Could it be that the Oscar nominated war drama “Hurt Locker” was plagiarized? That’s the claim 38 year old Master Sergeant Jeffrey S. Sarver is making. He says that the movie clearly draws from his experiences in Iraq.
In 2005, an article was written about Sarver in Playboy magazine. The article was written by Mark Boal who observed the Master Sergeant and his squad in Iraq when he served as an embedded reporter. Later on, Boal turned out the script for the movie which attracted nine Oscar nominations. Sarver says the movie is a clear representation of him and his life in Iraq and even points out that the chief character in the movie has the same call signal he had, “Blaster One”.
Sarver has filed suit against Summit Entertainment, the movie’s distributor, a few days ago. The lawsuit is a result of failed communications between Sarvers’s lawyer and the people behind the movie. Producer Nicholas Chartier denied any wrongdoing and said he had never heard of the Master Sergeant.
For Chartier, this is yet another controversy to get over as he is already embroiled in the email campaigning issue. He is guilty of canvassing for the movie by emailing Oscar voters and therefore has been banned from attending the Oscar Awards ceremony.
Sarver said he would have been more than happy to serve as a consultant to the scriptwriter and director, but he was never even approached. As the evidence mounts against the moviemakers, the hurt caused by plagiarism could prove to be very painful.