1. TheDarkWriter

    TheDarkWriter Active Member

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    Is it wrong to write about real people?

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by TheDarkWriter, Feb 8, 2019.

    So a common trend I've noticed is for fiction to include things like the ghost of Jack the Ripper or like just now I was watching Supernatural and it had the ghost of John Wayne Gacey a real serial killer and seeing it had me wondering if it's okay to use real people from history especially when those people are serial killers.
     
  2. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Yes, it is OK morally. In some cases, depending on how long they’ve been dead and a particular state or country’s laws, you could have a right of publicity problem legally.
     
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  3. Fallow

    Fallow Banned

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    I don't think anyone is going to sweat disrespecting the memory of a serial killer. Where you are really pushing things is to take a respected public figure and sensationalize their lives - I don't know what the family of Masters and Johnson think about their TV depiction, for instance.

    Personally, if the public figure is a celebrity who sought fame professionally - I do not have a lot sympathy with co-opting those people as characters. Neal Stephenson's WWII depiction of Ronald Reagan tickles me pink.

    More regular people - like real people caught in a disaster - I would tread carefully out of respect.
     
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  4. TheDarkWriter

    TheDarkWriter Active Member

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    Well what I mean is that I am considering using Jack the Ripper as a main villain but I do not want to glorify a real life monster. I feel like it's wrong to in part glorify someone so evil.
     
  5. Fallow

    Fallow Banned

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    Well, it has certainly been done many, many times before with Jack the Ripper.

    But I don't know why a person is glorified by being the villain. But considering that we don't know anything about Jack aside from the evidence of his crimes, it is hard to say how a cult of personality could grow around him compared to a contemporary murderer that we know a lot about.
     
  6. DarkPen14

    DarkPen14 Florida Man in Training Contributor

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    Jack the Ripper has almost nothing known about him other than he likly had a medical background. You could get away scott free from using him as your villain, because it would very likely be a different person entirely.
     
  7. Kalisto

    Kalisto Senior Member

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    Yes, it is. A lot of serial killers have transcended into myth. However, I would very highly suggest that you would carefully research these figures. A lot of the disrespect that happens is when creating mythologies from these individuals is when the writers don't actually know the truth themselves. So what they rely on is cliches.

    I would also suggest watching the documentaries on "Cropsy and "Killer Legends." Both are on Netflix and Hulu. They are very informative of how urban legends form from reality, yet still remains just as terrifying as the original. That will help you not cross into glorifying territory and really capture true horror.
     
  8. seira

    seira Member

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    No, I don't think it is. I mean, I don't write about real people because it takes the imagination out of it for me but I might write about a life experience, event, personality trait in someone and put that into my character. I tend to observe things about the world around me, it's my only talent ha haha.
    Like I noticed at a very early age that a person's strength and also be a huge weaknesses. My Mum taught me this. My mother is very assertive with people, she can be quite bossy and wont take an ounce of crap from anyone. At time this attitude has worked in her favour and her assertiveness has saved her from people taking advantage and got things achieved with lack luster people. Other times it caused her more hassle, and she tends to go over the top sometimes or react too fast and seem prickly.

    So yeah.
     
  9. Woodstock Writer

    Woodstock Writer Senior Member

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    My second novel has a main character based on someone I used to know. She even has the same first name. I thought about changing the name, but I know the character through that name now. I don’t think she could be traced back to the real person, though. The similarities are that she is gorgeous and a bit of a bitch. But the character in my book is a different age, and the main point of the book is that she has a mental illness. The real one doesn’t, as far as I know. I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t recognise it as herself if she read it.

    The other thing is that this person and I weren’t close (I just totally had the hots for her). It’s been nearly 2 years since I saw her. I’m only half-way through this novel and even what I’ve written needs major improvement. And I’m still working on my first novel. So if I get anywhere with this second one, it will be years off, and she’ll have forgotten all about me by then (if she hasn’t already!)

    So I think it’s fine....
     
  10. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    I like to include famous people of infamous people in my fiction. I'm pretty light handed with it in the actual text, but it is something I do often. It's interesting to take a well-known figure and drop them into my made-up world.
     

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