Does Hollywood's Artistic License Stretch a Little Too Far?

As an avid movie watcher I am entertained by almost all movies in one way or another. Very few movies receive completely negative feedback from me. I used to be an avid book reader in my growing years. Currently as a working mother, reading is a luxury done only when a few precious moments are found.

Recently I was able to read a collection of short stories by Stephen King. Included amongst them was "1408", upon which the movie of that name was based. When thinking back, I vaguely remember seeing a line which referred to the short story when I watched the DVD although I don't recall if they mentioned the author.

Upon reading the story however, I found myself thinking about how Hollywood takes its artistic license to the max in many cases. "1408" is actually a very short story. The main character's stay in the tell-tale room is far shorter than it seems to be in the movie. The screen version adds a lot more to the storyline, packing in many more supernatural experiences than are mentioned in the original story. Don't get me wrong, the movie is great. They did an excellent job of weaving a gripping tale that holds you until the end. I just find it amusing that they managed to pull out a full length film out of a little bitty story.

That isn't the only short story of Stephen King's to be turned into a full fledged movie. "Children of the Corn" was actually a short story, and Hollywood has managed to make several movies off of that one creation!

From what I understand, (as I've only read a couple of the books personally), the Harry Potter movies have done a pretty decent job of holding true to the books. Understandably they have to leave out a lot because the books are so much longer than what can be put into a regular feature film. My only gripe was in one particular movie, the Order of the Phoenix I believe, where they have Cho be the snitch whereas in the book it is her friend. I can understand that time constraints may have made them cut out several events surrounding the ratting out of the D.A. but I still think they should have used Cho's friend rather than Cho herself. To me, it seemed to add a particular tension between Cho and Potter that shouldn't have existed.

Being a horror film fan I have, of course, watched the 21^st century remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This time around it attempted to attract more viewers by adding the tagline "Inspired by a true story". This tagline intrigued me enough to make me do a little online research. At that time my digging brought to me to the story of Ed Gein, a very real person from the 1950's who murdered at least 2 women and robbed graves to fashion keepsakes from bones and skin.

Ed Gein is said to be the inspiration for not just Texas Chainsaw Massacre but Pscyho and even Silence of Lambs as well. It must be noted however, that it is more the specific characters in those films that are accredited to Ed Gein's existence than the actual storylines. The films were basically designed around the characters that took after Ed Gein.

As movie viewers we must remember to take what Hollywood touts as "true stories" with a grain of salt. When reading fictional stories and watching the movies that are made from them we must again remember that Hollywood has an audience to impress in order to make money and therefore will add or subtract certain details as they deem necessary. If the words "based on" or "inspired by" are tacked onto a film, don't let it up your expectations. Just enjoy the film for what it is - a piece of entertainment.

Who is Ed Gein?

How Was Texas Chainsaw Massacre Created?

Some other short stories that inspired films - an article by another AC contributor.