Losing the ability to author your own story carries real mental and physical health consequences.

A false story can eclipse the truth entirely and persist for decades, even against our explicit wishes.

Reclaiming and publicly redeeming our own stories is what determines long-term health and recovery.

What do a murderous silent era movie star and the first female gondolier have in common? What they share is that they never were. Fatty Arbuckle didn’t murder actress Virginia Rappe, and Alex Hai is not female. But the false narratives about them were so persistent and widespread as to completely eclipse both men’s true stories.

The power of a person’s ability to author their own story goes far beyond feeling seen; and the harms of losing that agency are profound, deadly even. While Arbuckle and Hai’s stories run parallel for a spell, the point at which they diverge offers us real-life wisdom about the power of narrative, for better or worse.

Fatty Arbuckle’s Tragic Misrepresentation

Fatty (Roscoe) Arbuckle was robbed of his own narrative agency as soon as he was born, with his small-framed father refusing to believe this 13-pound baby was his. Accusing Arbuckle’s mother of infidelity, he named their son after a despised, philandering politician of the era.

Little Roscoe was forced to earn his own living starting at age 11, and from these humble beginnings, he became the world’s highest-salaried actor by age 32. And by age 34, he was on trial for murder.

The sensationalist media mogul William Randolph Hearst leveraged America’s mistrust of Hollywood’s excesses with straightforwardly dishonest headlines like, “…Virginia Rappe, Victim in Arbuckle Orgy.” Editorial columns in Hearst’s publications frequently referred to the actor’s size, likely originating the narrative that her ruptured bladder was the result of him crushing her. The rest of the nation’s media followed suit.

Arbuckle was instantly blacklisted. Despite his acquittal and full legal exoneration, public opinion would not turn so easily. Eight long years later, Hollywood finally welcomed him back. He accepted an offer for a feature-length film on June 28, 1933. While out celebrating with friends that........

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