The woman who struggled for banning Bible-reading in schools was called the most hated woman in America.
A film is based on the real story of atheist activist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the founder of American Atheists and American Atheist Magazine. It is due to her activity that the Supreme Court of the US made a landmark ruling to end Bible-reading and praying in schools. Life magazine called her the most hated woman in America in 1964. In 1995, Murray O’Hair, her son and granddaughter were kidnapped by her organisation’s former employee, who had previous convictions. All three were violently murdered.
The film The Most Hated Woman in America premiered last week at SXSW in Texas. The movie is now available on Netflix. The main character is played by Oscar-winning Melissa Leo. The actor said it was hard to portray the character that was regarded as a very difficult person. She noted she took the role because of writer and director Tommy O’Haver’s adoration of Murray O'Hair. Other cast members are Adam Scott, Juno Temple, Rory Cochrane and Peter Fonda.
The film’s director Murray O'Hair says he had problems with financing, noting that it was hard to find money for a film about a murdered atheist. Finally the project found support from Netflix. The network released the movie last week. It took only 18 days to shoot the very low-budget film. The movie is described as a true story of the rise and fall of a complex character who was a controversial villain to some and an unlikely hero to others.
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