Movies and the Truth

OK, this got started with me when a patron put a DVD on request. It was the 2010 Disney movie, Secretariat. He'd seen it before but wanted to enjoy a certain part of it again, and again, and again. It was the part, he said, rubbing his hands together gleefully, where the great horse, Secretariat, won against his rival, Shams, and the villain of the piece, the rival horse's trainer, Pancho Martin, squirmed in his seat and was pushed off, if you'll excuse the expression, his high horse. And I thought, "Pancho Martin is the villain of the movie?"

You'll have guessed by now that I haven't seen Secretariat. But, I had for some strange and bizarre reason, known only to librarians, run across a laudatory piece on Pancho Martin while researching on the net. It was about how, at the age of 85, he was still training winners and in his picture he looked like a real sweetie. He reminded me of one those friendly old codgers who come into the library from time to time and flirt with us elderly lady librarians a bit just to make a girl feel good. And nowhere in the piece did it cite bad behavior on his part toward Secretariat or Secretariat's owner or trainer or jockey or anybody else for that matter.

So my curiosity aroused, I went boldly out on the net again. And whew boy! Did I run into a storm of controversy that happened last October. Some reviewer on an online Magazine called Salon castigated the movie for basically making up stuff about Ol' Pancho. And then Roger Ebert of all people, struck back saying that the movie portrait of Mr. Martin was based on the book by Roger's good buddy and that the good buddy had notes and everything quoting Pancho Martin verbatim dissing Secretariat and so on. Then I find an article quoting Secretariat's jockey saying that he enjoyed the movie expect for how it portrayed his good friend, Pancho Martin, who was always a gentleman and never would have publicly said mean things about any competitor. He added that he was hurt by what the movie did to his good friend.

I suppose I should get to the point now. OK, it is this, just because a movie says that it is based on a true story, doesn't mean that it is the truth. This shouldn't have to be said, but for better or worse a "based on" movie does seem to supersede reality. Just ask Max Baer Jr. (better known as Jethro in The Beverly Hillbillies)what the movie Cinderella Man did to the reputation of his daddy, the fighter Max Baer Senior, who in his day was actually considered a hero for his beat down of Hitler's heavyweight champion while wearing the Star of David on his boxing shorts. But in Cinderella Man he had to be a snarling, bestial brutal bad guy, just to make the hero look more heroic.

It hardly seems fair. In fact, it isn't fair. But, I don't know how to make hack screenwriters stop doing this sort of thing, so if you like watching that scene in Secretariat where the arrogant loudmouth, Pancho Martin, gets his comeuppance, just try to keep in mind that the real Pancho probably didn't deserve it. OK?