Have Your Say: When Does "Bending The Truth" Go Too Far?

Later this week will see the release of Corin Hardy's The Nun, a spin-off in the franchise of the The Conjuring films. It looks to be creepy fun with jumpscares, same as the previous films.

What's interesting though is that the film's story, complete with the titular nun character, has been completely made up. Its predecessors The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2 and Annabelle supposedly were partly based on true stories, and were heavily marketed as such. The films were based on the exploits of the (in)famous Ed and Lorraine Warren, a couple who made a living as paranormal investigators and self-appointed demon experts. Indeed, the real Lorraine acted as consultant on the films and even had cameo appearances in them.

And this is where things start to get a bit uncomfortable. To some, the Warrens were scientists. To some, they were a pleasant but dotty couple who believed their own fairy-tales. To others, they were ruthless con artists, and some claim the Warrens covered up evidence of actual family abuse just so they could keep on pretending there were "supernatural powers harming these children".

Especially this last view on the couple does cast a bad light on the entire franchise. Even though the films are popular and involve some people I'm a fan of, they consistently paint a couple of oft-debunked storytellers (who may be fraudsters and definitely aren't the 'scientists' they claim to be) as heroes. Ed died in 2006, but Lorraine actually makes money from these films. For me, that is a problem and it prevents me from enjoying the franchise.

So let's make that the question of the week: all films, even documentaries, provide only viewpoints or slanted takes on their subjects, and to achieve '100% truth' is probably an illusion. But when does 'bending the truth' become too much for you? Is it important at all when we're talking about entertainment?

Chime in, in the comments below, and HAVE YOUR SAY!!