Capote (2005)

Traditionally biopics are made to glorify their subject. Any and all “dark” aspects of a person’s life are either ignored entirely or treated as obstacles that had to be overcome in order to achieve greatness. This is not the case with Capote. But then again this isn’t really a film about Truman Capote, he is merely the vehicle used to explore a more philosophical idea. This is a film about the ethics of authorship. What responsibility does an author have for his or her characters and their fate?

When you’re dealing with fiction, the moral implications are pretty small. Fiction writers can safely indulge their God complex by pardoning and punishing characters as they see fit and nobody takes notice outside of literary critics and university students. But what about non-fiction? What are the moral ramifications of those authorial decisions when the author is a real life participant in the narrative and has the power to control how things will play out? We are no longer simply dealing with hypotheticals. Real lives are in the balance and even the smallest decisions can have grave ramifications. It is easy to send someone off to die when they are nothing but words on a page, it is much harder to do when they are flesh and blood.