Tshepo Mokoena 

Quiz: match the whistleblower to the film of their story

Can you identify the real-life whistleblowers whose stories have inspired films?
  
  


  1. Which film featured this real-life spy couple?

    1. Mr & Mrs Smith

    2. Fair Game

    3. Daniel

  2. Which fictional boxer was inspired by this fighter's alleged match fixing?

    1. Mike Lane as Toro Moreno in The Harder They Fall

    2. Brad Pitt as Mickey O’Neil in Snatch

    3. Paddy Considine as Mark Gastineau in The Year of the Locust

  3. This undercover New York cop inspired one of these on-screen roles:

    1. Laurence Fishburne as Russell Stevens, Jr in Deep Cover

    2. Jason Patric as Jim Raynor in Rush

    3. Al Pacino as Frank Serpico in Serpico

  4. Which environmental whistleblower, played by a notoriously smiley actress, is pictured here?

    1. Erin Brockovich, from Steven Soderbergh's film Erin Brockovich

    2. Rebecca Hosking, from A Farm for the Future

    3. Diane Wilson, from Texas Gold

  5. Which Informant on the food industry is Matt Damon playing here?

    1. Per Fly

    2. Mark Whitacre

    3. John Mackey

  6. Which film featured these two men, who helped uncover a watershed government corruption case?

    1. The Imitation Game

    2. All the President’s Men

    3. The Fifth Estate

  7. Which environmentalist whistleblower is Meryl Streep playing here?

    1. Judi Bari in the Forest for the Trees

    2. Rachel Carson in Silent Spring of Rachel Carson

    3. Karen Silkwood in Silkwood

  8. Who, pictured here, was embroiled in tobacco industry revelations on film?

    1. Jeffrey Wigand, as portrayed in The Insider

    2. Nick Naylor, as portrayed in Thank You for Smoking

    3. Christof Putzel, as portrayed in Secrets of the Tobacco Industry

  9. Who was this FBI agent whistleblower turned into on screen?

    1. Chris Cooper as Robert Hanssen in Breach

    2. Patrick O’Neal as Charles Rone in The Kremlin Letter

    3. John Savage as Charles Heller in The Amateur

  10. Who, pictured here, faced up to her own employers over a sex scandal that was later depicted on film?

    1. Lara Logan, played by Reese Witherspoon

    2. Jenny Nordberg, played by Rachel McAdams

    3. Kathryn Bolkovac, played by Rachel Weisz

Solutions

1:B, 2:A, 3:C, 4:A, 5:B, 6:B, 7:C, 8:A, 9:A, 10:C

Scores

  1. 3 and above.

    You might not know every detail about these whistleblowers, but at least that means the NSA/GCHQ won't likely pay you too much attention.

  2. 6 and above.

    Not a bad showing at all. You might not be the type to take an issue all the way to a supreme court, but you know a thing or two about film whistleblowers.

  3. 9 and above.

    Is this John Le Carré’? You've got to branch out, sir – this spy/whistleblower obsession is getting too real.

  4. 10 and above.

    Either you work for the government or are a spy yourself: perfect score. Well done.

 

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