"The Butler"

[DaveNV]

With these "historical" movies (like Lincoln, The King's Speech and so on), I always wonder how much is actually historical and how much is fiction. Obviously dialog is fictional until someone was there actually videotaping!

I wish they would/could put a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie that this movie is mostly fiction, mostly historical, about 50-50, etc. I think people usually suspend their disbelief when watching such movies and often thing the movie is mostly accurate. It seems like the Butler is mostly fiction as it is billed as "loosely based" on actual events.

As I understand it, "The Butler" was "inspired by the real-life account of Eugene Allen." The term "inspired by" immediately makes it a fictionalized story, even though some true events may be included in the storyline. Everyone who is thinking this is a play-by-play, true account of every little thing that happened, as it happened, is seriously asking a lot from a movie.

Relax, have some popcorn, enjoy it for what it is, and let it go already.

Dave

 

[Kay H]

True or fictional, I enjoyed the movie.

 

[MULTIZ321]

"The Butler": Where's Jimmy? - by Hendrik Hertzberg/ The New Yorker.com

"“It’s really bad,” a friend of mine, himself a Hollywood screenwriter and director of note, told me the other day. “And it’s really good.”

He was talking about “The Butler,” the new Lee Daniels picture, and he was, in my opinion, absolutely right. More about that presently.

First, though, a question: Where was Jimmy Carter? (And why do I ask? Special pleading. I was one of his speechwriters...)

Richard