15 worst adaptations of real life incidents across movies and shows

Often, it is real-life incidents that inspire movies and TV shows. Sometimes the adaptation is quite accurate and all the events shown are exactly what happened. Combined with clever cinematography and a talented cast, these movies tend to do well. But a number of times these real-life adaptations turn out to be a mess. They are filled with historical inaccuracies and fail to give a clear and clever picture of how these events went about. Here is a list of the 15 worst adaptations of real-life incidents across movies and shows.

**Disclaimer: This article is entirely based on the writer's opinion. Reader's discretion is advised.**

15) Lucky Numbers (2000)

Lucky Numbers, released in 2000 is about the lottery scandal that took place in Pennsylvania in 1980. Somehow the direction of this movie has turned it from being a crime film to that of a comedy. It has introduced some heavily fictionalized characters and an even unrealistic plot twist. The movie fails to focus on the actual scandal and its consequences and instead tries to commercialize it by adding a false plot.

14) Billionaire Boys Club (2018)

Billionaire Boys Club is about a group of young boys in Los Angeles who try to orchestrate a Ponzi Scheme. The movie is about how these boys keep digging themselves deeper into a grave of crimes and focus on greed and ambition. Although based on real-life events, it has used inaccurate timelines and underdeveloped characters. If one manages to look past the historical inaccuracies, the movie is still bad because of its poor script and directing.

13) Gotti (2018)

Gotti, 2018 is another crime movie based on real-life events. It is about the life of John Gotti, who was the leader of a Mob in New York City. The movie centres around his relationship with his son John Gotti Jr. and the challenges he faces to continue in the footsteps of his father. The movie is severely criticized for its lack of coherence. There are a lot of inaccuracies in events and characters and has somehow glorified crime and violence instead of portraying its brutality.

12) Monsters (2022)

Monsters is a Netflix show about criminals like that of Jeffrey Dahmer and Lyle and Eric Menendez. The second season of the show is about the famous - Menendez Murder Case, in which these two brothers were accused of killing their parents. Although the show managed to gain much popularity and commercial success, it has been criticized for its excessive dramatization. Instead of focusing more on the courtroom drama and the facts of the case, the series has somehow managed to sensationalize these brothers with their lavish lifestyle.

11) The Kennedys (2011)

The Kennedys released in 2011 was a mini-series about the rise and fall of the famous Kennedy family. It focused on the life of President John F Kennedy, his wife, and their family members. The Kennedy family has been a famous name in politics for a number of years and while the series wanted to depict their life and impact, it managed to do so quite poorly. First of all, it has a lot of historical inaccuracy and has over-dramatized a lot of events to increase their emotional impact, like that of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Kennedy family dynamics is misrepresented and it has oversimplified political movements that were crucial for the show. In fact, the show has biased their production by portraying the scandals more instead of the legacy, the Kennedys left behind.

10) Jobs (2013)

Released in 2013, Jobs is a biographical drama about the founder of Apple – Steve Jobs. Starring Ashton Kutcher. The movie focuses on the founding of Apple by Steve Jobs and his friend in their garage. But the movie is filled with a lot of inaccuracies. Starting with historical inaccuracies to an inaccurate depiction of the personalities of the main characters, this movie is in a true sense, a bad adaptation. It has somehow skipped Steve Jobs' career, working in NEXT and PIXAR. It has toned down the vision and innovation that Steve Jobs had and simply focused on the crutch moments. It has even neglected to present Steve Jobs' personal life and the little it portrayed, it was over-dramatised for commercial purposes.

9) Badlands (1973)

Badlands is a movie based on the real-life events of 1958. It follows the serial killer, Charles Starkweather, and his girlfriend Caril Ann as they travel across the American midwest killing people. Although a commercial success, this movie is considered a bad adaptation because instead of portraying the brutality of the murders, they have somehow romanticized the relationship between these two serial killers. They have idealized the characters and simplified their cases. It has failed to focus on the victims and is filled with a number of historical inaccuracies. There is no psychological depth and a lot of events have been over-dramatised.

8) The Empress (2022)

The Empress is a historical drama about Elizabeth Von Wittelsbach of Germany. The series focuses on her reign as the emperor of Austria and her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I. This series is considered a bad adaptation because it failed to emphasize the political motivation behind the marriage of Elizabeth and Franz and portrayed it as a romantic relationship which it was not. The series has taken a modern feminist approach which was not that prevalent during the time of Empress Elizabeth's reign. It has added a lot of fictional subplots which have no basis in history.

7) The Hurricane (1999)

The Hurricane is a biographical drama about the life of Rubin Carter also known as, Hurricane. Rubin Carter was a professional boxer who was wrongly accused of killing three people. The movie follows his fight to prove his innocence. It is called a bad adaptation of a real-life event because it oversimplifies the legal procedures that actually happened during the court case. There is a misrepresentation of a lot of roles like that of detective, Vincent DeSimone. The film is filled with inaccurate timelines, and instead of trying to focus on issues like racism and corruption, it narrowed its focus on Carter's wrongful conviction.

6) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre released in 1974 is a horror film based on the real-life serial killer –Ed Gein. Although the movie claims to be inspired by real-life events, it somehow lost connection to the serial killer whose life they were trying to portray by introducing a cannibalistic family, trying to kill a group of friends on a road trip. The movie focused only on horror elements and failed to give any emphasis to the psychological reasonings behind Ed’s behavior. In fact, the setting of the movie is also fabricated and hardly shares any similarity with the real-life events that happened.

5) House of Gucci (2021)

The House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga is a biographical crime drama about lady Patrizia Reggiani who marries the heir of Gucci house and tries to gain control of their family business through betrayal. The movie has quite exaggerated the events and the actors have been criticised for their over dramatic performance. In fact, the depictions of the characters are also flawed and changed to fit the narrative of the movie. The movie has also somehow managed to glorify the murder of Maurizio Gucci.

4) Inventing Anna (2022)

Inventing Anna is a Netflix series about Anna Sorokin, a Russian con artist who posed as a wealthy heiress and infiltrated her way into New York's elite social circles. Although based on real-life events, this show is labeled as a bad adaptation. For the sake of its commercialization, the production added a lot of unnecessary and false drama. The movie glorified Anna and failed to show the harm she caused. It presents her as an antihero and gives a narration that makes the audience sympathize with her instead of giving significance to her fraudulent actions. It is even filled with timeline inaccuracy and there is a vast misrepresentation of her lifestyle.

3) Pearl Harbor (2001)

Pearl Harbor starring Ben Affleck is about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II. The film has been severely criticized for its overemphasis on a fictional love triangle and neglecting the main plot of the war. One of the biggest inaccuracies in the movie was the portrayal of President Franklin D Roosevelt giving a speech, which couldn't be possible at the actual time of the war as he was wheelchair-bound due to polio. The action sequences in the movie are also highly exaggerated with respect to the time the events took place and there is a significant misrepresentation of military protocols.

2) Braveheart (1995)

The Mel Gibson starrer, Braveheart is about William Wallace, a Scottish warrior in the 13th century. He is famous for leading a rebellion against King Edward I. The movie, although inspired by real-life events for the sake of commercialization, over-dramatized the actual events. First of all, it is filled with historical inaccuracies and some of the events depicted are plain fiction. The movie has overlooked the political dynamics taking place in Scotland at the time of the event which were quite significant. Moreover, it has also inaccurately depicted the costume and culture of the Scots. The movie has been widely criticized for misinterpreting the legacy of William Wallace.

1) The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The 2013 movie – The Wolf of Wall Street, although a commercial success directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio can be called a bad adaptation of the real-life events on which the movie is based. It is about Jordan Belfort, a stockbroker who used illegal means to make a fortune. The movie falsely glorified his lavish lifestyle, which was a result of criminal activities. Instead of focusing on the consequences of Belfort’s schemes, the movie focuses on other trivial issues. It is filled with historical inaccuracies and fails to present a clear picture of the crimes committed by Jordan Belfort.