Why do most people refuse to believe that "the Texas Chainsaw Massacre" isn't a true story?

Question

Almost every person i've ever got into this argument with whole heartedly believes that this story/movie is true....just because the back of the movie...or the movie preview says its true. Why do people refuse to do a little research and trust the movie industry?

Answer 1

A- Because they are idiots. B- Because the story was set in Texas and people think
that sort of thing happens in Texas all the time.
C- Because the probably believe every movie they have
ever seen was a true story.

Answer 2

Most people belive the movie "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is not a true story. That's because its is and its not at the same time. The movie is based on a man named Edward Theodore Gein (In the movie there is a whole family of killers this is not true). Ed Gein was only proven guilty for two Murders and he never wielded a chainsaw. But the movie does get the Leather face (Or the skin mask) off of Ed. Ed dug up bodies and used ther corpses for many things. Soup bowls made out of skulls, chairs made from bones and skin, and of course the suit made entirely out of skin. So the movie is based on a true story in some cases, but it is mostly made up bologna.

Answer 3

Because it is based in fact, very loosley. Ed Gain, who the main killer is based upon, did infact kill people and was very disturbed in the manor in which he dealt with their bodies. Of course, he never used a chainsaw, but the house in real life was very similiar to the house in the movie. You can use the argument that
"Both Norman Bates from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) and Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs (1991) were also loosely based on Ed Gein", and as all 3 stories are completely different, you can't really assume any are correct. Tell them to find out the truth.

Answer 4

I got thid quote from my internet search...
Thomas Hewitt AKA Leatherface is a fictional character. However, the Thomas Hewitt character was inspired by Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein, who never used a chain saw but did have a grotesque fascination with human body parts and liked to decorate his home with them as well as create masks and clothing with skin from his victims. Inspired by is a far cry from true story. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is NOT a true story. It's not even based on a true story. It's a work of film fiction. It's a 1974 cult classic horror movie that spawned a series of sequels and remakes from 1984 to 2003. ...
And there you have it. You are right!

Answer 5

...it's more than fairly easy to understand why most people could not possibly conceive that the TCM story isn't based on fact; even the original TCM, despite it's gritty, low-budget pseudo-documentary look, is quite sensationalist and exaggerated in it's presentation, as opposed to the actual story, on which TCM is based upon, which is, of course the story of infamous and legendary serial killer Ed Gein.

Ed Gein, who was relatively public with his ghoulish & psychopathic activity (he bragged a lot, but the townfolk thought he was kidding), maintained an aura of, for lack of a better term, an 'eccentric innocence', due to his could-do-no-wrong looks; he apparently did not look like the type to conduct such activity, and his frail, almost sickly frame exeplefied that innocence even further.

In private, he was a necropheliac, and a cross-dresser, though instead of dressing in woman's clothes, he adorned himself in their skin (hence the Leatherface connentations). He also maintained a fixation on his mother, even after her death; being a skilled taxidermist, he preserved/mummified her body, and kept her alive in his mind (hence the Norman Bates/'Psycho' connentations, as well)

At the end, it was his bragging that was eventaully investigated, and to the shock of the general public in the area, proved to be quite true.

For the cinematic doubters, who want to see a film that comes closest to the Ed Gein story (haven't seen the new one, with Kane Hodder, and the one that came out a few years ago, starring Steve Railback, was pathetic), I would suggest the early 70's production of "Deranged" (the story maintain fairly parallel to Ed Gein's, despite the name change to 'Ezra Cobb'.

Believe me, there's a lot more to this story; this is but the Reader's Digest version.

Answer 6

There was a Texas massacre, but it occured NOTHING like in the movie, and chainsaws were NOT used. Do your own research!

Answer 7

Have no clue because a lot of people also believe the blair witch project was true to when it was and is not so maybe people entertain the thought as being true cause we enjoy horror so much. I know there not true though and if thats what you believe, you should not have to worry about what others believe. :)

Answer 8

Marketing baby, you slap a tag on a horror movie that says "Based on a True Story", you can bring in many more viewers and attention.

Answer 9

the director of the original TCM thought up the idea of using a chainsaw one day when he cam across on in a hardware tools section of the news paper. the other part of the story cam from Gein's story [ killing two women, having one hanging in his backyard decapitated and gutted]. other then that it is pretty much all false.

Answer 10

I never gave it much thought until the Jessica Biel remake came out. I was reading about it and it said something about that. I guess in the back of my mind I knew it wasn't true, that's why I never really thought about it before then.

Besides, if it really was true, I'm sure most of us would remember hearing about it on tv since the media goes on and on about things.