tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post6650521054221683471..comments2023-10-31T10:59:03.023-04:00Comments on INKSPOT Crime Fiction Blog | A Place for Mystery, Mayhem, Writing and Life: Double StandardsLinda O. Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01512430135042480450noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-41218217274880656342013-10-05T01:14:23.021-04:002013-10-05T01:14:23.021-04:00I think for the most part we're covered by the...I think for the most part we're covered by the fact that we write "fiction" and thus can take certain liberties, by definition...that said, I do like to get my facts straight, and get annoyed when writers do stuff like set a story on a street that doesn't exist in a city I'm familiar with, for instance...but, the bottom line is it is fiction...<br /><br />On a somewhat related note, I once had a male reader write me three times about wanting to know the true identity of one of the characters in a story of mine...I tried to explain the concept of the word "fiction" to him the first two times, the third note I just ignored...<br /><br />Cheers,<br />Alan.DirtyMartinihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06180430462425350855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-65553078786811712122013-09-24T11:47:30.663-04:002013-09-24T11:47:30.663-04:00love this post, Lois ... I'm a big movie buff,...love this post, Lois ... I'm a big movie buff, but have to say Hyde Park on the Hudson didn't interest me from the trailers. Did you hate it, even aside from the inaccuracies?Deborah Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01575491644343480392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-8760480405784957052013-09-20T10:02:53.512-04:002013-09-20T10:02:53.512-04:00Victoria, do you include an author's note at t...Victoria, do you include an author's note at the end that tells the readers you've changed a certain fact?Lois Winstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01866423986250423199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-5358253598110702992013-09-19T21:26:46.119-04:002013-09-19T21:26:46.119-04:00I've always complained about the double standa...I've always complained about the double standard and if I want to change a fact I do I will write my stories my way.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00859109777005545304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-9995306482171883052013-09-19T12:45:44.699-04:002013-09-19T12:45:44.699-04:00Mark, I don't know that I've ever seen a m...Mark, I don't know that I've ever seen a movie that has included a note at the end about changes made for artistic license. More often then not, there will be a note about what happened to the historical figures after the end of the movie. Such was the case with Hyde Park on the Hudson. And it's this sort of note that makes viewers believe that what they've just viewed is the truth, no matter how untruthful the movie was.Lois Winstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01866423986250423199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-76642332233883488872013-09-19T12:43:08.052-04:002013-09-19T12:43:08.052-04:00Rayne, never having read the Hugo original, I can&...Rayne, never having read the Hugo original, I can't comment. I do love the music from the musical, though. <br /><br />One of my favorite musicals is Wicked, which is nothing like the Maguire book of the same name. Both definitely gives a new twist to the Wizard of Oz stories, and once you see Wicked, you'll never look at Dorothy and the Wicked Witch the same way. ;-)<br /><br />I think there's a big difference between using an established story as a jumping off point to explore the characters and world in a new light and writing a screenplay that's supposed to be about actual events and totally misrepresenting those events.Lois Winstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01866423986250423199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-71023363324804089992013-09-19T12:22:43.249-04:002013-09-19T12:22:43.249-04:00I am actually pretty forgiving of novelists and sc...I am actually pretty forgiving of novelists and screenwriters if I can tell is served their plot. If, however, it's a minor detail, it can drive me to distraction, like inventing a freeway direction that two seconds on Google maps would show them doesn't exhist.<br /><br />History, on the other hand, bugs me since so many people believe what they read and what they see. Without question. I'll forgive an author who explains the changes they made in an author's note, but when was the last time a movie did that?<br /><br />I wonder if one reason that movies get a pass that books don't is that we have more time to think about books as we read them. And if it's because readers are thinkers as a general rule.Mark Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567392254011373198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-39857945851177508852013-09-19T10:06:59.628-04:002013-09-19T10:06:59.628-04:00Thanks for bringing up this topic. As a movie buff...Thanks for bringing up this topic. As a movie buff, I'm forever irritated with the bastardization of good books, historical or otherwise, once they get translated to the big screen. The one that continues to upset me is Les Miserable. The "musical" has nothing to do with Victor Hugo's world classical book, his wonderful characters. Having read the book both in the original and in English and seen the French film with Jean Gabin and Jean Valjean, I find it shameful that the story was so distorted and made ugly in the so called musical.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18155827930296685025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-35611376321615223862013-09-19T08:56:46.280-04:002013-09-19T08:56:46.280-04:00Thanks for stopping by, Carolyn and Brenna!
Brenn...Thanks for stopping by, Carolyn and Brenna!<br /><br />Brenna, continuity issues are a whole other blog post for another day.Lois Winstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01866423986250423199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-14409954708482296202013-09-19T08:09:57.502-04:002013-09-19T08:09:57.502-04:00It's not just historical facts, either. Let me...It's not just historical facts, either. Let me tell you, my husband is a nuclear and electrical engineer, and my oldest is a veterinarian in training. The science facts they get wrong in movies are horrific! And not just in movies...TV shows as well. Not to mention, most movies I see have plot holes/continuity errors large enough to drive a Mack truck through.<br /><br />I still enjoy the old joke from ROCK-A-BYE BABY with Jerry Lewis. When the starlet is crying, her agent tries to soothe her with: "Now don't cry, honey. You haven't even SEEN the screenplay of The White Virgin of the Nile. I talked to four of the screenwriters, one of whom actually READ the book, and he told me they'd only changed the last 200 pages of the original story."BrennaLyonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17399508130752035374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-3180089341692708412013-09-18T23:33:28.707-04:002013-09-18T23:33:28.707-04:00I have noticed this for a long time, too, Lois! Y...I have noticed this for a long time, too, Lois! You wrote a concise statement about the problem that really says it all. I cant tell you how many times I've rolled my eyes at the TV with a rather sarcastic, "Yah, I love how they get away with that stuff--*I* couldn't do that as a writer!" It's all about money...people don't go to movies to see accuracy, apparently, they go to be entertained...at least, that's what the producers will tell you. What I don't understand is why we can't be as easily entertained with a fictionalized version of the FACTS more often. I actually think that would be pretty compelling....Carolynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11398547305911947992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-32792506856636998942013-09-18T22:31:35.726-04:002013-09-18T22:31:35.726-04:00From what I've seen, Kathleen, that disclaimer...From what I've seen, Kathleen, that disclaimer should be used on all movie adaptations and all movies about historical events.Lois Winstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01866423986250423199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-72808138617889651922013-09-18T21:22:13.481-04:002013-09-18T21:22:13.481-04:00Years ago, I remember going to see a movie adaptat...Years ago, I remember going to see a movie adaptation. Before the film began a screen shot advised us that the movie was "loosely based on" The Scarlet Letter. My husband and I still use "loosely based on" to describe any film that strays particularly far from the facts or original fiction.Kathleen Ernsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07009876100214388898noreply@blogger.com