People enjoy controversy in movies, there’s no denying that. But even with controversial issues, there’s a time and a place to apply them and there are plenty of movies that were created with the decision to poke at various issues in society well past the time when it was considered wise to do so. In some cases, it might be that the issues had died down or become less important due to other issues that had cropped up, but in others, it might have been they simply didn’t need to be brought up again at that time. Some might criticize me for this, but the amusing thing about this matter is the fact that people who are willing to say ‘woah, we already covered this’ are the same people that enjoy the controversy that’s found in various movies. People might have something to say about it, but they’ll still watch the movies just to see what they’re all about, and then discuss them while still stating that the matter is behind the times, or shouldn’t have been discussed in the first place. People are funny this way since contradictory statements and behaviors tend to be what a lot of folks are known for. When it comes to the movies, however, there are those that are a little behind the times and didn’t see a release until later, when the controversial issues they cover have already been covered by many other movies in many different ways.
Here are a few movies that dealt with controversial issues way past their time.
5. Cuties
People just about exploded when this came out on Netflix a little while back, and those that thought it was any good were given the kind of shocked stare that one usually reserves for anyone that might blurt out something that’s openly controversial and has a well-defined purpose. The sexual exploitation of young girls has been no laughing matter for a long time, and it’s also been something that many people have been watching over and over on TV for years, and yet somehow the outrage culminated in this one massive explosion that came and went in a very short span of time. Maybe people remembered that the TV shows are still there and that they’re still watching them.
4. The Passion of the Christ
Religion is always a dicey issue when it comes to filming various parts of what happened in the long history of Christianity, especially in recent years when things have been a giant mess when it comes to which religion is ‘good’ or ‘bad’. This version by Mel Gibson had a lot of people crying, throwing shade at the movie, and wondering what in the world Gibson was doing since he’d been known for action movies for so long that directing something like this felt way out of character. But while people do grow and expand their interests, it’s not always in a direction that others are going to expect.
3. Fight Club
The disillusioned feeling that this movie brings about and the madness and chaos that it opens up, as a result, is something that a lot of people have discussed over the years since the wide assortment of mental health issues has been something that has been discussed for quite a while. But ‘just running with it’ as the character in this movie does is a dangerous example of what can happen when a person manages to fool pretty much everyone around them, and themselves, at the same time. This kind of psychosis is something that a lot of people don’t want to see glamorized, and yet they’ll watch it all the same.
2. American History X
Racism is an issue that crops up continually in this country and is addressed in a number of different ways. This movie went about the idea of racism in a manner that was controversial as hell but at the same time showed the unfortunate results that can and have come from such attitudes. It didn’t show the utter horror and desecration that has come from racism by any means, but perhaps that’s one reason why some folks didn’t think it was that effective even if others thought it was a masterpiece that spoke about the issue in a very big way. Everyone has a different perspective on racism, that much is painfully obvious.
1. Rambo
PTSD, or being shell-shocked, is nothing new for a lot of people, but the manner in which it was shown in Rambo one has to wonder how many people thought this movie was effective and how many thought it was just another story about a war-torn veteran going nuts in society. The condition is very real as many still suffer from it today, but in Rambo’s case, the trigger was absolutely unnecessary and could have been settled calmly and politely. In the book, the main character actually did get something to eat but decided to push back anyway.
You can’t blame the movies for trying to get in on the message.
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