Sgt.'s Suit Says 'Messed Up' Character in 'Hurt Locker' Made Him Look Bad
A journalist who was embedded with his three-man unit during the Iraq war to write an article for Playboy, wound up making him look bad, a soldier says, by reworking it into a screenplay for The Hurt Locker that falsely portrayed him as a “messed up” bomb disposal officer.
In a lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court in New Jersey, Master Sgt. Jeffrey Sarver says the low-budget, critically applauded movie invaded his privacy and misappropriated his likeness and name—and even his “Blaster One” nickname. It also asserts claims for fraud, negligent misrepresentation and emotional distress, reports the Carpetbagger blog of the New York Times.
In addition to journalist Mark Boal, the suit names as defendants the movie’s other producers, director, distributors and Playboy. A copy of the complaint is posted to Scribd.
For those who take the time both to read the magazine article Boal wrote and see the movie, “you will see—and there will be no question in your mind—that ‘Blaster One,’ Sgt. Sarver, is the character in The Hurt Locker called Will James,” attorney Geoffrey Fieger, who represents Sarver, told reporters at a press conference yesterday in his Michigan law office, reports the Associated Press. “The caveat in the movie that the movie is fictional and all the characters portrayed in the movie are fictional is a fictional statement in and of itself.”
Boal, and, it would appear, the movie’s other creators, take the position that the James character is fictional:
“There are similarities, because you’d find similarities to events that happened to lots of these guys,” Boal told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, before the lawsuit was filed. “But the screenplay is not about him. I talked to easily over 100 soldiers during my research and reshuffled everything I learned in a way that would be authentic, but would also make for a dramatic story.”
Experts who spoke with the media about the case expressed conflicting opinions about its merits:
While it won’t be a slam dunk for Sarver to prove his case, suits like this are often filed against those who make successful movies and are typically settled if there is any merit to the claims, according to the New York Times and the Detroit Free Press.
However, two trade organizations have vetted the script—the movie has been nominated for a best screenplay Oscar, best picture and seven other awards—and insurers also typically investigate the potential for such claims before a movie is made, suggesting that Sarver’s suit may not have much merit, attorney Steven Beer of Greenberg Traurig tells the Carpetbagger.
And Jody Simon, a Los Angeles entertainment lawyer, tells the AP that the privacy rights of soldiers are limited. “The military embedded him,” he says of Sarver, “so they gave the reporter permission to observe what was going on. … Works of fiction always have elements of fact.”
Boal told the Los Angeles Times that he didn’t want to purchase life rights from Sarver because he wanted the freedom to fictionalize the script as he saw fit.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “As Atom Bomb Book Raises Fact-Check Issue, ‘Hurt Locker’ Writer Is Accused of Too Much Truth-Telling”
ABC News: “Will ‘Hurt Locker’ Be Hurt By Controversies?”
