15 Major Historical Inaccuracies That Undermine Famous Movies
3. The Butler Isn't Really Based On A True Story
The Butler, an awards-baiting film that failed to win anything, claims to be based on fact when it is pretty much entirely made-up. The story of Cecil Gaines, a black butler in the White House, is very, very loosely on a black White House butler named Eugene Allen, but the similarities between the two more or less end there.
The film is a walk-through of historical events throughout the latter half of the 20th century, especially concerning the Civil Rights Movement, from the perspective of a black family, one of whom happens to work in the White House. This was a great premise and The Butler is a solid, beautifully-acted movie but it's somewhat mysterious that they even bothered to mention a link to a real butler given how little resemblance the film ultimately bears to reality. Even director Lee Daniels has openly admitted that the characters are fictionalized.
For example, the film depicts the butler as having two sons: an older one who becomes part of the Black Panther movement and also falls out with his father for a while and a younger one who dies in Vietnam. This is all un-true; Gaines and his wife had one son who did fight in Vietnam but he didn't die there nor did he join any movements. He became an investigator with the state department.
This is a good film and definitely worth watching, but don't go in expecting a true story of any kind.