Introduction
Writing about real people, especially when adapting their stories into scripts, poses a number of ethical challenges. As filmmakers and storytellers, it’s important to handle these real-life subjects with care and respect, balancing the creative liberties of storytelling with the responsibility to protect the dignity, privacy, and integrity of the individuals involved. Here’s a look at some key ethical considerations when writing about real people:
1. Informed Consent
- What It Means: Informed consent means ensuring that the people whose stories you are telling are fully aware of how their lives, actions, or words will be represented, and have given permission for you to share their personal experiences. This is especially important when the subject matter is sensitive or private.
- Why It’s Important: This not only respects their autonomy and privacy, but also protects you as a creator from potential legal issues. If the individuals or their families have not consented to their portrayal, it could lead to defamation claims or hurt feelings.
- Best Practices: Seek consent in writing, explaining how their story will be represented, what elements may be fictionalized, and the potential impact of the portrayal. If you’re unable to get direct consent, consider whether telling the story is appropriate, and seek alternative approaches like anonymizing characters or using composites.
2. Accuracy vs. Dramatic License
- What It Means: Striking a balance between staying true to the facts and adding fictional elements for the sake of storytelling is a constant ethical challenge. While it’s tempting to take creative liberties to craft a more engaging story, distorting the truth could harm the individuals involved or misrepresent the real events.
- Why It’s Important: Misrepresentation can damage relationships, reputations, and the legacy of the real people whose stories you’re telling. It’s vital to consider the potential harm your fictionalized story could cause.
- Best Practices: If you do need to fictionalize elements for narrative purposes, be transparent about it. Consider creating a disclaimer or including a message that clarifies the story’s fictional aspects. Always ask yourself if the changes enhance the story in a meaningful way, or if they are made at the expense of truth.
3. Respecting Privacy
- What It Means: Even if someone’s story is compelling, it’s essential to respect their privacy, especially regarding intimate, personal, or traumatic events. Just because someone’s life is public doesn’t mean everything is fair game to be told in a film or script.
- Why It’s Important: Exposing personal details can be intrusive and lead to emotional harm. It’s critical to consider whether it’s necessary to reveal certain aspects of someone’s life and how this might affect them or their loved ones.
- Best Practices: Always ask whether the details you’re including are truly essential to the story or if they’re invasive. If you’re portraying difficult or personal moments, be mindful of the way you present them to avoid sensationalizing or exploiting the subject’s experiences. When in doubt, err on the side of caution.
4. Cultural Sensitivity
- What It Means: When writing about real people, particularly from different cultural, ethnic, or religious backgrounds, it’s vital to approach their story with sensitivity and respect. This involves understanding the nuances of their identity, values, and experiences.
- Why It’s Important: A failure to accurately represent someone’s culture can lead to harmful stereotypes or cultural appropriation, and misrepresent their lived experience in a way that feels dismissive or exploitative.
- Best Practices: Do your research and, when possible, consult with people from the culture or background you’re representing to ensure an authentic portrayal. Avoid oversimplifying or generalizing the experiences of real people, especially when these experiences are tied to their identity.
5. The Right to Be Forgotten
- What It Means: Real people who have lived through significant events or personal struggles may not want their experiences shared publicly, especially after a certain period of time. It’s important to recognize their right to control their own narrative and decide when they are ready to share their stories.
- Why It’s Important: Writing about real people without considering whether they’re ready for their story to be made public can cause distress and harm, especially if the events were traumatic or sensitive in nature.
- Best Practices: Give people the space and time to decide whether they want their story told. In some cases, respecting their wishes might mean waiting for a period of time before proceeding with the adaptation or deciding not to tell their story at all.
6. Avoiding Exploitation
- What It Means: Telling someone’s story, especially if it involves pain, struggle, or adversity, should not be done purely for dramatic or commercial gain. Exploiting someone’s trauma or difficult experiences for entertainment purposes can feel like a violation of trust and humanity.
- Why It’s Important: Filmmakers have a responsibility to treat sensitive material with the care it deserves. Exploitation can tarnish the integrity of the project and harm the people involved.
- Best Practices: Approach sensitive material with respect and empathy. Be sure that the storytelling is driven by a desire to share something meaningful, rather than seeking to profit from the hardship or suffering of others. When focusing on a difficult or traumatic event, ensure that it’s part of a larger, thoughtful narrative rather than sensationalism.
7. The Impact of Representation
- What It Means: Stories about real people can have a lasting effect on how those individuals and their experiences are remembered and understood. The way a real person or event is portrayed can shape public perception and influence the cultural narrative.
- Why It’s Important: A misrepresentation of real events or people can perpetuate harmful stereotypes, misunderstandings, or inaccuracies. It’s crucial that the portrayal is fair and considers how the subject might be viewed by the audience.
- Best Practices: Be mindful of the larger implications of the representation. Take the opportunity to tell the story in a way that contributes positively to the understanding of the people involved, and ensures they are portrayed with dignity, accuracy, and depth.
8. Ethical Journalism Practices
- What It Means: Ethical journalism practices apply to storytelling that involves real people, especially when telling personal stories that may be sensitive. These practices emphasize fairness, transparency, and responsibility in portraying individuals’ lives.
- Why It’s Important: These practices are crucial for building trust with your audience and maintaining respect for the subjects of your film. When writing about real people, you need to ensure that the information is not misleading and that people’s rights are respected.
- Best Practices: Use reliable sources, verify facts, and give credit where it’s due. Avoid sensationalizing stories for shock value and maintain transparency with your audience.
Conclusion
When writing about real people, filmmakers are tasked with a delicate balance: respecting the subjects’ privacy and dignity while still telling an engaging, truthful story. Ethical considerations should be top of mind throughout the process, from obtaining consent and respecting privacy to portraying people in a way that is fair and culturally sensitive. By approaching real-life stories with empathy, responsibility, and respect, filmmakers can create work that resonates with audiences while honoring the people behind the story.