Strong, captivating defense of Richard Jewell in movie comes at another’s expense

The movie “Richard Jewell” is about a hard-working individual who faces unsubstantiated accusations of bad behavior, and spends a long time having a name associated with a terrible act.

But it’s not the film’s namesake.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Kathy Scruggs is thrown under the bus in the movie about the Centennial Park bombing at Atlanta’s 1996 Olympics. In leaping to the defense of the poor security guard who was falsely accused of the act, director Clint Eastwood and screenwriter Billy Ray desperately searched for a villain.

The film could be the best of the year by perhaps showing a contrast between the noble Richard Jewell and the evil Eric Robert Rudolph, the real killer, who went on to slay others, and try other bombs designed to kill law enforcement, medics and the media (the infamous second bomb in a later attack). The bomber, who railed against “global socialism” as his reason for the Olympic bombing, is now in supermax prison.

Instead, the filmmakers set their sights on an AJC reporter, strongly implying she traded sex for information to get Jewell’s name. She’s not around to defend herself, the victim of a tragic overdose. But the AJC, her family and co-workers vehemently deny these allegations against Scruggs, making you wonder what these Hollywood types learned from those lessons they preach in the movie about rushing to judgment with insufficient evidence.

Actress Olivia Wilde defended her role, claiming to have researched the character quite well, though Scruggs’ only surviving family member and close friends deny they were contacted. Wilde also claims she doesn’t agree that Scruggs slept with law enforcement to get story information, but had no problem playing that role. She also claims there was a double-standard; what about the portrayal the FBI agent “Tom Shaw,” she argues, the agent Scruggs allegedly slept with? It’s funny she should mention a double-standard, as they changed the FBI agent’s name and made him an amalgamation of multiple characters.

I am not saying we shouldn’t respect Jewell. He’s getting a plaque at the Georgia World Congress in 2020. But Kathy Scruggs will instead become the object of scorn for anyone seeing the film who doesn’t do a lot of research. Defenders of the film claim it was just “one scene” but the whole movie really trashes her entire character throughout the movie. She mocks other female reporters, insults the city of Atlanta and derides Jewell and others. After seeing bodies at Olympic Park, she prays she gets the scoop and that the bomber is “someone interesting.” The caricature of Scruggs makes Cruella de Ville look like an animal rights activist.

Ray defends his script, and blames the AJC for the Jewell story. But the Georgia Court of Appeals disagreed. In 2011, they dismissed Jewell’s suit against the AJC, ruling the articles in their entirety were substantially true at the time they were published (others settled). Sadly, it came 10 years too late for the reporter. Jewell’s attorney who deposed her in the defamation suit did not come to the conclusion that Scruggs acted inappropriately in this case. He was not consulted for the film.

Eastwood’s a great director, and I love his films such as “Unforgiven” and “Gran Torino.” I have a great story idea for his next movie. You see, it’s about a female journalist who breaks a big story, but is wrongly accused of sleeping her way to get it.

John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu. His Twitter account is JohnTures2.