Can I base a character on a real asshole?
I’m planning on writing a script about a character who is based heavily on somebody I know (a local comedienne), with a few other people thrown into the mix. As a character, I find her fascinating. Normally, I would just ask the person in question and they would most likely agree. However, the character in the new script is a big jerk, completely devoid of any empathy, tact, or manners, much like the real person. I’m not going to ask her if I can make a movie based on how big of an asshole she is, and I’m worried that she’s just the kind of asshole who would sue me if I did.
I’ve changed the name of the character, but I want her to be a comedienne, as this fits really well with the story. Most of the other aspects of the story are completely made-up, and I’ll probably only include a few situations based on real events.
Can I get in trouble for creating a character with the same personality and the same profession as the real person? How much can I get away with? Can I include things that this person has said in real life? This character is fascinating and needs to have her story told!
– Lex
Calgary, Alberta
Yes, you can get in trouble. She could sue you for libel, defamation — or the equivalent under Canadian law. By your description, she probably would sue, so you’ve really answered your own question.
Don’t poke bears.
As a writer, you’re naturally going to be drawn towards real-life people who are fascinating. That’s a good thing. Observe behavior. Figure out motivations and pathology. Then forget the real person.
Unless you’re writing a bio-pic, don’t base characters on anyone who actually exists. Not only are you exposing yourself to legal trouble, you’re ultimately shortchanging yourself as a writer. Real people are good in the real world, but you need characters that feel real in the universe of your story.
So stop thinking about this character as being the comedienne. Rip a photo out of a magazine and decide your character looks like this woman instead. What does her voice sound like? Where does she live? Is one of her neighbors stealing her mail? Is she trying to avoid her Bible-quoting brother?
Make her situation specific, and specifically different than the comedienne. It’s okay to admit to yourself that she inspired your character — inspiration is free to the universe. But every detail should be something you created, discovered, or wove in from the hundreds of other people you have studied. Your story will be better for it.
Filed under: Psych 101, QandA, Rights and Copyright, Story and Plot
Articles
February 24th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Somewhere, some time, there is a man exactly like Butch Coolidge in Pulp Fiction. There is a girl out there just like Juno, and there is a father just like Marlin in Finding Nemo. The differences are things like Juno being impregnated by a guy who runs track, Marlin being a fish, and the world is black and white outside of Butch’s taxicabs.
The point is: people can be similar. What they DO should not be. The writer referenced using real-life quotes from her muse — definitely avoid things like that.
February 24th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
So the legalese at the end of a movie or TV show about the characters being fictional and any resemblance to a real person being coincidental is not a catch-all?
February 24th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
This was a question that I’ve pondered frequently myself and the answer proved as reliably helpful and insightful as always. I’m always torn between some advice I heard Spike Lee give in a lecture about making things as specific to your experiences as possible while at the same time honoring what you and others have said here. Ultimately, the legal questions don’t weigh on me so much as the ultimate creative product…and I think as you describe using a heavy dose of reality and inspiration while at the same time completely inventing your own character that suits your own purposes sounds well reasoned.
Can’t wait to how the site (and its clutch usefulness) evolve as you hire the technical assistant.
Thanks!
February 24th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
How does a movie like “W” fly then?
I can’t remember hearing a peep out of George W. Bush. Could he have sued?
February 24th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
This past August, my writing partner and I decided we had spent enough time in front of a computer and wanted to actually film something. We’d both dabbled in videos with friends, and just quick shorts with no real production value before, so we decided to push ourselves and make a twenty page short.
We spent the next month working on the script (A romantic comedy based off of several weird relationships I’d gone through the past year) and critiqued every single line of dialogue and action to ensure it was the best we could do at that time.
We assembled a crew, held auditions (Utah is home to many would-be actors/actresses, and film students who will work for credit and food. I also manage a Deli so that was easy) and rounded up all the equipment we needed. All-in-all, it ended up being one of the best experiences I’ve had in my short film career, despite the many flaws of a first attempt to direct a mid-sized production, there was one major flaw: My characters.
We gave them their own lives, we knew what they would do in every situation, the only problem, they weren’t interesting enough to make you want to know or even care what was happening to them.
Afterwords, I showed the script to a friend who said, “It’s a good story, but your characters suck. Someone once told me ‘A good character should be a normal person in an extra-ordinary situation, or an extra-ordinary person in a normal situation’.”
So all-in-all, even though my characters were based on real people, that many people find interesting in real life, they sucked pretty hardcore in front of a camera. That was one of the most important lessons I learned from that experience. That and verifying the mic is on before you film two crucial scenes at sunset on the last day of production.
February 24th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Hey Johh,
I find the other part of the question more interesting. Can your main character be an asshole?
February 24th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
@Randall Bobbit –> Titus Andronicus –> Gregory House.
Uhhuh.
February 24th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
@Randall Bobbitt
I think the key is that they shouldn’t be JUST an asshole.
By the way, the example that popped into my head was Gilderoy Lockhart from the second Harry Potter book. J.K. Rowling has said on the record that he is the only character in the books who is entirely inspired by a real person, but she assures everyone that the real person will never guess that he was the inspiration.
February 24th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
@Tony:
That legalese is meant to discourage lawsuits from people who think they might get a payday. It doesn’t keep someone from suing.
@C:
You have significant latitude when writing about public figures. (Also, dead people.)
But laws differ overseas. One reason you may notice famous people filing libel lawsuits more frequently in the UK is that the standards are different.
February 24th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
@Jeremy Really? A person that vain wouldn’t fall into the Carly Simon trap?
February 24th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
What about Elliot Blitzer, the on screen representation of Oliver Stone in True Romance? I heard he was really upset about it, but I don’t think there was any legal action.
February 24th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Its really really hard to litigate a defamation claim against an artistic work. Especially a film. Most lawyers won’t even touch it. And, the cost to go through with taking down something like a film—even from a small theatrical run—is not accessible to most normal people. And, if the character is an asshole, the real life person most likely would not want the attention a lawsuit would bring. Its pretty much admitting you’re an asshole to the world (when before only a handful of people thought you were an asshole). So, unless you use the person’s name or likeness in the film, it is near impossible for a regular person to prove defamation. They would have to prove that because of your indie film, they were denied a job or subjected to emotionally abusive ridicule that prevented them from functioning normally. And a person who is in the public eye (like Bush) is fair game. You can ridicule him as much as you like. Songs, movies, puppets, interpretative dance. ANything!
I hope that helps.
February 24th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
@Drew
The (tongue-in-cheek) explanation she gives is that he’s probably out telling people that he inspired the character of Dumbledore or that he wrote the books and is allowing her to take the credit.
February 24th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
Great topic. What of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’? Isn’t Miranda Priestly a thinly veiled Anna Wintour? (same job description – same basic character details at least from the jumping off point.)
February 24th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
A commedienne completely devoid of any empathy? Doesn’t sound right to me. Comedians are highly tuned into people. Maybe there is something more to find out about her before you write about her, unless she’s just a one-dimensional cutout for your background.
February 24th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
I think you might be ham-stringing the writer here a bit with your advice. I think we’ve all based characters on people we knew (while changing the details to suit our story) and I especially think we’ve put things our friends and acquaintances have said or done into our stories. The one area I would be careful with is–don’t use any material from her stand-up act. That would most likely be copyright protected. It would also just be wrong to steal like that from another artist.
My two cents.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
I agree with Quinn above me about this. Lots of great characters are based on real life people. The Coen Brothers famously based “The Dude” in The Big Lebowski on a guy they knew. Yes it’s important not to make the character EXACTLY like the person in that he has the same profession or steal whole phrases this person has said, but mostly you have to get to the essence of “who is this person?” What is he about? How does he talk? What does he talk about? Comedy writers like me thrive off of being inspired by people you see. A guy I know is a huge meathead and kind of a sexist pig. He’s hilarious, and when I wrote a character inspired by him I kept the spirit of what this guy is, but I made up everything else. Actually, you have to exaggerate even more. Because as funny as the guy is, he isn’t quite funny enough. So while I agree you have to be careful as John pointed out in his answer, I think there is a lot you can use. Just be smart about it.
As for the whole asshole question. You can absolutely have a character who is a total asshole. The tricky thing is making this asshole likable. Which can be done. If this asshole isn’t an antagonist like what would be expected, you have to find SOME sort of redeeming quality about him. Or tinge his or her assholeyness with some sort of undercurrent of self esteem issues or whatever. If you want the audience to hate the asshole. Fine. Don’t make him likable in anyway. But if he’s your main character, even if he doesn’t succeed in being a good person, make the audience want him to be a good person. Look at the characters in Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm. They’re assholes. But they’re doing and saying things you wish you could say. And so you relate to them. And like them.
Alright. Enough with my rambling opinion.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Thanks for the (quick – wow!) answer, John. I think I’m on the right track – I just need to let the character stew for a bit more before letting her loose on the world :-)
The comments so far have also been very helpful. Thanks, folks!
@Randall Bobbitt: Think David Brent from the UK version of The Office, or to a lesser degree Michael Scott from the US version. There’s a certain kind of pathos in them. Plus, both need an everyman that the audience can identify with, which I’ll probably end up including as well.
Also, the protagonists in Lord Of War and Thank You For Smoking are self-centred assholes, they just have lots of charisma and are very persuasive.
@eve: I changed some details when I asked the question to protect the guilty. The important part is that the proposed character is an artist, performing in the same genre as the real person, and both are assholes (which I’ll probably change now that I’ve read John’s answer :-) )
February 24th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
I once wrote a character who was inspired by a college roommate of mine (I’m sure many of us writers could say something similar). But as I wrote the screenplay, the story changed a couple times and the character really came into his own as I made him fit the new circumstances. The similarities between the character and my old roommate never totally went away, and the crux of what inspired him still remained — but in the end, he became a character well crafted for that particular story. My roommate may have inspired the character, but the story was better serviced by what the character had become.
There’s nothing wrong with someone inspiring a character, but IMO, screenplays get better when you use those inspirations simply as starting points. Characters only get more interesting from there.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:26 am
This is a fascinating question. All characters are based upon composites of people I know or have known, but I wouldn’t say that any of them are definably THAT person. I mean, by the time they are exaggerated through the distorted mirrors of my mind, they’re entirely different people.
February 25th, 2010 at 3:19 am
The only law course I ever took in college was on media and entertainment law. I remember discussing this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazed_and_Confused_%28film%29#Lawsuit
At the very least you should change the characters’ names.
February 25th, 2010 at 7:34 am
Mostly I just wanted to suggest that “Don’t Poke Bears” should be put on t-shirts and sold from your website.
But, CITIZEN KANE! Total asshole, totally based on Hearst, and Hearst did everything he could to destroy that movie.
February 25th, 2010 at 8:18 am
In my opinion, writing about a real character is for practise. Many folks do it and give the book, and some times they get away with it. It seams to me – it
s not to be published if youre having any other great ideas. I wouldnt.I just tried to be the best nemesis and get some champagne. The stranger than fiction complain was genuine. : John, if you write about stereotypes, and try to trick them, are that about spesific persons? … I just try to save my own ass by now… btw: -I
d do southpark (these are not based on...) but I didnt do any legal search on them in spesific. My script about a real character stays in the script face. It`s just not cool trying to get money on a real persons misery. Ask the person, maybe they like you and dig the story.I wouldnt mind. We are all clowns anyway, trying not to hurt eachother. But that
s my personal opinion. Id take feedback on that.February 25th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Defamation and libel is very hard to prove in any context, but especially in the creative arts arena. Further, Lex is assuming that the script will actually be produced, which leaves time for a lot of clever people (including lawyers) to go through the script with a fine-toothed comb, nixing (or fixing) words and phrases that others in this thread have already announced is a bad idea (i.e., avoid real names and actual quotations from performed acts or published material). Even if said asshole sues, there would likely be no real intent to defame and no real damages, and the case would probably not survive summary judgment (in other words, it’s going to get thrown out). Bottom line: John’s advice is very conservative and not necessarily bad advice. But the argument can be made that the least of your challenges with the whole journey from idea in the head to film in the can is the very miniscule chance that any real/legal costs will be incurred by you based on someone’s hurt feelings, years from now. Name one non-public layperson that has actually won a defamation/libel suit against a script-writer, assuming the writer has vetted the script before shooting? Very very rare, and probably not worth worrying about at this nascent stage.
February 25th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Great tip.
February 25th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
If this person is really that inspiring to you, let her inspire you! : ) In the end, it’s all about identification. ; )
February 25th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
I really appreciate your posts, John. But I didn’t understand this last one.
What about “the characters and events depicted in this movie are ficticious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. ” on the credits of any film ?
I would like, if possible, you wrote a post more precise about lawsuits regarding the film industry in the US.
Below I found it on IMDb about the movie “Twelve Monkeys”.
“Artist Lebbeus Woods claimed that the interrogation chair in the movie closely resembled his 1987 illustration “Neomechanical Tower (Upper) Chamber” and managed to get a court to stop the movie 28 days after its release. He eventually settled with Universal for a six-figure sum.”
That’s weird. But about a character it would be much more insane. I just didn’t understand why you were pretty conservative.
February 26th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
A recent movie to look at is 500 Days of Summer which begins:
“NOTE: THE FOLLOWING IS A WORK OF FICTION. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL. ESPECIALLY YOU JENNY BECKMAN.”
The writers have also said that Jenny Beckman is a real ex-girlfriend and the basis for this character.
Does anyone know anything else about this? Could she/will she sue?
February 26th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
I found a novel situation where this happened…
Welch v. Penguin Books… Welch lost:
“The court found that on the one hand, it is an “accepted fact that writers create their fictional works based on their own experiences,” such that actual persons are often “prototypes” for characters, but that on the other hand, fictional works by their nature carry with them a “presumption of invention” which makes it impossible for reasonable readers to assume that they are truthful biographies.”
http://www.smithdornanshea.com/RealTime.cgi?case_id=welch_v_penguin&category=MEDIA+COVERAGE&doc_id=19910507-new_york_courts_&merge=cases%7Cdocument
February 26th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
I found another situation where the writer lost, but only because almost EVERYTHING about the character was the same:
“Plaintiff Lisa Springer alleged that there were remarkable similarities between herself and the fictional Lisa Blake in Robert Tine’s State of Grace, including height, weight, and physical appearance, a common address, shared experiences and relationships, common abilities and recreational activities, similar dating preferences, common friends and acquaintances, the same taste in jewelry and an identical habit of regularly and methodically plucking and collecting her eyebrow hair.”
February 26th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Another great article:
“Can a Fictional Article Contain A Libel?
Libel is defined as a false statement of and concerning the plaintiff that inflicts damages. Under this definition, can a fictitious article count as libel? There are two reasons to think it cannot.
First, fiction arguably does not make a “statement” in the sense that nonfiction does. A “statement” makes an assertion about the real world, whereas fiction describes a different world that does not really exist. Second, and similarly, fiction arguably is not “of and concerning” the plaintiff in the way that fiction is because it doesn’t refer to the real world; thus, it cannot refer to actual people such as the plaintiff.
Yet, despite these two impediments plaintiffs have at times claimed that a fictitious article is also libelous — though they have done so only very rarely, and with little success. These cases have often turned on how closely the fictional character actually resembles the real person who claims to have been libeled.”
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hilden/20031209.html
PS – My apologies for the relentless posting. I’m intrigued by this subject and hopefully you guys find these bits interesting as well :)
February 26th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Oh, write her exactly as she is except for the name.
She’ll be a great character and she CAN’T do a thing about.
Don’t listen to timid advice GO FOR IT!
February 27th, 2010 at 8:14 am
Couple of things:
–Elliot Blitzer isn’t supposed to be Oliver Stone. What?!? “Floyd” had more basis in real people then that guy. –The Saul Rubinek character, Lee Donowitz (who Tarantino has now confirmed is the nephew of Donny Donowitz from Inglorious Basterds, amusingly) WAS turned into a clone of Joel Silver by Tony Scott. Silver supposedly loved it.
–I can’t remember what film review it’s from, but Pauline Kael was discussing roman a clef-type stories of the rich and powerful in America, and wrote something like: “What would this genre do without Howard Hughes, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, and Jack Kennedy?” From the 50s to about the early 80s, American mass media is JAMMED with thinly disguised fictional versions of famous, often very much still living people. The fact that Hughes or the Jean Harlow estate or Jane Russell never sued anybody over The Carpetbaggers (book OR movie) proves how much popular fiction can get away with….
February 27th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
@C (#4):
People who are considered “public figures” (politicians especially) don’t have the same rights to sue for libel and slander as private citizens do.
W probably wouldn’t have sued anyway; I’ve noticed he tended to ignore criticism no matter how outrageous and over the top. He never publicly commented even about the “Bush=Hitler!” signs at the “anti-war” rallies and the film fantasizing about his assassination.
February 27th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
If this person decides to sue, even though you were “inspired” and do not use the real name, can’t you just simply say this person is paranoid?
No one said it was about you.
March 1st, 2010 at 10:46 am
Bush tended to ignore criticism no matter how sensible and accurate as well. In fact, he tended to ignore common sense and reality too.
March 1st, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Citizen Kane The Devil Wears Prada Swimming With Sharks
Plenty of precedent. Just make her different “enough.”
March 1st, 2010 at 2:18 pm
One day producers will be fired for acting like a guy getting dicks up his ass. -a smooth “fuck you”, from your`s truly. As a goodbye before I go into therapy. John August can write about anything, and use any methaphor he likes. Go hollywood. Asshole.
March 1st, 2010 at 6:08 pm
@aBs: Wow – thanks for the links/info!
@Mark Franek: If I end up writing the script, I’ll also end up directing it myself. It’ll be a no-budget indie project, so there really won’t be lawyers, etc. looking at it until we try to find a distributor for it. I want to maximize its chances of getting seen, so that’s why I wanted to get rid of any concerns at this stage rather than later on.
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:11 am
@ Garret / Lex,
Or just make sure they can actually laugh about it–
Ari Gold is a real person, (who really would blow up a planet to test his laser), but he actually has a sense of humor about it.