The Oscars are in four days, which means that at least one of the Best Picture nominees is coming under fire. This go-around, it's Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker. Similar to what ex-husband James Cameron is facing, someone is calling foul on the facts portrayed in the movie, written by Mark Boal, who followed a squad of bomb defusers around as part of a Playboy article (which later inspired his screenplay). One of those soldiers, Master Sergeant Jeffrey S. Sarver has filed a suit against Boal and the film, claiming that the fictional protagonist Will James is instead a blatant representation of him (Sarver). He cites the fact that James' call signal is "Blaster One", which was his own call signal while stationed in Iraq, as well as a detail about James collecting pieces of dismantled bombs and keeping them beside his bed.
According to Boal, the claims have no foundation: he intentionally didn't buy the rights to Sarver's or anyone else's life story because he wanted the freedom to fictionalize the myriad stories he heard during his research.
"[These incidents] happen every day," he said when asked for comment. "It's what those guys do for a living." Ironically, at first Sarver had problems with Boal and the original Playboy article because he got several details wrong. This is definitely a sticky situation, a question of when you have to slap a copyright on certain facts and when you can acknowledge a collective consciousness that inspires shared stories in the face of duty and danger.
I definitely think that Boal should have covered his bases and obtained some rights from Sarver and other soldiers before shooting the film -- enough that these men, who were undoubtedly the inspiration in no small way, could get a share of the movie's profits, but not that they own Boal or any of the producers. What do you think?
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