Flirting with Controversy: Making Biopics about Truman Capote
Based on a close study of the biopics devoted to writer Truman Capote, this article questions the expectations raised by films that feed on the voyeuristic desire to see into the personal lives of famous people beyond their public image. While literary biopics usually recreate the image of an author...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses universitaires de Rennes
2016-12-01
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| Series: | Revue LISA |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/8973 |
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| _version_ | 1841558346629382144 |
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| author | Delphine Letort |
| author_facet | Delphine Letort |
| author_sort | Delphine Letort |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Based on a close study of the biopics devoted to writer Truman Capote, this article questions the expectations raised by films that feed on the voyeuristic desire to see into the personal lives of famous people beyond their public image. While literary biopics usually recreate the image of an author by drawing on his/her literary creations as signifiers of their authorial identity, Capote (Bennett Miller, 2005) and Infamous (Douglas McGrath, 2007) exploit the celebrity status of the writer by promoting his controversial lifetime achievement, In Cold Blood. Highlighting Truman Capote’s social life as a source of entertainment, the two films marginalize an author whose popularity overshadowed his literary achievements (including as a screenwriter). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-251c8d4fd3ec4270a8bf13aa53f7f8b9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1762-6153 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-12-01 |
| publisher | Presses universitaires de Rennes |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue LISA |
| spelling | doaj-art-251c8d4fd3ec4270a8bf13aa53f7f8b92025-01-06T09:03:22ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61532016-12-011410.4000/lisa.8973Flirting with Controversy: Making Biopics about Truman CapoteDelphine LetortBased on a close study of the biopics devoted to writer Truman Capote, this article questions the expectations raised by films that feed on the voyeuristic desire to see into the personal lives of famous people beyond their public image. While literary biopics usually recreate the image of an author by drawing on his/her literary creations as signifiers of their authorial identity, Capote (Bennett Miller, 2005) and Infamous (Douglas McGrath, 2007) exploit the celebrity status of the writer by promoting his controversial lifetime achievement, In Cold Blood. Highlighting Truman Capote’s social life as a source of entertainment, the two films marginalize an author whose popularity overshadowed his literary achievements (including as a screenwriter).https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/8973adaptationbiopicwriterCapote Trumancelebrity |
| spellingShingle | Delphine Letort Flirting with Controversy: Making Biopics about Truman Capote Revue LISA adaptation biopic writer Capote Truman celebrity |
| title | Flirting with Controversy: Making Biopics about Truman Capote |
| title_full | Flirting with Controversy: Making Biopics about Truman Capote |
| title_fullStr | Flirting with Controversy: Making Biopics about Truman Capote |
| title_full_unstemmed | Flirting with Controversy: Making Biopics about Truman Capote |
| title_short | Flirting with Controversy: Making Biopics about Truman Capote |
| title_sort | flirting with controversy making biopics about truman capote |
| topic | adaptation biopic writer Capote Truman celebrity |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/8973 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT delphineletort flirtingwithcontroversymakingbiopicsabouttrumancapote |