“American Hustle” in a Tussle? Exploding Microwave Scene is Center of Lawsuit

November 6th, 2014. By LucyC

Fact or fiction—or somewhere in between. For science journalist Paul Brodeur, it’s about the fact that the fiction got in the way. He’s filed a lawsuit against the makers of the movie American Hustle, alleging the scene in which Jennifer Lawrence’s character Rosalyn tells her husband, Irving, played by Christian Bale, that microwaves take the nutrition out of food. “That’s bullshit,” Irving replies, and his wife shows him a magazine and says, “It’s not bullshit. I read it in an article. Look, by Paul Brodeur.” Bingo—lawsuit.

Brodeur was a staff writer for The New Yorker for nearly 40 years, so yes—he would have seen the birth of the microwave and remembered the fear and enthusiasm with which the kitchen device was welcomed. To say it was controversial when it hit American kitchens would be an understatement, but, as we know, we embraced it regardless of the fiction, facts, whatever. The main concern was radiation. Brodeur addressed this in a book he wrote entitled “The Zapping of America”, about the ‘dangers’ of microwave radiation.  BUT—according to his lawsuit, he never claimed that microwaves remove the nutrition from food during the cooking process.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Brodeur told the Huffington Post, way back in January 2014—when American Hustle was playing to packed cinemas, that the film had incorrectly attributed the faulty science to him. His resulting lawsuit names  the producers and distributors, Columbia Pictures, Atlas Entertainment and Annapurna Pictures, as defendants, who clearly should have known better.

In his complaint, Brodeur claims that by attributing to him a “scientifically unsupportable statement,” the filmmakers have damaged his reputation. “The scene from the movie American Hustle where the defamatory statement was made is highly offensive to a reasonable person,” the complaint states. Brodeur is alleging libel, defamation, slander and false light, and he claims to have suffered $1 million in damages, the HR states.

BUT—you knew there was a but—American Hustle may be a challenge for a libel suit because the opening of the film states “Some of this actually happened.” The film is loosely based on true events, and the filmmakers purposefully maintained a distance from truth in the film. The basis for libel typically rests on the defendant presenting as true a statement that he or she knows or should know is false.

American Hustle was written by Russell and Eric Warren Singer and starred Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Amy Adams. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including best film.

Personally, the ‘microwave scene’ as I shall refer to it, was one of my favorites. But I have to confess, I didn’t even notice the name of the journalist, nor do I remember the article in any detail, probably because I was laughing so hard. What do I remember is that the scene humorously captured the cultural paranoia and ignorance surrounding the microwave in the 1970s, ignorance and paranoia that Brodeur was arguably trying to dispel.

This was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2014 at 3:15 pm and is filed under Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.