What do “The Exorcist”, “Amittyville”, and “Bloodsport” have in common? All based on a true story. All full of sh**. Like, completely. Outside “the house is real” and “Priests exist” and “kickboxing is a sport” these movies stories, and the people they were about were complete fabrications. I filmed my own scripts for classes in film school and stories I wrote frequently were about dates or hook ups - and frankly they were closer to “the true story” than “The Exorcist” despite not claiming to be “true stories”.

I know sometimes these trigger lawsuits, but usually if the movie makes money they don’t. I, however, think it’s really wrong. It spreads sometimes harmful misinformation to audiences who won’t bother following up. It sometimes is justification for propaganda being inserted in movies. It can result in deceptive marketing.

I know there are gray areas like “The Blair Witch Project” which merely pretended to be real during the ad campaign, but was clearly just a fictional movie. However, I think it’s a tacky thing Hollywood does too much of, and overall there should be a higher threshold for what warrants the “based on a true story” label.