final paper
My paper discusses the relationship between true stories and the cinematic representations of them that filmmakers create without first-hand experience of the story they are trying to retell.
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I decided to focus on the movie The Accused, directed by Johnathon Kaplan in 1988. The film features Jodie Foster as the main character, Sarah Tobias, who walks into a bar and gets gang-raped by three men with other men surrounding the act and encouraging the attackers. While this film was given great reviews, it must come to the attention of viewers that this film was based on the true story of Portuguese woman, Cheryl Araujo. Does the director have the right to alter a significant details such as the race and name of the main character? And why? Why would the director do that? To ensure good reviews and profits? This paper discusses the possible motivations of filmmakers to change and distort the truth of factual-based movies and whether filmmakers, especially Hollywood directors, have the right to do this. Moreover, I discuss whether the practice of changing and distorting truths, reinforcing stereotypes, or heightening of drama in particular scenes by the choice of the director is what is a major component in the continuation of steroetypes, marginalization, oppression, discrimination, and ojectification of gender, race, class, and sexuality.