Controversial Movies

[Seymour Gams]

A month or so back Entertainment Weekly published a list of the top controversial movies of all time. The list included Caligula, JFK, A Clockwork Orange, and The Passion of the Christ.

Some listed like Kids I was shocked by how completely unshocked I was when I saw it. The same applies for Happiness, I was underwhelmed (although I enjoyed it) because of how much people had talked it up.

My question to you is, what supposedly controversial or shocking film have you seen and were suprised at how unshocking the movie was or why it got so much attention?

[BrainGlutton]

The Last Temptation of Christ. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Temptation_of_Christ) I had to drive past picketers when I saw that film! Only two of them, but still!

[BrainGlutton]

BTW: Willem Dafoe! Best. Jesus. Ever.

[Seymour Gams]

BTW: Willem Dafoe! Best. Jesus. Ever.
That is one of those movies that have been banned from discussion between my sister and I in public areas. The discussion always ends on the "God damn Jesus was hot!" area and that makes a lot of people uncomfortable.

[ASAKMOTSD]

BTW: Willem Dafoe! Best. Jesus. Ever.

Including the original? ;)

[MovieMogul]

The OP reminds me of that episode of M*A*S*H where Hawkeye's virtually salivating at the prospect of having The Moon is Blue ("Banned in Boston") screened at the camp. When it finally arrives, he's sorely disappointed because the only thing racy in the film is the word "virgin" (to which he responds--"Because everyone in the movie is one!")

[BrainGlutton]

Including the original? ;)

So far as we can tell from the Gospels, definitely. No comparison.

[RealityChuck]

People tend to forget, but Monty Python's Life of Brian was highly controversial when it came out. The Pythons had trouble getting financing until bailed out by George Harrison and his Hand Made Films. And when it opened, it was picketed for being disrespectful of Christ.

[Moirai]

That is one of those movies that have been banned from discussion between my sister and I in public areas. The discussion always ends on the "God damn Jesus was hot!" area and that makes a lot of people uncomfortable.


Excuse me, but are we related? ;)

[Walloon]

I tried to take a friend of mine to see Last Temptation of Christ when it came out, but she had been in a play with Willem Dafoe years earlier, and she was too embarrassed to see him naked.

[FriarTed]

An EW letter-writer this week whaled on them for picking ALADDIN over SONG OF THE SOUTH.

I thought BIRTH OF A NATION should have been #1. An 80+yo film that STILL gets protests at even the mention of a public showing!


Btw, it's great to give the MST3K treatment!

RE- The Last Temptation- I'm an evangelical & while I understood the fuss over it, I'd actually read the book a couple years before release (when Aidan Quinn & Sting were said to have been cast as JC & Pilate) & knew what to expect- a doctrinally-heretical but thought-provoking eccentrically-devout semi-hallucinagenic meditation on the Dual Nature of our L&SJC. On first viewing (on video) I was somewhat disappointed but with later viewings, it grew on me - and the soundtrack still gives me shivers.

[Pushkin]

JFK wasn't just completely uncontroversial when I watched it first, when I saw the BBC debunk of the Kennedy assassination, it then seemed completely and utterly ludicrous.

[Trunk]

Some listed like Kids I was shocked by how completely unshocked I was when I saw it. The same applies for Happiness, I was underwhelmed (although I enjoyed it) because of how much people had talked it up. What part of slipping a 10 year boy sleeping pills on a sleepover and raping him didn't shock you?

Or, the teenager shooting his wad onto a railing, having his dog lick it up, and then go in the other room and lick the mom's face?

I just heard about this Japanese movie called "Battle Royale" (in English) about a bunch of school kids that get kidnapped on an Island and have to murder each other. They tried to get it banned in Japan.

Apparently New Line Cinema has bought the rights to remake it.

[Tapioca Dextrin]

If anyone wants the EW list (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,1202224_1_0_,00.html), it's

1. The Passion Of The Christ
2. A Clockwork Orange
3. Fahrenheit 9/11
4. Deep Throat
5. JFK
6. The Last Temptation Of Christ
7. The Birth Of A Nation
8. Natural Born Killers
9. Last Tango In Paris
10. Baby Doll
11. The Message
12. The Deer Hunter
13. The DaVinci Code
14. The Warriors
15. Triumph Of The Will
16. United 93
17. Freaks
18. I Am Curious (Yellow)
19. Basic Instinct
20. Cannibal Holocaust
21. Bonnie & Clyde
22. Do The Right Thing
23. Kids
24. Caligula
25. Aladdin

[Walloon]

JFK wasn't just completely uncontroversial when I watched it first, when I saw the BBC debunk of the Kennedy assassination, it then seemed completely and utterly ludicrous.I'm a little confused here. Are you saying that the movie JFK was not controversial when it was released? Because it was controversial here in the U.S., where many critics called it inaccurate and misleading.

When you refer to the "BBC debunk of the Kennedy assassination," what were they debunking: The findings of the Warren Commission (that Oswald acted alone), the beliefs of the conspiracy theorists, or the movie JFK?

[Ethilrist]

Patton was supposed to be controversial because Patton slapped a wounded solder who was breaking down, and he also shot a horse that got in his way. I saw it when I was a little kid and both made perfect sense to me at the time.

[MovieMogul]

That would've made Patton the man controversial, not the movie (since an increased fidelity to "realism" was in vogue by then).

An EW letter-writer this week whaled on them for picking ALADDIN over SONG OF THE SOUTH. Which is a bit idiotic because SotS is controversial now, but wasn't then. The inclusion of Aladdin is even dumber, though. I can think of plenty of much more controversial films, starting with Il Miracolo, which infuriated the Catholic Church by depicting a woman (Anna Magnani) who believes she's carrying a holy child because she's seduced by someone claiming to be a Saint. Godard's Hail Mary and any number of Luis Bunuel films would also be much better choices.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Which is a bit idiotic because SotS is controversial now, but wasn't then.
I dunno--was their standard controversy at the time of release? Was Birth of a Nation more controversial when it was released than SotS was? It certainly seems to me as though SotS is Disney's most controversial movie, and therefore would be a good pick.

When Robocop was first released, it was nearly rated X for violence (IIRC). I'm not supersqueamish, but I figured the movie must be pretty horrific in order to flirt with such a rating, so I avoided seeing it for a long time. Finally I steeled myself up for it and watched it.

That movie might earn a PG-13 today, but certainly wouldn't be rated R for violence.

(Not saying it shoulda made the list, just that I was surprised at there being any initial controversy over its violence).

Daniel

[MovieMogul]

Though Birth was an enormous box office success, it's overt racism and romanticism of the Klan was not without significant detractors even upon its original release. From Wikipedia:Though lucrative, and also popular among some white movie critics and white movie-goers, the film drew significant protest from blacks upon its release. Premieres of the film were widely protested by the newly founded National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Griffith said he was surprised by the harsh criticism. The Birth of a Nation has been linked to the second emergence of the Ku Klux Klan, which was revived the year of the film's release after a period of non-existence.Conversely, Song of the South was part of Disney's normal theatrical re-release cycle for decades, and was even released on home video early on before finally being rendered unavailable. It was originally released just a few years after GWTW and whatever offensive material it had could reasonably be considered more "benign" (a sugar-coating of history) and not as overt as the Griffith film, which is significantly more incendiary.

[rjung]

I didn't find anything controversial about Fahrenheit 9/11, but then I'm a member of the reality-based coalition. ;)

[Walloon]

You may be interested in Fifty-nine Deceits in Fahrenheit 9/11 (http://www.davekopel.com/Terror/Fiftysix-Deceits-in-Fahrenheit-911.htm).

[Beadalin]

I must be living under a rock: what in the heck is controversial about Aladdin?

[Necros]

I just heard about this Japanese movie called "Battle Royale" (in English) about a bunch of school kids that get kidnapped on an Island and have to murder each other. They tried to get it banned in Japan.

Apparently New Line Cinema has bought the rights to remake it.
We will have to start a mondo Battle Royale thread as this file gets closer to release in its US form, since there seems to be quite a bit of growing awareness about it.

Of course, I definitely recommend the book (it's been in an English translation for a while now) for anyone interested. The manga series is a little "ew" for my tastes.

[rjung]

You may be interested in Fifty-nine Deceits in Fahrenheit 9/11 (http://www.davekopel.com/Terror/Fiftysix-Deceits-in-Fahrenheit-911.htm).
Debunking "59 Deceits in Fahrenheit 9/11" (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/18/173312/462)

[MovieMogul]

I must be living under a rock: what in the heck is controversial about Aladdin?Wikipedia again: One of the verses of the opening song "Arabian Nights" was censored because of political sensitivity. Following protests from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, (ADC) the lyrics were changed in July 1993 from "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face/It's barbaric, but, hey, it's home," in the original release to "Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense/It's barbaric, but, hey, it's home." The new change was seen on the 1993 video release of this title. The original lyric was intact on the initial CD soundtrack release that predated the movie's theatrical release and subsequent protests. The soundtrack was re-released at the time of the DVD release of the film; on the re-released soundtrack, the edited lyric is used. The June 16 copy of Entertainment Weekly used this to suggest that Aladdin was the 25th most controversial film ever.

And rjung beat me to the rebuttal link.

[JohnT]

What a stupid list.

What list about controversial movies wouldn't include Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom or Gremlins, the two movies that started the PG-13 rating, or Henry and June the first film to get a NC-17 rating? Given that they changed the rating system, shouldn't they be in there by default?

What list would bring up some unheard of "Arab-American" controversy for Aladdin w/o mentioning the possible Mafia (and real Italian-American) rumblings about The Godfather?

Midnight Cowboy? Brokeback Mountain? Dog Day Afternoon? None of them are mentioned?

[ZipperJJ]

The DaVinci Code?? THE DAVINCI CODE?!?!?!

Over Kids and Caligula no less.

Please.

[ZipperJJ]

Oh yeah, and they forgot Harold and Maude.

[BrainGlutton]

Wikipedia again:

And rjung beat me to the rebuttal link.

. . . Wonder if Disney would have had to change those lyrics, if Aladdin had been released in 2003 . . .

[Walloon]

What a stupid list.The OP did not request just a list of "controversial movies," but,My question to you is, what supposedly controversial or shocking film have you seen and were suprised at how unshocking the movie was or why it got so much attention?

[Larry Borgia]

Ah, Battle Royale, the film that conclusively proves the tactical superiority of the machine pistol over the frying pan.

[Bryan Ekers]

I finally got around to watching Natural Born Killers. This was controversial? It's a slicker, artsier and less coherent version of Bonnie and Clyde, which itself was kind of a nothing movie, notable only because of the historical inaccuracies it spoon-fed the audience to make the criminal protagonists likable.


25. Aladdin

Gah? Did they throw that in as a joke?

[Zoe]

Crash (1996) caused a bit of a stir when it was released on video. Blockbusters wouldn't carry it because of the NC-17 rating. Kind of unusual for a film with such well known stars as Holly Hunter and James Spader.

Back in 1966 a lot of church folks were unhappy about Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Didn't like all that cursing, I guess. Or maybe it was the idea of a wife talking back to her husband. Or the alcohol consumption. Here in the South, we didn't appreciate how rude they were to their company.

[Rayne Man]

Another candidate is the 1960 British film Peeping Tom (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054167/plotsummary) by Michael Powell. I think it was shown in the USA but in a heavily cut version.

More details here (http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/447463/)

[Walloon]

Again:My question to you is, what supposedly controversial or shocking film have you seen and were suprised at how unshocking the movie was or why it got so much attention?

[ColonelDax]

Does anyone know if The Children's Hour caused much of a stir when it was released in 1961? Accusations of a lesbian relationship leveled at female teachers by a student weren't exactly everyday plot material at the time, I'd imagine.

[Walloon]

Following the release of The Children's Hour in 1961, the MPAA Production Code Administration decided to loosen up a bit, and declared that no subject was off limits anymore, just how the subject was portrayed. Thus in 1962 there were movies with a middle-age man having a sexual relationship with his adolescent stepdaughter, a British soldier getting raped by a Turkish officer, brainwashed American soldiers smoking marijuana and casually shooting each other, the attempted rape of a lawyer's wife and daughter by the psychopath he sent to prison, and a U.S. senator blackmailed over a homosexual affair in his past.

[Staggerlee]

When Robocop was first released, it was nearly rated X for violence (IIRC). I'm not supersqueamish, but I figured the movie must be pretty horrific in order to flirt with such a rating, so I avoided seeing it for a long time. Finally I steeled myself up for it and watched it.

That movie might earn a PG-13 today, but certainly wouldn't be rated R for violence.

(Not saying it shoulda made the list, just that I was surprised at there being any initial controversy over its violence).

DanielAre you sure? I know American audiences are perhaps more immune to violent imagery, but the bit near the start of Robocop where the soon-to-be Robocop is shot to pieces by the cackling gang is pretty horrific in the uncut version..

[Pushkin]

I'm a little confused here. Are you saying that the movie JFK was not controversial when it was released? Because it was controversial here in the U.S., where many critics called it inaccurate and misleading.

When you refer to the "BBC debunk of the Kennedy assassination," what were they debunking: The findings of the Warren Commission (that Oswald acted alone), the beliefs of the conspiracy theorists, or the movie JFK?

Apologies a hasty posting.

Mates of mine who saw the film over here in the UK said it was "controversial" for the opposite reason, that it seemed to make a case for everything but Oswald acting alone.

The BBC debunk was a debunk of the film and related nuts, quite good. Not as I put it, a debunk of the assassination, which made it sound like they were trying to prove that JFK was still alive :rolleyes:

I see Robocop in the thread, I've seen it on TV and DVD, more and more steadily un-censored. From the UlsterTV showing where Dick Jones called his boss (shock!) "airhead," to the surprisingly more liberal Irish tv showing where we see why
Lewis needs to use her windscreen wipers and finally the DVD that includes the scene explaining why initially Robocop has only need of one prosthetic arm... So, its violence didn't leave that much of a mark on me, years after its release.

[Sublight]

Again: My question to you is, what supposedly controversial or shocking film have you seen and were suprised at how unshocking the movie was or why it got so much attention?

Ok, then. Battle Royale seemed pretty underwhelming when I saw it.

Suicide Club, on the other hand, definitely left an impression.

[Steve MB]

I'm a little confused here. Are you saying that the movie JFK was not controversial when it was released? Because it was controversial here in the U.S., where many critics called it inaccurate and misleading.
I recall a cartoon wtih two characters standing under a theater marquee displaying "JFK" and "HOOK" -- "One of them is an imaginary fantasy story about all sorts of impossible events; the other one is about Peter Pan."

[Seymour Gams]

Excuse me, but are we related? ;)

I hope not because that would make last night really akward...

[JohnT]

Again:

You have a vested interest in this answer or something? Or did the OP appoint you ThreadGod?

[Seymour Gams]

What part of slipping a 10 year boy sleeping pills on a sleepover and raping him didn't shock you?
Or, the teenager shooting his wad onto a railing, having his dog lick it up, and then go in the other room and lick the mom's face?

I just heard about this Japanese movie called "Battle Royale" (in English) about a bunch of school kids that get kidnapped on an Island and have to murder each other. They tried to get it banned in Japan.

Apparently New Line Cinema has bought the rights to remake it.

Because I didn't actually see those events occur? I don't know... I mean I was suprised they put it in the movie but it in no way made me go :eek: .

Oh shit, you are kiding me? If they make it with OC/Laguna Beach type of stars I will be tempted to hurt myself and/or them. That movie is one of my favourite cult films and one of my top ten books. Where did you hear that they tried to get it banned? I've heard that rumour applying to America but never to Japan. It is the number eight movie of all time there, I can't see there have been that much of a fuss about trying to ban it.

[Seymour Gams]

I can think of plenty of much more controversial films,

They seemed to only go with films that are known by the American masses. I would have put Salo or Man Bites Dog on the list.

[Seymour Gams]

The manga series is a little "ew" for my tastes.

Have you read them all? If you say just "Number 3" to my friends they will burst out laughing. That manga series is perhaps the worst I have ever read. The random (mostly sexual) parts included that weren't even in the book were amazing. Next time you want to get the attention of a sports star, just piss on the floor! :p

[Trunk]

Because I didn't actually see those events occur? I don't know... I mean I was suprised they put it in the movie but it in no way made me go :eek: .

Oh shit, you are kiding me? If they make it with OC/Laguna Beach type of stars I will be tempted to hurt myself and/or them. That movie is one of my favourite cult films and one of my top ten books. Where did you hear that they tried to get it banned? I've heard that rumour applying to America but never to Japan. It is the number eight movie of all time there, I can't see there have been that much of a fuss about trying to ban it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/movies/09ito.html

Criticized by Japanese politicians when it was first released in 2000, the movie became a huge hit at home and in much of Asia, spawning a popular manga series, inspiring a sequel and generating memorabilia from costumes to card games and action figures.


It doesn't actually say they tried to get it banned. I was posting it from memory and my memory didn't serve.

[Trunk]

Oh shit, you are kiding me? If they make it with OC/Laguna Beach type of stars I will be tempted to hurt myself and/or them. That movie is one of my favourite cult films and one of my top ten books. Where did you hear that they tried to get it banned? I've heard that rumour applying to America but never to Japan. It is the number eight movie of all time there, I can't see there have been that much of a fuss about trying to ban it.
Oh, and I think making it with a bunch of OC/Laguna Beach type stars would be perfect casting.

A bunch of pretty, rich, spoiled California brats thrown into that kind of situation. . .perfect.

[Seymour Gams]

Ok, then. Battle Royale seemed pretty underwhelming when I saw it.

Suicide Club, on the other hand, definitely left an impression.

The Battle Royale movie is slightly more campy then the book and so the shock isn't there as much. I agree, Suicide Club stays with you longer.

[Seymour Gams]

Oh, and I think making it with a bunch of OC/Laguna Beach type stars would be perfect casting.

A bunch of pretty, rich, spoiled California brats thrown into that kind of situation. . .perfect.

Well if we are going to use this movie just to enjoy seeing stars we hate getting killed off, let me throw Ashlee Simpson into the mix.

[Trunk]

Well if we are going to use this movie just to enjoy seeing stars we hate getting killed off, let me throw Ashlee Simpson into the mix.
Well, I haven't seen the movie but it sounds like a has some things to say about society and violence beyond just seeing pretty faces getting killed.

What better choice to explore that than the land of exploitative violence in movies and TV and phoney niceness about guns and animals and people in real life (stereotyping here) .

Stick the kids into a place where their figurative bleeding hearts come face-to-face with some literal bleeding hearts and see how they react.