# Movies, songs, etc. based on newspaper or magazine articles
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 13, 2021, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974 "2021-12-13T10:01:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2021, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/21 "2021-12-13T16:39:30Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> As you might guess, there is a [Wikipedia list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_based_on_newspaper_and_magazine_articles) of movies based on newspaper and magazine articles, including _Saturday Night Fever_ and _A Nightmare on Elm Street_ .
I was surprised to see _Bloodsport_ on that list, but I don’t see any reference to a magazine article on the Wikipedia page for the movie.
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### Author:  [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/22 "2021-12-13T17:04:33Z")
Do novelty songs count? Magical Misery Tour by National Lampoon is taken (often word for word) from a Rolling Stone interview by Jann Wenner with John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
I’ve spoiled the link because of not safe for work language: [spoiler][Magical Misery Tour (Digitally Remastered) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY-CWxjA68A%5B/spoiler%5D)
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/23 "2021-12-13T19:55:57Z")
There are two important Dylan songs based directly on specific newspaper articles he had read, “The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll” and “Hurricane”. Dylan read the respective articles and wrote the songs on the spot without exploring much anything further. That explains why some facts about the historical events in the songs are doubtful, which he has been criticized often for. But he just didn’t know any better when writing the songs. Two great songs, nonetheless.
> **[The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lonesome_Death_of_Hattie_Carroll)**
>
> Pages for logged out editors learn more
>
> "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" is a topical song written by the American musician Bob Dylan. Recorded on October 23, 1963, the song was released on Dylan's 1964 album The Times They Are a-Changin' and gives a generally factual account of the killing of a 51-year-old African-American barmaid, Hattie Carroll (March 3, 1911 – February 9, 1963), by then 24-year-old William Devereux "Billy" Zantzinger (February 7, 1939 – January 3, 2009), a you...
> **[Hurricane (Bob Dylan song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_(Bob_Dylan_song))**
>
> Pages for logged out editors learn more
>
> "Hurricane" is a protest song by Bob Dylan co-written with Jacques Levy and released on the 1976 album Desire. It was also released as a single in November 1975. The song is about the imprisonment of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. It compiles acts of racism and profiling against Carter, which Dylan describes as leading to a false trial and conviction.
> Carter and a man named John Artis had been charged with a triple murder at the Lafayette Grill...
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/24 "2021-12-14T02:15:14Z")
[It Could Happen to You](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Could_Happen_to_You_(1994_film)) was based on a newspaper story in _Esq-_ … _The New York Post_, with the title “Cop Gives Waitress $2 Million Tip.”
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### Author:  [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/25 "2021-12-14T02:41:52Z")
What may be the most powerful protest song of the 70’s, _Ohio_ by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
\*\* “Ohio” is about the events of May 4, 1970, when the US National Guard [shot four unarmed students at Kent State University in Ohio](https://calendar.songfacts.com/may/4/11312).\*
_In the [May 15 issue of Life magazine](https://www.life.com/history/life-magazine-kent-state/), the shootings were the cover story, with the headline “Tragedy At Kent” and a cover photo of a wounded student lying on the ground. When Neil Young read the story and saw the photos, the song came to him._
_“He was silent for a long time, then picked up his guitar and 20 minutes later had this song,” his bandmate David Crosby recalled._
_Crosby summoned the other members of the group - Stephen Stills and Graham Nash - and they recorded the song in Los Angeles on May 21. Ahmet Ertegun, head of their label (Atlantic), flew the master to New York and had it pressed right away. “Ohio” was released on June 4, just a month after the shootings._
Source: [https://www.songfacts.com/facts/crosby-stills-nash-young/ohio](https://www.songfacts.com/facts/crosby-stills-nash-young/ohio)
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/26 "2021-12-14T02:43:58Z")
“Safety Not Guaranteed” is based on a joke classified ad
> Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. P.O. Box 322 [Oakview, CA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_View,_California) 93022. You’ll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before.[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_Not_Guaranteed#cite_note-Silveira125-6)
> [@Shoeless](#):
>
> The Genesis song “The Battle of Epping Forest” was based on a newspaper article Peter Gabriel had read about rival gangs in London’s East End fighting each other in a territorial dispute.
Great song!
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### Author:  [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/27 "2021-12-14T02:45:12Z")
_The Texas Chain Saw Massacre_, _Psycho_, _Manhunter_ (based on the book Red Dragon) and _The Silence of the Lambs_ are loosely based on news articles and books about Ed Gein.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/28 "2021-12-14T04:06:14Z")
The song Brenda’s Got a Baby by 2Pac was based on (or at least was inspired by) a newspaper article. It’s been a while since I watched the 2Pac documentary where I heard it, but IIRC, he was reading an article, or a series of articles, about a murder. Brenda was, for lack of a better term, a 'background character, in the article. The journalist mentioned that she was pregnant. Tupac wrote the song based on little more than that.
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### Author:  [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/29 "2021-12-14T04:34:44Z")
Fastball’s song _The Way_ was inspired by articles one of the band members read about the disappearance of an elderly couple and the eventual discovery of their bodies.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/30 "2021-12-14T05:14:26Z")
Don’t know how strictly you intend to adhere to “magazine and newspaper”, but the Korean movie _My Sassy Girl_ was based on a series of suppose fly non-fiction blog posts:
> **[My Sassy Girl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sassy_Girl)**
>
> Pages for logged out editors learn more
>
> My Sassy Girl (Korean: 엽기적인 그녀, romanized: Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo, lit. 'That Bizarre Girl') is a 2001 South Korean romantic comedy film directed by Kwak Jae-yong, starring Jun Ji-hyun and Cha Tae-hyun. The film is based on a true story told in a series of blog posts written by Kim Ho-sik, who later adapted them into a fictional novel.
> The film was very successful in South Korea, where it was the highest-grossing comedy of all time, and one of the ...
and the Japanese _Train Man_ on a series of supposedly non-fiction message board posts:
> **[Densha Otoko](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Densha_Otoko)**
>
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> Densha Otoko (電車男, translated as Train Man) is a Japanese movie, television series, manga, novel, and other media, all based on the purportedly true story of a 23-year-old otaku who intervened when a drunk man started to harass several women on a train. The otaku ultimately began dating one of the women.
> The event, and the man's subsequent dates with the woman, who became known as "Hermès" (エルメス, Erumesu), were chronicled on the Japanese mega-BBS...
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/31 "2021-12-14T05:40:33Z")
In the 80s there was a computer game called [Rock Star Ate My Hamster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Star_Ate_My_Hamster), based on this headline:
[ ](https://www.inpublishing.co.uk/images/articles/main/freddie-starr-ate-my-hamster-15266.jpg)
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/32 "2021-12-14T22:46:28Z")
Frank Zappa’s album **Weasels Ripped My Flesh** was named after a cover caption from a 1956 issue of _Man’s Life_ magazine (as was the title track).
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/33 "2021-12-14T22:50:18Z")
The song title **Death Cab for Cutie** came from a pulp magazine cover as well (and was later used as a band name).
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### Author:  [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/34 "2021-12-14T22:58:41Z")
“She’s Leaving Home,” by the Beatles, was inspired by a front-page story in the Daily Mirror.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2021, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/35 "2021-12-14T22:59:03Z")
The HBO miniseries _Generation Kill_ was an adaptation of a book by Evan Wright, which was in turn adapted from his reporting on Operation Iraqi Freedom for _Rolling Stone_.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2021, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/36 "2021-12-20T16:07:15Z")
_Best Little Whorehouse in Texas_ was based on an article by Larry L. King that name that appeared in Playboy in April 1974. It became a successful stage musical and later a movie starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton. King later wrote another article for Playboy saying he thought the movie was way too overblown. Much as he liked Dolly Parton, he’d envisioned someone like Jill Clayburgh for the lead.
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### Author:  [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2021, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/37 "2021-12-20T17:44:50Z")
_ **Top Gun** _ was inspired by a 1983 article in California Magazine:
[http://www.topgunbio.com/top-guns-by-ehud-yonay/](http://www.topgunbio.com/top-guns-by-ehud-yonay/)
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### Author:  [@anny\_m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anny_m)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2021, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/38 "2021-12-21T00:18:23Z")
_Willy the Wimp (and His Cadillac Coffin)_
From Wikipedia:
> Bill Carter and Ruth Ellsworth, of Austin, Texas were reading the Austin American-Statesman one morning and they read the syndicated column about Willie the Wimp. Carter said, “I said to Ruth, ‘This isn’t a column—it’s a song’.” They drove to the studio, and Carter said that “in the two miles it took us to get there we put the column to music.” Jimmie Vaughan was at the studio, and he called his brother, Stevie Ray Vaughan, to tell him about it. Stevie liked the song, recorded it, and performed it live for his fans around the world. Much of the song’s lyrics came directly out of the column including a quote from Willie the Wimp’s mother where she described her and her husband’s reason for wanting an extravagant funeral for their son. She said that her son “left like he lived—in a lively manner.” It was worked into a verse in the song that says, “In his Cadillac to heaven he was waving that banner; He left like he lived, in a lively manner.”
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### Author:  [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2021, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-songs-etc-based-on-newspaper-or-magazine-articles/955974/39 "2021-12-21T20:44:07Z")
The Elvis Costello song **Let Him Dangle** was apparently inspired by reading an interview with Derek Bentley’s sister. (The case of Bentley and Craig was instrumental in bringing an end to capital punishment in Britain - brief summary below).
Elvis explains the background to the song, and then performs it:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V56oLqTuabg)
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(Bentley and Chris Craig were cornered by police in the course of a robbery. Bentley was caught by the police; he called out to Craig, who was armed, “Let him have it, Chris” - which could have meant either “Hand over the gun” or “Shoot him”. Craig shot and killed an officer. Both were found guilty of murder. Bentley was hanged for the crime; Craig, who fired the shot but was too young to legally be executed, was imprisoned.)
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