Why The Fictional Embellishments?

I couldn't agree more, I've asked the same question on other boards in the past with some interesting answers. I think it's a simple fact that there are so many over the top fictional characters in films today that they must feel the need to exagerate, not realising that the truth if properly portrayed is often much more interesting than fiction, But can we handle the truth??? that is the question, (I think I can)

I think a primary reason as to why facts are embellished upon,, exaggerated, or sometimes glossed over in biopics because sometimes, in terms of drama and storytelling, the facts are boring. When people put their money and reputations into making a movie, it's still about the bottom line, it's still about the movie money and if making a movie successful at the office requires some dramatic license, that's what the filmmakers are going to do. If you want the facts, you can go to the library and read a book.

My answer could look strange but sometimes maybe it's because the director loves the character too much that they don't want to make him look bad or maybe they need to make things over the top so people can have a hero and a Villian.

The OP hit upon one of the basic and inherent problems of the genre. This is why, in my opinion, Todd Haynes' I'm Not There was so interesting, in that he eschew the usualy dramatic demands of a film, and goes for something else, presenting the NOTION of Dylan, and not a fictional character supposed to be him.

I want to shake every limb in the Garden of Eden
and make every lover the love of my life

So many directors are guilty of it or sometimes the people who write the material on which is based on the Biopic like The Other Boleyn girl.

Philipa Gregory is very well known for her hate towards Anne Boleyn and in all her stories she is portrayed as a manipulative Bitch.
And Mary was seen as a saint.

Sometimes the embellishments are for entretainment porpous and I've thought that sometimes directors just use historical figures to make a new interesting and original story.


People sometimes confuse true Biopics with movies with historical figures.

True Biopics were the Queen, The Kings Speech, the Libertine, Elizabeth the aviator
Which try to get as close as possible to the real character.

On the second case fictional films with historical figures
Tell us an invented story with just a few details from reality like Shakespere in love, Quills, the other Boleyn Girl and many others.

And now that I think about it's in the second case where we see to much of those Emebilshments.
If you see the series the Tudors it was pretty neutral, the aviator and a beautiful mind were perfectly neutral.

Why the fictional embellishments? Because biopics are works of fiction. The purpose is not to reconstruct history but to take elements of history and shape them into a workable drama.

Art isn't about recreating facts exactly. It is about creating a subjective interpretation of facts to tell an interesting story and/or illuminate a greater point.

I find Oscar Bait infinitely more interesting than ticket bait