Mark Schultz – the Olympic wrestler whose life the critically acclaimed movie Foxcatcher is based on – has had a bizarre Twitter meltdown at the movie’s director Bennett Miller. The tweets – which have now been deleted – appeared on New Year’s Eve and it’s not clear what sparked the tirade. What is clear though is that Schultz is pissed off at Miller.
In case you haven’t heard of it, Foxcatcher is a movie based on the true story of Schultz – played by Channing Tatum in the movie, which he probably wasn’t too happy about either – whose wrestler brother David was murdered by philanthropist wrestling fanatic John Du Pont at his Foxcatcher training facility in Pennsylvania. Basically it’s kind of like a much more serious and tragic version of ‘When Pro Wrestling Goes Wrong‘. Steve Carell plays Du Pont and David is played by Mark Ruffalo. The movie has been a huge success in America and has been nominated for three Golden Globes and is thought to be a forerunner for the Oscars too. It comes out here on January 9th.
Schultz is understood to be pissed off at Miller for his portrayal in the movie, mostly because it implies that he had a sexual relationship with Du Pont which he categorically denies. His behaviour is somewhat puzzling as previously he had praised the film and Miller, which has led to speculation that his accounts may have been hacked. To me though this seems like it’s real judging by the level of detail and emotion conveyed. Schultz himself hasn’t been able to be reached for comment so there’s no confirmation or denial on it. Schultz has released a book on the matters addressed in the movie, saying that his version of events is the ‘true story’.
I think he’s probably getting a bit too butthurt about all this, as anyone with a brain knows that a movie that is based on a true story is going to take some liberties with the truth in order to deliver a better storyline. However, it’s probably hard to take when that movie is about your life and everyone in the world thinks that you’re something you’re not. But just get over it dude, the people that matter know the truth about you – who cares what some 17 year old kid from Nowheresville, USA thinks?
Either way, it’s certainly made us want to see the movie even more though.
