One of the most popular films genres is that of the bio-pic – a film which purports to present an account of part of real persons’ lives. Currently in wide release are films such as All the Money in the World (the family of J.P. Getty), Desperate Hours (Winston Churchill) and The Greatest Showman (P.T. Barnum). To them can be added Molly’s Game and I, Tonya.

Of course, many bio-pics are very entertaining and often examples of great film-making. However, it needs to be emphasized that such films are frequently not historically accurate. This is not necessarily harmful as long as people do not judge the historical figures on the basis of such presentations, though the reality is such that for some viewers what is seen on screen is often regarded as “true.”

So, for example, I, Tonya which purportedly is an account of the life of Tony Harding, the figure skater who many years ago was the centre of a controversy surrounding an attack on a rival skater, Nancy Kerrigan. Just what role she played in the attack ultimately becomes the man focus of the film, though it does frame the incident by an account of Tonya Harding’s life leading up to the incident.

Clearly it is the intent of the film to present Ms. Harding in as positive a light as possible. As such, it shows her being raised by an outrageously abusive mother, being involved in an equally abusive marriage, and, perhaps most importantly, being innocent of any actual physical attack on Ms. Kerrigan.

In order to present this version of her life, the makers have taken an interesting approach to the content by removing the “fourth wall” and having the leading characters talk directly to the audience, a device which ultimately makes their views seem more authoritative. In fact, the film presents an amusing disclaimer at the beginning stating that much of what is to be shown is contradictory and not necessarily factual.

 Despite this, however, there is no doubt that many will leave the theatre accepting the statements of many, especially those of Tonya Harding, as factual. This is especially so as the film is well made and superbly acted.

Many will be appalled at the endless stream of profanities with which the characters express themselves. Though this may be “realistic,” one can be forgiven if one wishes that one character could be given a line which didn’t have recourse to objectionable language.

Despite this, the film is well made and well acted – Margot Robbie in the title role is especially convincing,  even in regard to her skating. All of this conspires to convince the audience they are seeing a factual account of events and one which presents a sympathetic view of Tonya Harding.

An equally sympathetic view of the main character is presented in Molly’s Game. Based on her own account of the events, the film purports to recount the story of Molly Bloom who became the organizer of extremely high-stakes poker games.

As such, the film presents an intriguing view of a world in which gamblers (all of them apparently male) risk hundreds of thousands of dollars in secret poker games. At the same time, the film also depicts Molly Bloom as a woman of such high principles that she is willing to risk jail rather than betray the identities of the gamblers when she is charged with having (illegally) taken a portion of the stakes.

We have all been exposed to the “prostitute with the heart of gold” cliché. In this case it is the gambling operator with the heart of gold. While this may be true of Molly Bloom, as one watches her rise from rags to riches, one cannot but wonder just how accurate is the portrayal.

Once again, the film is very well made, very entertaining, and therefore all the more convincing in its impact, especially so because of the acting of Jessica Chastain as Molly Bloom and Idris Elba as her lawyer. It is a mark of the quality of the performances in the last year that neither received an Oscar nomination, though in other years they might well have been Oscar recipients.

Of course, it can be argued that it does not matter if what is presented as historical accounts in films such as I, Tonya and Molly’s Game is completely inaccurate. After all, they are hardly major players in world events, though to present them so sympathetically could possibly result in people applauding people who are less than exemplars of morality.

What is significant, however, is that we have been trained to accept the media as presenting a valid view of reality, often without considering its accuracy.  While one may well be right to dismiss as nonsense widespread accusations of “fake news,” too often people preface their comments with “I saw on television that …” as if all that one has seen in the media must be true.

Such a reaction is dangerous to individuals and indeed to democracy itself. Above all, the lesson to be learned from bio-pics is the need to be far more critical and analytical when engaged with the media, rather than be lulled into acceptance by artistically clever manipulation of the audience. Viewer beware!