Based on a True Story

From time to time you will see a movie that is supposed to be based on true stories. Some horror movies that claim to be based on true events include The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, The Entity, An American Haunting, and The Haunting in Connecticut. However, the validity of these stories is disputed. Most of them are based on anecdotal evidence. There’s a big difference between a movie being based on a “true story” and one that is based on something that really happened. Huh? Doesn’t "true" mean it actually happened? Not necessarily.

Any story can be considered a “true” story because it’s a story. It's a story someone read or heard about. Whether the events in the story actually happened is another matter entirely. Hollywood doesn’t say “Based on a True, Verifiable, Documented, Undisputable Story” because they could get in legal trouble.

There have been a number of horror movies loosely based on the lives of serial killers. That’s one thing. Those movies take actual people and fashion stories about them. Movies based on supposed demon possessions or hauntings are another matter. Wes Craven reportedly based A Nightmare on Elm Street on a story he read about Samoan kids who had bad nightmares and supposedly died from heart failure as a result of sleep deprivation. Even if that story is true, it sure doesn’t make Feddy Krueger real. It doesn’t mean that evil spirits can taunt you and torture you in your dreams.

Movies that are “inspired” by actual events are just that, they are only inspired by them. Anyone can put the tag “Based on a True Story” or “Inspired by Actual Events” at the beginning of a movie. These tags in no way mean that the movie you see is a detail by detail re-telling of an actual event. It’s Hollywood people. Hollywood isn’t interested in making documentaries that show both sides of an issue (and neither is Michael Moore for that matter). Hollywood is peddling entertainment. The producers, directors, writers, etc. want people to see these movies so they can all get rich and have expensive beach houses in Malibu.

While I was writing this blog, I read some forum postings on a few movie review sites about horror movies “based on a true story.” The people who challenged the idea that exorcisms, hauntings, and paranormal activities really happen were told they were too skeptical. One guy kept saying that he saw a ghost so that proves that the hauntings in these movies were factual. First, you can never be too skeptical when it comes to the verifying whether some supernatural thing happened or not. If we are seeking the truth, then skepticism should be encouraged, not disparaged. Secondly, even if someone saw an actual ghost, that in no way proves that all the hauntings shown in movies are based on fact. You can’t generalize from one instance.

The real problem with saying that since you saw a ghost means that ghosts exist is that it’s anecdotal. I could say I saw there’s a three-headed monster in my closet but you don’t know if I’m telling the truth or not. If you insist on seeing the three-headed monster, I could say that it’s invisible and only I can see it. Even if the three-headed monster really did exist, it isn’t proof for the existence of four-headed monsters, ghosts, demon possession, foretelling the future, or any other wild paranormal claim. Be smart people. The next time you see a horror movie that has the tag “Based on a True Story” at the beginning, just know that it may have been based on a story someone read or heard about, but that’s where truth and fact end for the next 90 minutes.