Jayden Vaughn is a second-year journalism major and writes “The Community Chronicle” for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.

We are drawn to movies and shows based on real events. When the words “based on a true story” show up on our screen, most of us settle down and prepare for an intense and emotional journey that we’ll likely never be able to relate to. We love the drama, chaos and how realistic it all seems.

I  am one of these people and I won’t delude myself into thinking that I’m not. 

I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve watched my fair share of movies or television shows like this. There are a few that I was hyper-fixated on for weeks and had watched on repeat. I’m sure that there are a couple where I could recite entire scenes from memory. Not to mention the deep dive onto the internet where I would spend hours researching the real story behind the film. 

By doing this, I learned that many of the movies and television shows supposedly ‘based on real events’ are simply dramatized retellings for our entertainment. It’s funny how long it took me to put those pieces together. 

However, these dramatized retellings of real-life events, although entertaining, can alter our perception of the real story. They can inspire us to feel sympathy for the bad guys, romanticize those who don’t deserve it, and completely change how we view someone, all because of how they are portrayed to us on the screen regardless of truth. 

Media can twist our perception of people, characters and stories based on how they are presented to us in film. 

One of the best examples of this are true crime shows and movies. 

Crime is everywhere. It surrounds us. We see it on the news, our social media and sometimes even in person. But there’s something about watching a movie about crime that has us enthralled. However, the story we see portrayed on the screen is very different from what took place. No matter how horrible the crimes committed may be, our opinions of the case may change based on what — or who — we see on the screen. 

According to Ishaan D. Joshi, a forensic psychology and forensic medico-legal expert, cinema is not only a form of entertainment but also “a cultural force that alters our perception of crime and criminals.” In this article, Joshi claims that the way criminals are portrayed in the media is far from reality and can influence public attitudes, justice, policies and real-life offenders. 

Not only that, but this type of film can lead to us romanticizing criminals based on the actors that play them, regardless of their accusations, charges, or verdicts.

Movies such as Netflix’s “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” and “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” — both of which notably have conventionally attractive actors cast as the lead —  have caused people to leave mixed reviews about the notorious killers that the films are about. 

The film “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” shares the story of Ted Bundy, an American serial killer. Anyone sane would likely agree that he deserved the sentence that he got. However, the fact that Bundy was played by Zac Efron in the film had people fangirling over a convicted murderer.

The same can be said about “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”. In this ten-episode show, Dahmer is played by actor Evan Peters. Following the release of these pieces of media people were talking about Bundy and Dahmer as if they weren’t criminals, choosing to focus on the way the actors looked rather than the lives the actual criminals had taken. 

Not to mention that by casting actors that my generation and the next grew up loving, it’s easy for hybristophilia to kick in. This is when people begin feeling romantic or sexual feelings for criminals or the act of crime itself. By seeing a beloved childhood actor, it’s easy to forgive them for crimes that they didn’t commit, even if they’re just playing their role. 

All of this can be traced back to the “halo effect”. 

According to a Psychology Today article, the halo effect is when we let an initial positive judgment about a person unknowingly affect our perception of them as a whole. 

Beauty makes people more appealing and draws us in, making it hard to change our opinion about someone, even if we have every reason to. It can make us more susceptible to forgiving people who don’t deserve it. 

But true crime shows aren’t the only example of misconceptions in the media. 

The award-winning movie “The Blind Side” is also guilty of this but for entirely different reasons. Although this movie became one of the highest-grossing sports movies of all time, the public recently shifted their entire perception of the family and star featured in the movie.

News came out that there are many inaccuracies in “The Blind Side” with some being worse than others. This movie tells the life story of Michael Oher, who went on to become a professional football player for eight seasons and played for multiple teams, and how his life was supposedly changed by the Tuohy family that took him in. 

However, Oher claims that “The Blind Side” story was a lie and filed a lawsuit in August 2023.

A few minor inaccuracies within the movie might affect how we view Oher, such as how he was portrayed as not knowing how to read or write, having no idea of his athletic prowess, and a horrible depiction of how he was treated in the foster system. The movie made Oher look like he was helpless and unintelligent, which Oher claims was not true and likely hurt his NFL career in the process. 

More than that, the Tuohy family was made to seem like saints in the 2009 film for adopting Oher and making him an official part of their family. Not only were the Tuohy’s played by Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock, both of whom are famous celebrities, but other actors, such as Lily Collins, were also in the film.

Rather than adopt Oher, like they made him believe, an article claims the real Tuohy family tricked him into agreeing to a conservatorship, which allowed them to profit off Oher’s name and success. This allowed them to make business deals on behalf of the NFL star’s name without him knowing. 

Furthermore, the Tuohy family, consisting of Leigh Anne, Sean and their two children, profited from the 2009 movie. Oher, on the other hand, received no compensation from the movie about his own life story. 

Just because we are told a film is based on a true story, it doesn’t mean that we should take it at face value. Sometimes, the misconceptions that the media gives us can be blinding. 

We shouldn’t believe everything the media puts out for our entertainment. Just because a show portrays a convicted killer as handsome, charismatic and charming, it doesn’t make them any less a villain.  Just because a character is portrayed as a wholesome person, it doesn’t mean that they are inherently good.

We shouldn’t let our perspective be changed by a well-written script or an A-list cast — especially when those things stand in the way between us and the real story. 

Contact Jayden Vaughn via email at jayden.vaughn@bsu.edu.

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