Nothing Has Been Proved

The Profumo scandal still exerts a curious hold on British history and culture.  A British cabinet minister, John Profumo,  had a brief sexual relationship with a young woman (Christine Keeler) who, I believe, accepted gifts from him, but was not paid for sex per se (if accepting gifts was the definition of prostitution then there is a lot of it about).  She also slept with a Russian embassy attaché.  This allowed a national security angle to be used as justification for a story about young women and sex.  Christine Keeler went to prison for perjury and led a chaotic life afterwards.  Her mentor, Stephen Ward, committed suicide before the verdict of his trial for living on immoral earnings came in (by any modern standards the trial was a disgrace, but the establishment protects its own). 

(Christine Keller – not nude, however it looks).

Profumo lost his job for lying to the House of Commons (these days it is de rigeur for ministers, even the Prime Minister, to do that) but did charity work and was rehabilitated, to the extent that he was awarded a CBE by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.  No such redemption was there for Keeler, the victim in the affair.

There have been at least two dramatisations of the events – the film Scandal in 1989 and the recent TV series The Trial of Christine Keeler.  The former starred Joanne Whalley and John Hurt, the latter James Norton and Sophie Cookson, heavyweight stuff.  (It was also tangentially featured in The Crown.  The Duke of Edinburgh was alleged to be involved in underground sex parties, he definitely had multiple affairs in the 1950s, as part of an upper class group who believed the rules that bound the plebs did not apply to them – sadly not something that has changed in British society).

(Joanne Whalley)

Putting aside the misogyny of the Profumo affair a question that frequently bothers me is how true how are these dramatisations?  There are many dramas based on real events and as I get older they cover events that I lived through.  Often you see a disclaimer that they are based on a real story (the recent film Bad Education does this and changes the story in many ways, but it was not a famous story in the way that others are). 

The stunning TV series Chernobyl, which if you have not seen you really should, admits that it combined some characters to simplify the narrative.  Mostly this was to use one scientist rather than a team.  Apart from that it was, horrifyingly, accurate.

Then there is the film Bohemian Rhapsody (BR).  Jukebox musicals started at the theatre with shows like Mama Mia, taking a famous artist’s songs and constructing a story round them (Queen had it done with We Will Rock You).  The next step appears to be making a film of a famous group or artist’s life, which has the benefit of a built in fanbase plus a huge number of famous songs.

There comes a point where changes to the story aren’t just a simplification of the narrative but actually rewrite history.  This is particularly egregious as many people will see it as a true story and believe the lie that they have been fed.

At the start of BR it is implied Freddy just met the other members of Queen and they are not sure about him.  In fact, he had known the band for over a year and had been singing in other bands.

The marriage proposal was far more lighthearted in the movie than in real life, which underplays his homosexuality (and in some countries the director edited it out totally).  Believe me, no one in the late 70s and early 80s doubted Freddie was gay, even though he only came out on his death bed.

Worst though it shows Queen breaking up after Hot Space (admittedly a poor album by any measure – does anyone remember Bodylanguage?).  Then it shows Freddie wanting to get back together for Live Aid as he had been diagnosed with AIDs.  Queen never broke up – in fact, their tour ended just weeks before the show.  The AIDs diagnosis was years later.  This conflation of outright lies appears to just be to show Freddie hitting bottom and then having a reconciliation with his faux family and a triumph at Live Aid.

What a pile of bollocks.  Let’s not get started on Rocketman.  At least it takes a more fantastical look at Elton John’s life using him as an unreliable narrator.

On a more serious note there is the film Munich.  This probably Stephen Spielberg’s least successful film, though it got some Oscar nominations.  It is not the story of the 1972 Black September terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics.  It is the story of Israel’s illegal operation to hunt down and execute Black September members that they believed had been involved in the planning (not the actual operation – the German army killed all of them).  It is misleading because it looks like, despite its illegality, it is justified vengeance.  It leaves out the fact that they executed at least one man who was nothing to do with it.  A totally innocent victim – leaving this out is materially distorting of the image of the assassins.  

How close to reality should dramatisations be?  How far should be able to move away before they should have a bloody huge disclaimer on them?  In a world of short attention spans and easy media consumption it appears the norm will become sanitised, easy versions of history.  Like a children’s version of an adult novel.

Dusty Springfield did the music for Scandal, as part of a deserved 1980s comeback.  This is from the 60s.

I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself