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Some screenwriters want to write a story that is closely based on truth. Not quite autobiographical, but almost. Maybe they aren't writing about themselves, but say, their brother or father or someone in their immediate life.
The danger of writing about "something that really happened" is that you might pull your punches with the truth. You can't bring yourself to write the scenes that may be hurtful to the person you're writing about--even if the person is dead.
So instead of writing the scene truthfully, in a manner that reveals the hero to less than heroic, you temper yourself. Instead of making him look bad, you make him look, well, victimized or backed into a corner.
Doing this is idolizing your material. In life, we don't like our heroes tarnished, especially in the world of sports. In our screenplays, when we're writing about something personal--maybe too personal--we can't be afraid to tell it like it was. |
