# Movies that upset you terribly **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2014, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417 "2014-02-15T13:21:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![BlakeTyner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@BlakeTyner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlakeTyner)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/81 "2014-02-18T12:27:16Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > (Blushes and takes bow) – are you perchance that very rare creature, a female railfan? Similar to “There are no girls on the internet” is the axiom “There are no women walking the right-of-way.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/82 "2014-02-18T19:17:54Z")
**War Horse**. It absolutely destroyed me for days afterwards, even tho’ (spoiler alert) the horse lives. But the carnage and destruction of human and animal lives and the countryside through that horrible, blighted war was more than I could take. Makes me tear up just thinking about.☹ ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/83 "2014-02-18T20:27:34Z")
I agree with previous comments about **Hostel**. It flipped a switch in me where most gratuitous gore movies are now no longer an enjoyable genre. _What The $(%( Do We Know?_\*. Horrible deliberately deceptive pseudoscience. It’s rage-inducing whenever I think about how effectively it packaged and peddled its nonsense. “Expert” scientists, A-list star with disability being exploited to increase credibility, high production values, “documentary” label… **Clockwork Orange**. It took a half-dozen attempts for me to make it past the first or second rape scene. I now get the contextual point of the film and those scenes in the whole, but have no desire to ever watch it again. **Meerkat Manor**. Flower. 'nuff said. _bawls eyes out_ ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/84 "2014-02-18T21:30:10Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Salo was the worst unrepentant dreck I’ve ever seen. It almost made me wretch and I’ve had no problem sitting through most in this thread. This is the only movie I’ve ever had to turn off halfway in. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/85 "2014-02-18T21:57:50Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > _The Deer Hunter_. My knuckles still get white thinking about the last time I watched it, which was probably the time it famously ran uncut on broadcast TV. > > I have an HD copy of it still in the wrapper after 3-4 years. (Came with a collection I bought.) Saw it once and won’t see it again. Too strong. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/86 "2014-02-18T22:36:06Z")
One class of movie that I cannot watch: the traditional “Made for TV” movie that features one woman (it’s always a woman) fighting the system, or her horribly evil ex, or disease, or … They always are frustrating exercises in tedium, with setback after setback, until the bad guy wins in the end. I get angry watching such films, and anger is not an emotion I want to feel. So I turn them off. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > I had a friend recommend City of God to me. After watching it, this is what I wrote on her FB page > “I’ve seen many, MANY, movies. I’ve seen everything from war movies, to gang movies, mafia movies, movies about slums, prostituion, underage sex, teen pregnancy, high school cliques (ie Heathers/Jawbreaker), debilitating mental problems, physical abuse, movies about rape, horror movies, infidelity, blackmail and about a thousand others. You name the subject, I’ve probably seen a movie about it…City of God is, without question, the most violent movie I’ve ever seen.” > I went on to tell her that it’s not often that someone can recommend a move to me that I’ve never even heard of before, then after watching it I’ll use a superlative (most violent) to describe it. > > It was very good, but ever since I had a kid, violence towards kids (or anything at all about kids for that matter) really gets to me. If I didn’t have a kid, I’m sure the movie wouldn’t have hit me nearly as hard. Several years ago I bought a copy of this book while in Brazil and made it my personal challenge to read the whole thing. Along the way I amassed seventy pages or so of translation notes, complete with page numbers, should I ever read it again. I even enlisted the help of some Brazilians on the Dope in order to understand the '70s drug culture slang that had baffled my Brazilian wife. I bought the DVD but never cracked the seal. Not for any definite reason, but I never watched it. Now as I read your comments I remember several scenes from the book and realize that I will probably never open that DVD. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/87 "2014-02-19T07:47:34Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > No, I’m that not-so-rare creature, a woman who is drawn to obsessed people. I guarantee, I can do obsession like nobody’s business… ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/88 "2014-02-19T07:50:37Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > …are you perchance that very rare creature, a female railfan? > [@BlakeTyner](#): > > Similar to “There are no girls on the internet” is the axiom “There are no women walking the right-of-way.” > > 🙂 In real life, I have encountered a very few female railway enthusiasts; but it’s generally reckoned that in that hobby, the gender ratio is about 10,000 : 1 ! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/89 "2014-02-19T13:27:31Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > I guarantee, I can do obsession like nobody’s business… \ > [@vontsira](#): > > In real life, I have encountered a very few female railway enthusiasts; but it’s generally reckoned that in that hobby, the gender ratio is about 10,000 : 1 ! Good odds. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/90 "2014-02-19T13:40:26Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > _ **Mississippi Burning** _ seems to have forgotten that Blacks were the focus of the American civil rights movement. As an outsider to the USA’s more recent past regarding civil rights, can I just say that I like this film very much. Strong performances all round and Gene Hackman has rarely been better. I’m surprised at the very strong feelings in this thread towards this of all films. Mind you, I am capable of enjoying films on their own terms. JFK is very well done and yet I know, you know and we all know, that it only represents the truth as Oliver Stone sees it. Doesn’t matter at all (to me at least) I don’t get my facts from films. The films that upset me the most were “Tyrannosaur”, particularly the beating and rape by Eddie Marsan, “12 Monkeys” - the ending of course when Madeleine Stowe looks around the crowd to catch the young lad’s eye. And “AI”. The end part where David gets to spend one last day with his mother. I saw it not long after my own mother died tragically young and it was a punch to the gut. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/91 "2014-02-19T14:25:14Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > _Would You Rather_(2012)-the most depressing “what are we willing to justify to get what we want” movie I’ve ever seen. While there are actual “bad guys” in it, the true physical and mental violence is done by the supposed victims towards each other. I looked up this film on IMDB, saw that the poster had two images on it - an eyeball and a razor blade, about 2 inches apart - and closed the tab. That is ALL I need to know! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/92 "2014-02-19T14:32:24Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > When watching the film – I couldn’t give a damn about the bloody paintings, and find the people-butchering-people part, sort of medium-disturbing; but I grieve over the havoc perpetrated on the railways. This plainly marks me out as an obsessed hobby-nerd with seriously wrong priorities… I had a similar “I’m experiencing the wrong emotion” feeling during _The Boost_, a 1980’s James Wood/Sean Young film where a successful up-and-coming couple fall victim to ravaging cocaine addictions. I wasn’t horrified at the bad choices, the accidents and arguments, the misery of their addictions, etc… what bothered me was that _they were going broke._ ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/93 "2014-02-19T18:08:01Z")
Sixth Sense. The portrayal of the ghosts upset me terribly. I had nightmares and jumped at corners for weeks. I knew it would do this to me and didn’t want to watch it in the first place, but everyone told me I _had_ to because it was _so good!_ ugh. I don’t watch horror movies as a rule so I’m not inured to that sort of stuff in a movie. I couldn’t take it in a movie that didn’t bill itself as a horror. I loved _Life is Beautiful_. I didn’t see it as the movie tell us that life is always going to work out, but that the father’s efforts to be positive and help his son was a beautiful thing. It was lovely. Even though that boy was a big ol’ dummy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/94 "2014-02-19T18:26:57Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I might be in love with you. Thelma, I want you to know that I am deeply jealous because I can’t imagine you falling in love with anyone on this message board besides me. Oh well, I suppose I just have to accept that and soldier on. After all, it would seem pretty clear there is nothing else I can do. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/95 "2014-02-19T19:09:54Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > As an outsider to the USA’s more recent past regarding civil rights, can I just say that I like this film very much. Strong performances all round and Gene Hackman has rarely been better. I’m surprised at the very strong feelings in this thread towards this of all films. > Mind you, I am capable of enjoying films on their own terms. JFK is very well done and yet I know, you know and we all know, that it only represents the truth as Oliver Stone sees it. Doesn’t matter at all (to me at least) I don’t get my facts from films. Imagine a story about a historical event which matters to you as a person. Then imagine that historical event completely stripped of its meaning and replaced with a series of lalsehoods which are then purported to be the truth and are believed to BE the truth by viewers of the film. You stated that you are an “outsider” to the USA’s past. Imagine that someone made a film about your nation of birth which was almost completely fictional and was presented as fact. Even resources were available to make at least a “factional” (mostly fact mixed with fictional elements) telling of the tale. That’s what offends me about _ **Mississippi Burning** _. It could have told a compelling TRUE story and been dramatic. Instead, it just said “f\*ck history” and created almost its entire narrative from whole cloth. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/96 "2014-02-19T20:22:02Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Imagine a story about a historical event which matters to you as a person. Then imagine that historical event completely stripped of its meaning and replaced with a series of lalsehoods which are then purported to be the truth and are believed to BE the truth by viewers of the film. > > You stated that you are an “outsider” to the USA’s past. Imagine that someone made a film about your nation of birth which was almost completely fictional and was presented as fact. Even resources were available to make at least a “factional” (mostly fact mixed with fictional elements) telling of the tale. > > That’s what offends me about _ **Mississippi Burning** _. > > It could have told a compelling TRUE story and been dramatic. Instead, it just said “f\*ck history” and created almost its entire narrative from whole cloth. I’m sorry, at what point was it presented as a documentary? Movies creating fictional stories inspired by real events is not novel and it’s not a crime. Your problem seems to be that it wasn’t the movie you wanted…and how is that the movie’s fault? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/97 "2014-02-19T20:24:04Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Thelma, > > I want you to know that I am deeply jealous because I can’t imagine you falling in love with anyone on this message board besides me. > > Oh well, I suppose I just have to accept that and soldier on. After all, it would seem pretty clear there is nothing else I can do. I guess I’m just one of those women who leaves a trail of broken hearts in her wake…it’s a curse… or is it a blessing…? ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/98 "2014-02-19T20:25:38Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > I’m sorry, at what point was it presented as a documentary? > Movies creating fictional stories inspired by real events is not novel and it’s not a crime. Your problem seems to be that it wasn’t the movie you wanted…and how is that the movie’s fault? Umm…I didn’t like the film, which is the purpose of this thread. And I stated clearly why I did not. I don’t remember saying anything about it needing to be a “documentary.”; that was your addition. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/99 "2014-02-19T21:03:11Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Imagine a story about a historical event which matters to you as a person. Then imagine that historical event completely stripped of its meaning and replaced with a series of lalsehoods which are then purported to be the truth and are believed to BE the truth by viewers of the film. Really? are people that naive? Alan Parker was very clear that this was based on true events and was not intended to be the full story. For legal reasons it just couldn’t be. As for being stripped of meaning…well I think you do it a disservice. > [@](#): > > You stated that you are an “outsider” to the USA’s past. Imagine that someone made a film about your nation of birth which was almost completely fictional and was presented as fact. Even resources were available to make at least a “factional” (mostly fact mixed with fictional elements) telling of the tale. Titanic? Braveheart? pretty much any WW2 film you care to mention? Doesn’t bother me in the slightest because no film is ever presented as fact unless it is a documentary. Even then editorial bias is allowable and something every cinema goer should be aware of. > [@](#): > > That’s what offends me about _ **Mississippi Burning** _. Doesn’t make it a bad film though, it clearly isn’t > [@](#): > > It could have told a compelling TRUE story and been dramatic. Instead, it just said “f\*ck history” and created almost its entire narrative from whole cloth. As all films do it told “a” story and not “the” story and it wasn’t dishonest about it. The phrase “based on a true story” gives it away. Now I realise it can be a touchy subject matter for some but there’s no reason why it alone deserves absolute fidelity in the telling. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417/100 "2014-02-19T23:36:23Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Really? are people that naive? Alan Parker was very clear that this was based on true events and was not intended to be the full story. For legal reasons it just couldn’t be. > As for being stripped of meaning…well I think you do it a disservice. > > Titanic? Braveheart? pretty much any WW2 film you care to mention? Doesn’t bother me in the slightest because no film is ever presented as fact unless it is a documentary. Even then editorial bias is allowable and something every cinema goer should be aware of. > > Doesn’t make it a bad film though, it clearly isn’t > > As all films do it told “a” story and not “the” story and it wasn’t dishonest about it. The phrase “based on a true story” gives it away. > Now I realise it can be a touchy subject matter for some but there’s no reason why it alone deserves absolute fidelity in the telling. _Argo_ does this for me - good movie, well acted, completely eliminates most of what Canada risked, and contributed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-upset-you-terribly/681417.md?page=6)