". Take any biopic you want, it's mostly a bunch of mythology sprinkled with mem

by slver 5y ago

That's OK because I assume that's the case for all movies "based on a true story". Take any biopic you want, it's mostly a bunch of mythology sprinkled with meme references about the person, if any. Say this was especially egregious in the Steve Jobs biopic, which had almost nothing to do with reality, except being a "best hits" of various memes spread about the man throughout the years, combined with copious amount of Sorkinisms.

lupire 5y ago
The article is ambiguous, perhaps because the debunker didn't read the memoir(?!), but it's not clear where the original memoir survives the debunking. This is an important unsettled point.
- mfer 5y ago
  Abnagale has stated (linked elsewhere in the thread) that this is all based on his story but not a biography. It's not a memoir.
quietbritishjim 5y ago
Another great example is Bohemian Rhapsody, which seems to bearly have any true content. Pitch Meetings [1] (not exactly a serious review but very enjoyable) describes the film as recreations of some Queen performances with lies sprinkled in between. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RajlWbY7uQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RajlWbY7uQ
- napolux 5y ago
  As a Queen fan myself I think the movie was just a way for Brian May and Roger Taylor to cash on Freddie's legacy. It's full of wrong facts and misplaced events (most famous is the HIV positivity disclosed before Live Aid (1985), Freddie discovered his positivity in 1987) and John Deacon role was taken to the minimum level. They won 5 oscars.
  - smcl 5y ago
    The thing is I'm sure the story of Queen would've been interesting enough without slightly exaggerated things like dramatizing how they came up with We Will Rock You in the space of about 20 seconds. We came out of the cinema chuckling and were dumbfounded when it got awards.
eternalban 5y ago
It's not just mythology - sometimes it is used to defame and erase people. Recently I watched the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line (2005). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358273 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358273 It was entirely by chance that almost immediately after that I saw the story of his first wife, Vivian Dorraine Liberto, in My Darling Vivian (2020), https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7432980 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7432980 Watching these two films back to back is informative. The end bits of the last film featuring the celebratory gathering of Hollywood personas was specially galling, in context of the counter-narrative. There is this 'machine' that has perfected the art of deception and perception management and preys upon our inherent human psychological susceptibilities. Even cynics like me are susceptible. The only effective antidote seems to be to turn the tools and means of the machine against its products, or to avoid its products entirely.
mgarfias 5y ago
Ford v Ferrari comes to mind too. Great movie, kinda sorta got the events right, but forgot lots of people, assigned credit to other people than those actually responsible, and added a ton of drama crap. Examples: the Holman-moody team came up with the “hot swap” suspension thing, not the Shelby team. Leo Beebe didn’t try to fuck Ken miles. Ken miles wasn’t killed by brake failure, he was killed with the Jcar test mule lost the rear body work at high speed. Lots more, but I don’t want to type it all out.
- rrss 5y ago
  i liked the movie, but i don't know anything about the actual history, and would like to learn about it. does the book 'go like hell' have the events right? or do you know of any other good books or articles that tell the story?
  - mgarfias 5y ago
    So I’ve learned all sorts of things, readings bits and pieces over the years. Mark donohue’s unfair advantage has a chapter on the Ford gt program and his involvement. Has some detail about Walt hansgen and some technical details. Other stuff I’ve just accumulated over the years ,don’t think anyone has written a complete history of the program. What PISSES me off, is that in HS I lived within bike distance of gurney’s AAR and had no idea. My dad should have known, but didn’t bother to tell me. Also, within driving distance of Carroll smith’s residence. I wanted nothing more than to be a race car engineer at the time.
- Thedarkb 5y ago
  Ken was represented as being a lot more hot headed and irreverent than he was in reality as well.
croes 5y ago
I think the movie title is only mentioned so readers know what he is writing about. The article is about how Abagnale claims are bogus. He only conned his readers and listeners.

by slver 5y ago

lupire 5y ago

The article is ambiguous, perhaps because the debunker didn't read the memoir(?!), but it's not clear where the original memoir survives the debunking. This is an important unsettled point.

mfer 5y ago
Abnagale has stated (linked elsewhere in the thread) that this is all based on his story but not a biography. It's not a memoir.

quietbritishjim 5y ago

Another great example is Bohemian Rhapsody, which seems to bearly have any true content. Pitch Meetings [1] (not exactly a serious review but very enjoyable) describes the film as recreations of some Queen performances with lies sprinkled in between. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RajlWbY7uQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RajlWbY7uQ

napolux 5y ago
As a Queen fan myself I think the movie was just a way for Brian May and Roger Taylor to cash on Freddie's legacy. It's full of wrong facts and misplaced events (most famous is the HIV positivity disclosed before Live Aid (1985), Freddie discovered his positivity in 1987) and John Deacon role was taken to the minimum level. They won 5 oscars.
- smcl 5y ago
  The thing is I'm sure the story of Queen would've been interesting enough without slightly exaggerated things like dramatizing how they came up with We Will Rock You in the space of about 20 seconds. We came out of the cinema chuckling and were dumbfounded when it got awards.

eternalban 5y ago

It's not just mythology - sometimes it is used to defame and erase people. Recently I watched the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line (2005). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358273 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358273 It was entirely by chance that almost immediately after that I saw the story of his first wife, Vivian Dorraine Liberto, in My Darling Vivian (2020), https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7432980 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7432980 Watching these two films back to back is informative. The end bits of the last film featuring the celebratory gathering of Hollywood personas was specially galling, in context of the counter-narrative. There is this 'machine' that has perfected the art of deception and perception management and preys upon our inherent human psychological susceptibilities. Even cynics like me are susceptible. The only effective antidote seems to be to turn the tools and means of the machine against its products, or to avoid its products entirely.

mgarfias 5y ago

Ford v Ferrari comes to mind too. Great movie, kinda sorta got the events right, but forgot lots of people, assigned credit to other people than those actually responsible, and added a ton of drama crap. Examples: the Holman-moody team came up with the “hot swap” suspension thing, not the Shelby team. Leo Beebe didn’t try to fuck Ken miles. Ken miles wasn’t killed by brake failure, he was killed with the Jcar test mule lost the rear body work at high speed. Lots more, but I don’t want to type it all out.

rrss 5y ago
i liked the movie, but i don't know anything about the actual history, and would like to learn about it. does the book 'go like hell' have the events right? or do you know of any other good books or articles that tell the story?
- mgarfias 5y ago
  So I’ve learned all sorts of things, readings bits and pieces over the years. Mark donohue’s unfair advantage has a chapter on the Ford gt program and his involvement. Has some detail about Walt hansgen and some technical details. Other stuff I’ve just accumulated over the years ,don’t think anyone has written a complete history of the program. What PISSES me off, is that in HS I lived within bike distance of gurney’s AAR and had no idea. My dad should have known, but didn’t bother to tell me. Also, within driving distance of Carroll smith’s residence. I wanted nothing more than to be a race car engineer at the time.
Thedarkb 5y ago
Ken was represented as being a lot more hot headed and irreverent than he was in reality as well.

croes 5y ago

I think the movie title is only mentioned so readers know what he is writing about. The article is about how Abagnale claims are bogus. He only conned his readers and listeners.