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Ripped from the headlines
DOI link for Ripped from the headlines
Ripped from the headlines book
Ripped from the headlines
DOI link for Ripped from the headlines
Ripped from the headlines book
ABSTRACT
This chapter examines biopics taken from contemporary news stories. Headliner biopics divide into two sub-categories: crusader-for-justice and criminal-victim narratives. In both instances, the films are hybrids of the biopic and the social problem film, dealing with contemporary social issues. Crusader-for-justice films focus on a heroic individual who fights to right some form of inequality, whereas the criminal variation deals with a person accused of a crime who is treated unfairly. Films analyzed in this chapter are I Want to Live! (Robert Wise, 1958), Silkwood (Mike Nichols, 1983), Boys Don’t Cry (Kimberly Peirce, 1999), Erin Brockovich (Steven Soderbergh, 2000), and Monster (Patty Jenkins, 2003).