Cameron Crowe 

• Cameron Crowe was, like William, a young rock journalist for a time. He wrote articles about many musicians including Led Zepplin, Bob Dylan, and David Bowie. In his Los Angeles Times article advertising Almost Famous, Patrick Goldstein interviews Peter Frampton of Humble Pie and The Herd about Crowe's rock journalism. Frampton explains Crowe's journalistic style, saying "He never came across as one of 'them,' he came across as your friend" (Goldstein). Those who frowned on Crowe's work in rock journalism thought he was fan rather than an objective critic (Goldstein).

• Crowe's mother, Alice, and his sister, Cindy, do not get along. "...His sister Cindy didn't talk to Alice for nearly a decade. They only recently had a tentative reconciliation at a family get-together, which Cameron hosted after he'd finished the film" (Goldstein).

William Miller

• William Miller is constantly warned not to befriend the band by Lester Bangs, who stresses brutal honesty. William's in-progress piece on Stillwater is called a "fluff piece" by one of the employees at Rolling Stone-- another says that it feels like he's writing what the band wants him to write, something echoed by Russell Hammond's earlier instructions to "just make [the band] look cool" (00:43:50).

Crowe mirrors his own journalistic flaws in William, but the film seems to depict an issue of manipulation more than one of excessive enthusiasm for rock and roll. This brings up questions of true friendship (are the members of Stillwater really William's friends?) and honesty (will William choose to write an honest depiction of the happenings on the road at the expense of the band?). A broader focus would have been more accurate to the real life events that inspired the film, but the narrow focus that Crowe adopted stresses authenticity. Will William accept and be influenced by friendships that are inauthentic? Will he publish a story that he knows is not genuine? His decision to publish an honest story and thereby damage his relationship with Stillwater argues strongly in favor of being authentic.

• In the film, Cindy and Alice are renamed Anita and Elaine respectively. The two are reunited after only a few years. The two hug and laugh at their tendencies to take offense to the words of the other. 

Crowe's decision to resolve the conflict between his mother and sister on film strays from what actually happened. This portion of the film felt a little too easy: William runs into his sister at the airport, he forces her to reunite with their mother, and after a brief period of slight initial hostility, the relationship between them seems to be practically mended. Compared to the gritty realities of sex, drugs, and rocky relationships depicted in the film, this barely covered and cleanly resolved conflict did not feel authentic, even without knowing that Cameron Crowe rewrote his family history.