OT? Real people in fictional works
Richard
the last one I read where Vladimir Putin plots and maybe carries out
certain heinous crimes against humanity... Did he?
which leads me to ask:
Is the reader expected to believe the Putin episodes are drawn from
real life since he's alive and 'real'?
Do the episodes need to be true even though they have been written
into a work of fiction?
Are there legal limits under which authors like Higgins must operate
to avoid charges of slander?
Are there literary limits? (Imposed by whom?)...
obsessed!
de
Bev Vincent
"Richard" <2de...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:c41b07be-8708-4760...@k13g2000vbq.googlegroups.com...
It's much easier if the real person is dead, because legally you can't
slander the dead. That doesn't mean that an estate can't sue, of course.
If the person is living, you probably won't get into any trouble if you
portray them in a positive light. Even if what you right is true and
accurate, though, you mind find yourself defending what you write in court
if it's negative. (This is true of fiction and non-fiction.)
Even so, in this instance the author is writing fiction, so he isn't
constrained to report the actions of a character based on a living person
exactly as they happened. Johnny Smith shakes Jimmy Carter's hand in The
Dead Zone -- that couldn't have happened because one character is real and
the other is fictional.
--
Bev Vincent
www.BevVincent.com
Francis A. Miniter
Legal limits? Depends on the country. England has become
the home of the libel lawsuit, so much so that other
countries have told it it has to change, that it is impeding
free speech. In America, the law is probably best set forth
in Sullivan vs. New York Times, which held that a public
figure can sue for libel only if he/she is able to prove
malice. And the courts - in America - have held that satire
is a no holds barred free-for-all. If you want to have J.
Edgar Hoover on stage in a tutu, go ahead.
Episodes in any writing do not have to be true even if they
are not written into a work of fiction. Just look at Bush's
recent book, or Sarah Palin's fiction about herself. The
only literary limits to those fictional accounts of history
are those imposed by critics trying to remind Americans with
the memory span of a goldfish, that it did not happen that
way.
Literary limits? The history of literature has been the
history of finding limits and bursting through them.
Examples: The Marquis de Sade, Henry Miller, Pauline Reage.
The result is that later generations don't even know that
there were once limits in those realms. There are always
limits to be burst. It is the artist who recognizes where
they are and goes after them.
--
Francis A. Miniter
In dem Lande der Pygmäen
gibt es keine Uniformen,
weder Abzeichen, noch irgend welche Normen,
Und Soldaten sind dort nicht zu sehen.
Siegfried von Vegesack, "Es gibt keine Uniformen"
from In dem Lande der Pygmäen
Joan in GB-W
"Francis A. Miniter" <fami...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ig0r9j$aos$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Didn't Forrest Gump bump into real people on his journey through life?
Joan
Richard
> Dead Zone -- that couldn't have happened because one character is real and
> the other is fictional.
> --
>
> Bev Vincentwww.BevVincent.com
There are countless examples of fictional characters meeting real,
famous people, so I would guess if Putin speaks with a fictional
character, anything Putin says might be construed as ... fiction?
If it happened in the U.S. -- to a beloved leader for example, like
Bush (or Palin) admitting to the killing of someone famous (Kurt
Vonnegut), charges of slander would be as ridiculous as my example...
probably, but it would reflect on the person as a potential or
possible threat. Slander time, maybe?
I guess there are no real laws until someone decides to bring it to
court as both Bev and Francis have pointed out.
Dave in Toronto
Tom Clancy has Prince Charles and Princess Diana as characters in his
book _Patriot Games_ but the terrorist villains are the fictional
Ulster Liberation Army. I guesss he didn't want to offend the IRA.
Dave M
ConnieM
> "Francis A. Miniter" <famini...@comcast.net> wrote in messagenews:ig0r9j$aos$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>
> - Show quoted text -
And Zelig in the Woody Allen film? In newsreels, even? ConnieM
erilar
<823beac4-02cd-4646...@i18g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>,
Dave in Toronto <dmatt...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Tom Clancy has Prince Charles and Princess Diana as characters in his
> book _Patriot Games_ but the terrorist villains are the fictional
> Ulster Liberation Army. I guesss he didn't want to offend the IRA.
That could be dangerous, unfortunately.
--
Erilar, biblioholic medievalist
family
Joan in GB-W
"family" <brit...@bresnan.net> wrote in message
news:Nu6dnRsJjfC5hK_Q...@bresnan.com...
> As in President Abraham Lincoln the Vampire Slayer.
>
Lincoln was in Sahara, too.
Joan