These “Based On A True Story” Movies Are Lying To You (Kinda)

Hollywood thinks that the line “based on a true story” makes their movies and TV Shows sound much cooler, so they seem to slap in on everything. In reality, many flicks that claim to be based on real events aren’t historically correct at all. To make the movies much more dramatic and interesting, the movie makers have to alter some details here, some lines there, and some impossible timelines too.
The result is a story that is quite different from what really happened. So let’s expose these “based on a true story” movies and see what they have lied to us. Here are 10 things that Hollywood flicks get wrong about the historical events they are based on.

1. The Real Jack Dawson From Titanic

Source: 20th Century Fox / Courtesy of Everett Collection

Jack Dawson never existed in the first place, and neither did his tear-jerking romance with Rose. James Cameron created Jack Dawson entirely from his imagination.
However, there was a real J. Dawson in real life. He was an Irishman named Joseph Dawson. He was in charge of bringing coal to the workers who worked in the furnaces and making sure that the coal would be evenly distributed to maintain the balance on the ship. Dawson eventually lost his life on board with other crew members.

2. The Elderly Couple in Titanic

Source: 20th Century Fox / Courtesy of Everett Collection

Another detail that was altered in the movie was the elderly couple who hugged each other when the ship started to sink. In real life, they are real Titanic passengers, Rosalie Ida Straus and Isidor Straus. However, they did not hug each other and waited for their death on their bed like what the movie showed us. Isidor and Ida were last seen together on the deck of the ship, holding hands, before a wave swept them out to sea.

3. PT Barnum’s past In The Greatest Showman

Source: 20th Century Fox / Courtesy of Everett Collection

The Greatest Showman is the story that PT Barnum would tell about himself. The majority of this movie is made up and it completely skips over Barnum's problematic past. One of his most famous victims was Joice Heth, an elderly black woman whom Barnum leased and marketed as George Washington's 161-year-old nursemaid. She was never mentioned in the movie.
Her fate in real life is terrible. Heth was completely blind, couldn't move easily, and had a lot of health issues. Barnum still bought her on tour and showed her off despite her terrible health. She died just months after becoming part of Barnum's show. The sickest part is that Barnum was still able to make money out of her body after her death by hosting a live autopsy for paying customers.

4. The Romance In The Greatest Showman

Source: 20th Century Fox / Courtesy of Everett Collection

Most of the romantic relationships in this film were also made up. In reality, Jenny Lind and Barnum kept things strictly professional between them. Zac Efron and Zendaya’s characters never existed. They were only created to discuss the racial tensions of the era.

5. Jeffrey Dahmer’s Glass In Dahmer

Source: Netflix / Courtesy of Everett Collection

Dahmer is not a movie, but it’s a show based on the most inhumane serial killers in history so it deserves a spot on the list. In the real trial of Jeffrey Dahmer, the infamous killer actually refused to wear his trademark aviators in court.
It’s his own cowardly way of running away from his crimes. He didn’t want to face anyone and without his glass, he couldn't see anything clearly. “He’s not wearing glasses so that he can’t see people. He panics,” Shari Dahmer said.

6. The Officers In Dahmer

Source: Netflix / Courtesy of Everett Collection

We are not sure why officers Balcerzak and Gabrish received ‘Officer of the Year’ after being reinstated in the show. They clearly messed up their work! Luckily, things happened quite differently in real life. They never got rewarded with anything, although they did get their jobs back after the incident.

7. The Number Of Soldiers In 300

Source: Warner Bros. Pictures / Courtesy of Everett Collection

The biggest lie this movie makes you believe is the number of soldiers in the Spartan army. Yes, there were 300 Spartan soldiers at the Battle of Thermopylae, but they were aided by the 7,000 other Greeks who allied with Sparta. So they got way more than just 300 fearless men.
King Leonidas’s insult to the Greeks calling them "boy lovers" is another detail that is very historically inaccurate. Spartans practiced a form of pederasty in their education system as a means of turning a boy into a warrior. The costumes in the movie, including the Spartan armor and King Xerxes’s look, are also horribly wrong.

8. The Whole Plot Of The Revenant

Source: 20th Century Fox / Courtesy of Everett Collection

The Revenant is based on a real-life incident that happened in 1823, but the bear attack is never mentioned by Glass. It was more of a made-up story from magazines and newspapers in 1825. There was also no evidence to suggest Glass had a Pawnee wife or a half-Pawnee son. Glass did go looking for the men who abandoned him, Fitzgerald and John Bridger, but he forgave them and moved on with his life.

9. John Nash From A Beautiful Mind

Source: Universal Pictures / Courtesy of Everett Collection

A Beautiful Mind never mentioned Nash's sexuality and relationships with other men or his illegitimate son. His marriage to Alicia wasn’t as great as the movie portrayed either. In reality, Nash wasn’t even asked to speak at his Nobel ceremony, but he later gave a short speech at a party without mentioning Alicia.
And most of John Nash’s hallucinations weren’t visual hallucinations. They were more like delusions with some auditory hallucinations like hearing voices.

10. Princess Isabella of France From Braveheart

Source: 20th Century Fox / Courtesy of Everett Collection

The timeline in this movie makes no sense whatsoever. In real life, princess Isabella of France arrived in England in 1308. There was no way that she could warn William Wallace about the Battle of Falkirk, which happened in 1298. On top of that, movie Isabella felt pregnant with Edward III after engaging in an affair with Wallace. The real-life Isabella of France was only nine years old at that time, and she was still living in France.
Those are details that these “based on a true story” movies lie to you. Speaking of changing the original versions, these characters also look a lot different from their book versions. Check out their differences here.