Random Films About Historical Figures That Got Blasted By Their Family And Friends (14 items)

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  (#8) The Theory of Everything

  • Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Charlie Cox, Simon McBurney, Maxine Peake, Charlotte Hope, Tom Prior, Enzo Cilenti, Gruffudd Glyn

  Physicist Stephen Hawking's first wife, Jane, wrote about their life together in her memoir, Traveling to Infinity. Director James Marsh later used the book as source material for his 2014 film, The Theory of Everything.

  Jane claims she asked Marsh to be faithful to the events depicted in the book, but soon learned the filmmakers had taken liberties with their story, most likely due to the limitaitons of its runtime. "I knew if there were mistakes in the film that they were going to be immortalized, which they have been," Jane recalls.

  The movie includes her relationship and marriage with Hawking over a span of 30 years, but Jane claims it glosses over the events, and thus makes her feelings during the time period meaningless.

  She remembers:

  I'm sorry to say that none of these extensive travels - with all the organizing, packing for a family with a severely disabled member, transporting them, driving them, as well as the usual day-to-day care - really appears in The Theory of Everything. I asked for a frenzied fast-forward version - even simply getting all the suitcases, wheelchair and passengers in the car to represent this aspect of our lives - but I was told this was not possible because of the time constraints.

  Jane also alleges the movie glosses over the fact she gave up her own career to take care of her husband, depicting the couple parting ways in a clean and respectful manner - unlike the angry fight she describes in her book, full of screaming and bitter tears.

  "Don't ever believe what you see in films," Jane told attendees of the Henley Literary Festival.
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  (#10) The Doors

  • Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Kevin Dillon, Kyle MacLachlan, Frank Whaley, Michael Madsen, Kathleen Quinlan, Michael Wincott, Dennis Burkley, Josh Evans, Paul Williams, Christina Fulton, Crispin Glover, Billy Idol, Charlie Spradling

  Reactions from the real Doors members to the depiction of themselves and Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's 1991 movie, The Doors, vary. Both drummer John Densmore and keyboardist Ray Manzarek realized Stone took liberties with events and sometimes made things more cinematically dramatic.

  "I didn't remember all those naked girls running on stage," Densmore said. "If that had happened, I would have stopped playing, my God, and started a relationship!" He shrugged off any conflict with Stone's interpretation, calling the movie "a beautiful impressionistic painting of the times."

  Manzarek, however, took offense at the altered facts. "Jim didn't light Pam's closet on fire," he said. "He didn't throw a TV set at me... Jim never quit film school. He graduated from UCLA." 

  Manzarek felt the movie got Morrison's character wrong. "The film portrays Jim as a violent, drunken fool," he said. "That wasn't Jim. When I walked out of the movie, I thought, 'Geez, who was that jerk?'"

  Densmore pointed out the studio denied former film student Manzarek from directing the movie, possibly leading to Manzarek's negative reaction. "Ray was on Oliver so much that I don't know if he was allowed on the set for a while," he remembered. "He was trying to tell Oliver how to make the movie. Mainly Ray wanted it to be about none of the darker side of Jim. Well, that's ludicrous."

  Manzarek felt the movie focusing on Morrison's problems detracts from the band's message. "The Doors were about idealism and the '60s' quest for freedom and brotherhood," Manzarek said. "But the film isn't based on love. It's based in madness and chaos. Oliver has made Jim into an agent of destruction."
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  (#11) Nina Simone's Family Was Not Happy About Zoe Saldana Being Cast In 'Nina'

  In order to play legendary singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone in Nina, Dominican and Puerto Rican actress Zoe Saldana made her face darker and wore a prosthetic that flattened her nose.

  For Simone's daughter Simone Kelly, this echoed a painful reality in her mother's life. "My mother was raised at a time when she was told her nose was too wide, her skin was too dark," Kelly said. "Appearance-wise this is not the best choice."

  Saldana defended her acceptance of the role, saying, "It's more complex than just 'Oh, you chose the Halle Berry look-alike to play a dark, strikingly beautiful, iconic Black woman.' The truth is, they chose an artist who was willing to sacrifice herself. We needed to tell her story because she deserves it."

  Simone's family, however, refused to stop their complaints and repeatedly tweeted angry responses to the movie's trailer. Their backlash against Saldana continued after she tweeted the Simone quote: "I'll show you what freedom is to me - No Fear... I mean, really, no fear."

  The family responded, "Cool story but please take Nina's name out your mouth. For the rest of your life."
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  (#12) Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B

  The Lifetime channel often makes biographical made-for-TV movies that examine the lives of figures from popular culture, but it has a nasty history of disappointing its subjects' friends and family. Pat Houston railed against a Lifetime film about her sister-in-law, Whitney, by writing, "If you watch this movie, watch it knowing that Lifetime is notorious for making bad biopics of deceased celebrities and brace yourself for the worst."

  In 2014, R&B star Aaliyah joined Lifetime's infamously bad biopics, leading her family to speak out against the movie. Aaliyah's cousin, Jomo Hankerson, took offense that Lifetime failed to reach out to the family before announcing the movie's production and based their story on a biographical book written by Christopher Farley rather than the memories of those who knew her.

  Hankerson recalled:

  If this were 50 years from now and nobody was here, then okay, you can just use research, but people are here. So why not have conversations with the people, because they're here, especially when you're saying the word biopic and you're telling her story... I helped create the story. I was there for the story. Me and my dad weren't just bystanders, we put out every record she ever recorded. It's strange to not have that conversation with us.

  Hankerson also felt Aaliyah's story deserved a bigger treatment - one that only the big screen could provide. He added, "Is it really honoring Aaliyah to have someone else record her songs? Is it really honoring Aaliyah to do a movie where you know you didn't turn over every stone to make sure everything is accurate?"
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  (#2) Green Book

  • Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Sebastian Maniscalco, Dimiter D. Marinov, Mike Hatton, P.J. Byrne, Joe Cortese, Maggie Nixon, Von Lewis, Jon Sortland, Don Stark, Anthony Mangano, Paul Sloan, Quinn Duffy, Seth Hurwitz, Hudson Galloway, Gavin Lyle Foley

  Although Green Book received criticism after it won the Best Picture Oscar for depicting a "white savior" character, even more criticism came from the protagonist's real family, who claim the movie's story was entirely made up.

  Green Book depicts Black musician Dr. Donald W. Shirley (Mahershala Ali) as he travels through the Jim Crow South with his white chauffeur Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen). Throughout the movie, Vallelonga teaches Shirley how to connect with the Black community, embrace Black music, and eat fried chicken. It implies Shirley had no contact with his family, and he and Vallelonga forged a strong friendship. The movie was co-written by Nick Vallelonga, son of Tony, who most likely believed this plot to be accurate from his perspective. For Shirley's family, however, the film was entirely fictional and painful to watch. 

  According to Shirley's brother Maurice, the musician "had three living brothers with whom he was always in contact... There wasn't a month where I didn't have a phone call conversation with Donald." Maurice claimed the movie's events were even further skewed by the fact Shirley and Vallelonga never shared anything resembling a friendship. "He fired Tony!" Maurice added.

  "It was an employer-employee relationship," Maurice's wife, Patricia, said.

  For Shirley's niece, Carol, the movie was "a depiction of a white man's version of a Black man's life... to depict him as less than... and make the story about a hero of a white man for this incredibly accomplished Black man is insulting, at best."

  To make matters worse, Shirley's nephew, Edwin, claims his uncle never wanted a movie made about him and turned down requests decades ago. Although Nick and director Peter Farrelly insist the film is accurate and truthful, Ali reportedly called Shirley's family to apologize, saying, "If I have offended you, I am so, so terribly sorry. I did the best I could with the material I had. I was not aware that there were close relatives..."
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  (#3) Cinderella Man

  • Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Paddy Considine, Bruce McGill, Ron Canada, David Huband, Connor Price, Ariel Waller, Patrick Louis, Rosemarie DeWitt, Linda Kash, Nicholas Campbell, Gene Pyrz, Matthew G. Taylor, Jake Richards, Fulvio Cecere, Duff MacDonald

  The climax of 2005's Cinderella Man features protagonist James J. Braddock (Russell Crowe) fighting and beating Max Baer (Craig Bierko) to become heavyweight champion. While this is an accurate portrayal of what happened in reality, Baer's son Max Baer Jr. took offense at director Ron Howard's depiction of his father.

  In the movie, Baer is mean, bloodthirsty, and feels no shame about telling Braddock's wife he'll finish off her husband and then take her as his own wife. Baer Jr. claimed his father's personality was very different than that seen in the movie and was offended he had been turned into a villain. "I have great respect for Ronny Howard," Baer Jr. said. "But he never called me for any factual information about my father. They distorted his character. They didn't have to make him an ogre to make Jimmy Braddock a hero."

  Although the film accurately shows Baer wearing a Star of David on his boxing trunks, Baer also took offense to the movie failing to mention he did so to show solidarity with Jewish boxing fans in New York. Many members of the Jewish community believed Baer to be a hero after he fought and beat Max Schmeling, the pride of the Third Reich.

  In the movie, Baer brags about how he killed boxer Frankie Campbell in the ring, which helps cement him as the film's swaggering, hateable villain. But that incident was actually hugely traumatic for Baer.

  "My father cried about what happened to Frankie Campbell," Baer Jr. remembered. "He had nightmares. He helped put Frankie's children through college."

  Others backed up Baer Jr.'s claims about his father's personality, often referring to him as "lovable clown." Lightweight champ Tommy Loughran recalled, "Max was the most misunderstood fighter of them all. He was the nicest guy. He had the heart of a lion."

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