# What historical events are too controversial to dramatize? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, movies\ **Created:** [December 7, 2022, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168 "2022-12-07T21:51:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/21 "2022-12-08T15:26:06Z")
One of the first movies I got on Netflix (the DVD service) was [Rabbit Proof Fence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit-Proof_Fence), a film about the aboriginal [child removal policy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Generations) in Australia. Children were forcibly removed from their families and placed in church-run missions. This happened from 1905-1967 so there are plenty of people alive who experienced it. The situation was “controversial, upsetting, ugly, and depressing” but they still made a movie of it. I remember it 20 years on because there was a scene of a girl being forcibly removed from her mother and it has stuck with me ever since. I kinda feel like if they can dramatize that…they can dramatize anything. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/22 "2022-12-08T16:04:48Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > Any historical event where you dramatize it in a way that is favorable to the ‘side’ that is way out of favor, considered evil etc. Yeah, I was thinking of a Martin Luther King film that focuses on his alleged plagiarism and love affairs, etc. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/23 "2022-12-08T17:58:09Z")
What if you made it a comedy, starring Kevin Hart? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/24 "2022-12-08T18:04:47Z")
I could tell you, but I think such historical events are also inappropriate for a Cafe Society thread with no clear purpose. What are your examples, OP, and why do you want a list of everyone else’s? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/25 "2022-12-08T18:11:16Z")
I think the difference, though, is that there’s a _point_ in dramatizing certain things. The Holocaust is so frequently dramatized not only because of its sheer scale - 12 million killed - but also because of its specific anti-Semitism, too. But suppose that someone decided to specifically zoom in one day and make an elaborate video documentary about some person getting brutally raped, tortured and murdered in 500 BC Babylon (say this really happened.) I could picture a lot of backlash from people - “why exactly do we have to focus on _this_ particular horrible thing out of millions of atrocities in human history?” ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/26 "2022-12-08T23:34:10Z")
But hardly “too controversial,” just not commercial. The OP said “dramatize” and “the subject of drama.” That doesn’t mean you have to show the gory detail, if (for example) you wanted to make a movie about one such case. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/27 "2022-12-09T00:11:23Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Not a direct 9/11 comedy but Chris Morris (of course) did create “[Four Lions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Lions)” in 2010. A comedy about a group of inept Islamic suicide bombers. This was just a few short years after the very real [tube and bus suicide bombings in London.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings) On the other hand, I wonder if he still would have had the main characters attempt to suicide-bomb the London Marathon if he’d made the movie after [certain events](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon_bombing) a few years later… ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/28 "2022-12-09T00:16:19Z")
That the current UK royal family is illegitimate. I don’t see investors stepping up for that movie to be made. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/29 "2022-12-09T00:28:19Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > But suppose that someone decided to specifically zoom in one day and make an elaborate video documentary about some person getting brutally raped, tortured and murdered in 500 BC Babylon (say this really happened.) I could picture a lot of backlash from people - “why exactly do we have to focus on _this_ particular horrible thing out of millions of atrocities in human history?” There are a shit ton of films that already exist that are basically that exact plot (not the 500 BC part, but basically just someone getting raped, tortured and murdered) so I don’t see why you think that would be too controversial. The extreme horror genre is _full_ of these. I don’t think there is any such event that exists that is “too controversial” to dramatize. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/30 "2022-12-09T01:01:19Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Right–“drama” being the key word. > > What about which topics can’t be turned into a comedy? Could there be a 911 comedy? A comedy about COVID-19? A comedy about the Trump administration? A comedy about a mass shooting? A comedy about the McKinley assassination? Comedy about the Great Depression, the Titanic, climate change, the Cold War, etc.? What if it’s more satirical than humorous, ect.? **The Bubble** is a Judd Apatow produced COVID-19 comedy playing on Netflix Netflix also created two similarly themed mocumentaries **Death to 2020** and **Death to 2021** ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/31 "2022-12-09T03:21:18Z")
Agreed, or the Ukrainian Holodomor (or has that been done?) I just remembered “Hotel Rwanda”, and I know that was EXTREMELY sanitized. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2022, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/32 "2022-12-09T08:21:12Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > On the other hand, I wonder if he still would have had the main characters attempt to suicide-bomb the London Marathon if he’d made the movie after [certain events](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon_bombing) a few years later… I’m pretty sure he would ---
**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:** [December 9, 2022, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/33 "2022-12-09T08:23:00Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > That the current UK royal family is illegitimate. I don’t see investors stepping up for that movie to be made. That’s not a historical event though, that’s more a political alternate reality or point of view. I wouldn’t think that was particularly off-limits. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2022, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/34 "2022-12-09T08:37:25Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’m pretty sure he would Actually, on reflection perhaps not. If the movie were still in production at the time of the time of a very similar real event then no doubt he’d push on but he most likely wouldn’t have chosen an exact contemporary situation if he had a choice beforehand. It’d divert from the point of the film which was to satirise the mindset of such perpatrators, not to be a representation of an event itself and he’d probably prefer that it isn’t misunderstood as such. My point is that “too controversial” would not be a reason Morris is likely to entertain for too long. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/35 "2022-12-09T14:33:58Z")
What do you mean by illegitimate? I haven’t heard that before. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/36 "2022-12-09T14:40:24Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Euc1JskB7Uo/maxresdefault.jpg "Are The British Royal Family Illegitimate? | Britain's Real Monarch | Real Royalty") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euc1JskB7Uo) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/37 "2022-12-09T15:12:40Z")
For those of us who might not care to watch a 47-minute video that is making a claim that is implausible on its face, how about a quick summary? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/38 "2022-12-09T15:18:48Z")
If you are really interested, there is enough information in the video to give you further research. If you aren’t interested then you will do what you just did and ask for a silly summary. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/39 "2022-12-09T15:28:06Z")
I didn’t ask for a silly summary, and I don’t appreciate the snarky reply to a request for what is considered common courtesy around here. I usually include a brief quote from an article I’m linking to so that people don’t have to read something that would only take a couple of minutes, much less 47 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168/40 "2022-12-09T15:35:05Z")
One word summary is Bastard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-are-too-controversial-to-dramatize/976168.md?page=3)