From 'I, Tonya' to 'Cat Person,' Is 'Based On a True Story' Better?

Conor Friedersdorf recently argued in The Atlantic that in this moment, when the truth is bitterly contested, fiction presents us an opportunity. It allows us to step into another person’s perspective and talk about gray areas without the problems of detailing an actual person’s private moments. But does blurring the lines between truth and fiction undermine the messy complexities of the real world? David Sims and Megan Garber join to discuss the spate of recent pop culture that aims to recast reality.

Links

- “‘The Arrangements’: A Work of Fiction” (Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, The New York Times Magazine, June 28, 2016)

- “Remote Control” (Sarah Marshall, The Believer, January 2014 Issue)

- "Re-Examining Monica, Marcia, Tonya and Anita, the 'Scandalous' Women of the '90s" (Sarah Marshall, Splinter, April 19, 2016)

- “The Crown: Netflix's Best Superhero Show” (Sophie Gilbert, December 9, 2017)

- “How #MeToo Can Probe Gray Areas With Less Backlash” (Conor Friedersdorf, January 18, 2018)

- “'Cat Person' and the Impulse to Undermine Women's Fiction” (Megan Garber, December 11, 2017)

- “Aziz Ansari and the Paradox of ‘No’” (Megan Garber, January 16, 2018)

- “Dinner Discussion” (Saturday Night Live, January 27, 2018)

- “Grease Dilemma” (CollegeHumor, 2011)

- Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine (Joe Hagan, 2017)

- “One Day at a Time Is a Sitcom That Doubles as a Civics Lesson” (Megan Garber, January 17, 2017)

- An epic 200-plus tweet thread on Janet Jackson (October 23, 2017)

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