Posted by ROCKET SCIENTIST at pcp126744pcs.medfrd01.nj.comcast.net on January 22, 2002 at 14:50:54:
In Reply to: Sicne you are johnny Answer Man... posted by Darth Dobbin on January 22, 2002 at 13:59:08:
: ...how comes it to pass that movies which are clearly autobiographical (or at least, semi-autobiographical) still have that disclaimer at the end about "This movie is a work of fiction, and ANY RESEMBLANCE OF CHARACTERS TO PERSONS EITHER LIVING OR DEAD IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL"...
: When this is obviously NOT the case? F'rinstance, it is no great secret that Joey Adams' character is IN PART based on Guin Turner, she of GO FISH fame. So to say that ANY RESEMBLANCE is purely coincidental is an out and out fabrication, no?
: Or, more to the point, in a movie like ALMOST FAMOUS, the characters are based on obviously real people, and SOME of the characters are the actual people..Lester Bangs, the Rolling Stone editor, etc. So how does making Jason Lee and Billy Crudup fictionalized versions of the Allman brothers meet the "ANY RESEMBLANCE" being "coincidental" clause?
: Riddle me that, Answer-man!
_____________________________
The disclaimer is there so the director and executive producers could say, in the event of a lawsuit, that they did not intend to harm anyone, slander anyone, libel anyone specific, etc.....
And by putting that disclaimer in the film masthead, it's an EXPLICIT statement from the official people that may or may not supersede the actual references in the movie. It's just an extra arrow in the quill for the defense team in the event someone files a lawsuit.
In cases where the disclaimer is clearly contrary to the movie's storyline and character references to actual persons in real life, then that disclaimer would not hold much water in court.
Anybody can write a disclaimer about anything. I don't understand your question. There's no REQUIREMENTS OF TRUTH that a producer/director must meet in order to include that disclaimer in a movie.
ROCKET