The Puzzle of Docudramas — Pretty Much Pop: A Culture Podcast #167
When we’ve already heard about someone’s personal scandal in the news, do we need to also see it dramatized with A‑list actors? Your hosts Mark Linsenmayer, Lawrence Ware, Sarahlyn Bruck, and Al Baker discuss Todd Haynes’ 2023 film May December fictionalizing the long-aftermath of the much publicized Mary Kay Letourneau story.
The main events of May December are fictional (based on a story by screenwriter Samy Burch along with Alex Mechanik): An actress (Natalie Portman) researching her future role visits the renamed Letourneau (Julianne Moore) and her now-adult husband (Charles Melton), whom she seduced (molested) starting at age 12. So is this art film fundamentally unlike the other recent dramatizations that we touch on, including Joe vs. Carole, Inventing Anna, Dirty John, The Act, The Shrink Next Door, and The Thing About Pam? We also talk about Reality. as an example of films depicting how horrible it is to be arrested.
Note that while Amanda Knox’s story was made into a TV movie, the prestige TV drama version is still in process. Her podcast is called Labyrinths.
One of the articles we reviewed about May December is this one from Vox.
Follow us @law_writes, @sarahlynbruck, @ixisnox, @MarkLinsenmayer.
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