Aladdin is a completely ludicrous inclusion. I can't understand what was really all that "controversial" about "The Passion of the Christ" other than its violence. It was only criticized by the non-religious community for the most part.
2. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
3. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
4. Deep Throat (1972)
5. JFK (1991)
6. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
7. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
13. The Da Vinci Code (2006)
15. Triumph of the Will (1935)
23. Kids (1995)
These are the only movies on the list that I really see as deserving a spot on the list.
EW's Most Controversial Films - Uh-oh
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Eric
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Cruising probably should've been on the list, I definitely agree (though I also think it's a great film). Brokeback, on the other hand... I'm just not seeing the overwhelming controversy there. Sniping from the sidelines, sure, but not from anyone who really counts. At least in the case of Cruising, the protest came from the community being (perhaps mis-)represented.
Is Cannibal Holocaust on the list because it's been circulating through Landmark Theatres' "Midnite Movies" rotation as of late (thus sharing matinee space with the likes of The Goonies and Willy Wonka) or because someone actually thinks it crossed the line of good taste amongst the original grindhouse contingent? Because it wasn't the latter, surely.
Oliver Stone's movie will make everyone forget they ever had any qualms over United 93. My guilty anticipation over this one makes me feel like Michael Musto.
Is Cannibal Holocaust on the list because it's been circulating through Landmark Theatres' "Midnite Movies" rotation as of late (thus sharing matinee space with the likes of The Goonies and Willy Wonka) or because someone actually thinks it crossed the line of good taste amongst the original grindhouse contingent? Because it wasn't the latter, surely.
Oliver Stone's movie will make everyone forget they ever had any qualms over United 93. My guilty anticipation over this one makes me feel like Michael Musto.
AfterElton.com is in a snit over the list, and, at least as far as Cruising and Brokeback are concerned, I think they have a point.
EW List of Controversial Movies Stirs Controversy
by Ignoring Gay Films
by Michael Jensen, June 12, 2006
Few people can forget the controversy sparked in 1992 by the release of Disney's animated version of Aladdin. There were the heated denunciations by religious groups, theatres refusing to show the movie, outcries that the movie proved the moral decay of America and Hollywood. Then there was all of that Oscar controversy.
Or not.
Aladdin was, in fact, denounced only by the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee for a rather insensitive lyric that Disney removed the following year when the movie came out on video. That was pretty much it for Aladdin's being “controversial”. Yet that was enough to land the movie on Entertainment Weekly's just released list of "The 25 Most Controversial Movies of All Time."
What wasn't on the list? Not only does Brokeback Mountain not make the list, it doesn't even merit a mention in the accompanying article or any of the three sidebars. In fact, the only time gays and lesbians are mentioned at all is when the writer, Jeff Jensen, devotes one sentence to the reaction of GLBT activists to Basic Instinct (number 19 on the list). Indeed, Jensen gives more time to the BI's “eye-popping” sex and Sharon Stone's “notorious leg-crossing” which Jensen had to see twice.
I guess Jack and Ennis just couldn't compete with that--nor could the gay-themed The Children's Hour, Midnight Cowboy, Dog Day Afternoon, Sunday Bloody Sunday, or Philadelphia.
Other films deemed more controversial than anything gay-related included Baby Doll (number 10), The Warriors (number 14), United 93 (number 16), and Cannibal Holocaust (number 20).
That's right: Cannibal Holocaust.
Lists such as this are always subjective, not to mention controversial in themselves. Nonetheless, the omission of anything GLBT does seem extraordinary.
1961's The Children's Hour raised eyebrows with its tale of an alleged lesbian relationship between two teachers at an all girls school. The film ends when one of the teachers (Shirley Maclaine) hangs herself.
Midnight Cowboy shocked viewers in 1969 with its portrayal of a gay hustler working the streets of New York City. The X-rated movie still stands as the only movie with that rating to win an Academy Award, that being controversial itself.
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), John Schlesinger's follow-up to Midnight Cowboy, was considered absolutely scandalous for its same-sex kiss between Peter Finch and Murray Head. (Ian Bannen, originally cast to play Peter Finch's role, was so terrified of the fall-out from the same-sex kiss he withdrew from the film.)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) stirred controversy a few years later, both for its true tale of a man robbing a bank so his same-sex lover can have a sex-change operation, as well as for its overall counter-culture message.
Before Basic Instinct, there was Al Pacino in William Friedkin's 1980 film Cruising. Pacino, a cop working undercover to find a serial killer stalking gay men, begins to question his own sexual identity. The film ends ambiguously, suggesting Pacino may have become a homosexual killer himself. The gay community vociferously protested the movie, fearing it would lead to violence against gays. Less than a year later, a minister's son gunned down two gay men outside The Ramrod, the bar where the movie was filmed, sparking more controversy.
Philadelphia (1993) was controversial simply by being the first Hollywood film to deal with AIDS. The movie also drew protest from the gay community for what some perceived to be the movie's neutered portrayal of gay people.
In the article accompanying the EW list, Jensen says that the sorts of movies selected included “important, progressive, taboo-shattering films.” On that basis, it's hard to argue any of the movies mentioned above are less qualified than several on the list. Indeed, they seem far more qualified. Nor are all of the movies EW selected controversial “classics” that have stood the test time. Several were released just this year.
That leads us to the omission of Brokeback Mountain. How controversial a movie was it?
The Roman Catholic Church labeled it “O” for “morally offensive”. Conservative websites such as Lifesite and WorldNetDaily continuously attacked the film with columns such as "The Rape of the Marlboro Man". Concerned Women for America and Focus on the Family also targeted the film for protest calling it propaganda and proof of America's moral decay.
Utah Jazz owner and Mormon Larry Milled pulled Brokeback Mountain from his suburban Salt Lake City theaters. Another theater in Poulsbo, Washington refused to show the film at all.
Fox News commentators attacked the movie, and Hollywood, claiming Brokeback was evidence that the “gay agenda” was being shoved down Middle America's throat. Bill O'Reilly was especially strong in his criticism, blaming movies like Brokeback Mountain for Hollywood's declining box-office (a common theme among conservative critics like Michael Medved).
Some Republican politicians refused to discuss it, much less see it. Even President Bush briefly found himself tangled up in a reporter's question about the movie.
The controversy over Brokeback Mountain received coverage in virtually every major media outlet in the country. If you Google “Brokeback Mountain ” and “controversy” you'll get 318,000 hits, about the same as for The Passion of the Christ.
The movie launched countless spoofs, satires, and jokes. Jay Leno even found himself embroiled in controversy when Avenue Q playwright Jeff Whitty wrote a letter criticizing Leno for his relentless jokes about the “gay-cowboy” movie.
Indeed, few films have generated such a powerful impact on popular culture.
And that was before Brokeback Mountain (the most honored film of all time) lost to Crash for Best Picture in what may be the most shocking Oscar upset ever.
Yet none of that was enough for Entertainment Weekly to include the movie on their list.
Interestingly enough, well represented on the list are Christian and religious themed movies (as they should be). The Passion of the Christ is number one. The Last Temptation of Christ is number six, The Message is number eleven, and The Da Vinci Code is number thirteen.
This is especially note-worthy as Jensen identifies himself as a Christian in the article, albeit one tolerant of pop culture. Given our current political and social climate, it's hard not to wonder if this didn't have some bearing on the movies included—and excluded.
EW's omission of Brokeback Mountain from their list matters because movies matter. If they didn't, the Catholic Church and Bill O'Reilly wouldn't react so vehemently to the existence of gay films. EW is one of the most widely read entertainment magazines in America. Lists like this are a way of writing history, deciding what place in history these movies occupy.
So when EW leaves Brokeback Mountain off of their list, they are writing it out of history. And that is too controversial to be ignored.
Entertainment Weekly: B+
"25 Most Controversial Movies in History": F
EW List of Controversial Movies Stirs Controversy
by Ignoring Gay Films
by Michael Jensen, June 12, 2006
Few people can forget the controversy sparked in 1992 by the release of Disney's animated version of Aladdin. There were the heated denunciations by religious groups, theatres refusing to show the movie, outcries that the movie proved the moral decay of America and Hollywood. Then there was all of that Oscar controversy.
Or not.
Aladdin was, in fact, denounced only by the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee for a rather insensitive lyric that Disney removed the following year when the movie came out on video. That was pretty much it for Aladdin's being “controversial”. Yet that was enough to land the movie on Entertainment Weekly's just released list of "The 25 Most Controversial Movies of All Time."
What wasn't on the list? Not only does Brokeback Mountain not make the list, it doesn't even merit a mention in the accompanying article or any of the three sidebars. In fact, the only time gays and lesbians are mentioned at all is when the writer, Jeff Jensen, devotes one sentence to the reaction of GLBT activists to Basic Instinct (number 19 on the list). Indeed, Jensen gives more time to the BI's “eye-popping” sex and Sharon Stone's “notorious leg-crossing” which Jensen had to see twice.
I guess Jack and Ennis just couldn't compete with that--nor could the gay-themed The Children's Hour, Midnight Cowboy, Dog Day Afternoon, Sunday Bloody Sunday, or Philadelphia.
Other films deemed more controversial than anything gay-related included Baby Doll (number 10), The Warriors (number 14), United 93 (number 16), and Cannibal Holocaust (number 20).
That's right: Cannibal Holocaust.
Lists such as this are always subjective, not to mention controversial in themselves. Nonetheless, the omission of anything GLBT does seem extraordinary.
1961's The Children's Hour raised eyebrows with its tale of an alleged lesbian relationship between two teachers at an all girls school. The film ends when one of the teachers (Shirley Maclaine) hangs herself.
Midnight Cowboy shocked viewers in 1969 with its portrayal of a gay hustler working the streets of New York City. The X-rated movie still stands as the only movie with that rating to win an Academy Award, that being controversial itself.
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), John Schlesinger's follow-up to Midnight Cowboy, was considered absolutely scandalous for its same-sex kiss between Peter Finch and Murray Head. (Ian Bannen, originally cast to play Peter Finch's role, was so terrified of the fall-out from the same-sex kiss he withdrew from the film.)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) stirred controversy a few years later, both for its true tale of a man robbing a bank so his same-sex lover can have a sex-change operation, as well as for its overall counter-culture message.
Before Basic Instinct, there was Al Pacino in William Friedkin's 1980 film Cruising. Pacino, a cop working undercover to find a serial killer stalking gay men, begins to question his own sexual identity. The film ends ambiguously, suggesting Pacino may have become a homosexual killer himself. The gay community vociferously protested the movie, fearing it would lead to violence against gays. Less than a year later, a minister's son gunned down two gay men outside The Ramrod, the bar where the movie was filmed, sparking more controversy.
Philadelphia (1993) was controversial simply by being the first Hollywood film to deal with AIDS. The movie also drew protest from the gay community for what some perceived to be the movie's neutered portrayal of gay people.
In the article accompanying the EW list, Jensen says that the sorts of movies selected included “important, progressive, taboo-shattering films.” On that basis, it's hard to argue any of the movies mentioned above are less qualified than several on the list. Indeed, they seem far more qualified. Nor are all of the movies EW selected controversial “classics” that have stood the test time. Several were released just this year.
That leads us to the omission of Brokeback Mountain. How controversial a movie was it?
The Roman Catholic Church labeled it “O” for “morally offensive”. Conservative websites such as Lifesite and WorldNetDaily continuously attacked the film with columns such as "The Rape of the Marlboro Man". Concerned Women for America and Focus on the Family also targeted the film for protest calling it propaganda and proof of America's moral decay.
Utah Jazz owner and Mormon Larry Milled pulled Brokeback Mountain from his suburban Salt Lake City theaters. Another theater in Poulsbo, Washington refused to show the film at all.
Fox News commentators attacked the movie, and Hollywood, claiming Brokeback was evidence that the “gay agenda” was being shoved down Middle America's throat. Bill O'Reilly was especially strong in his criticism, blaming movies like Brokeback Mountain for Hollywood's declining box-office (a common theme among conservative critics like Michael Medved).
Some Republican politicians refused to discuss it, much less see it. Even President Bush briefly found himself tangled up in a reporter's question about the movie.
The controversy over Brokeback Mountain received coverage in virtually every major media outlet in the country. If you Google “Brokeback Mountain ” and “controversy” you'll get 318,000 hits, about the same as for The Passion of the Christ.
The movie launched countless spoofs, satires, and jokes. Jay Leno even found himself embroiled in controversy when Avenue Q playwright Jeff Whitty wrote a letter criticizing Leno for his relentless jokes about the “gay-cowboy” movie.
Indeed, few films have generated such a powerful impact on popular culture.
And that was before Brokeback Mountain (the most honored film of all time) lost to Crash for Best Picture in what may be the most shocking Oscar upset ever.
Yet none of that was enough for Entertainment Weekly to include the movie on their list.
Interestingly enough, well represented on the list are Christian and religious themed movies (as they should be). The Passion of the Christ is number one. The Last Temptation of Christ is number six, The Message is number eleven, and The Da Vinci Code is number thirteen.
This is especially note-worthy as Jensen identifies himself as a Christian in the article, albeit one tolerant of pop culture. Given our current political and social climate, it's hard not to wonder if this didn't have some bearing on the movies included—and excluded.
EW's omission of Brokeback Mountain from their list matters because movies matter. If they didn't, the Catholic Church and Bill O'Reilly wouldn't react so vehemently to the existence of gay films. EW is one of the most widely read entertainment magazines in America. Lists like this are a way of writing history, deciding what place in history these movies occupy.
So when EW leaves Brokeback Mountain off of their list, they are writing it out of history. And that is too controversial to be ignored.
Entertainment Weekly: B+
"25 Most Controversial Movies in History": F
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
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anonymous1980
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Big Magilla
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I totally agree with your assessment, BJ. Most of these films may have been controversial in their day, but most, including Birth of a Nation and Triumph of the Will are readily available on DVD for anyone to see today. I think they were going with controversy at time of release which is probably why Song of the South isn't included. Curiously, it has been available on laser disc in Japan for a number of years. Disney every now and then says they will release it to home video in the U.S. but they have never actually scheduled it for release.
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The Original BJ
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1. The Passion of the Christ (2004)
2. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
3. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
4. Deep Throat (1972)
5. JFK (1991)
6. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
7. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
8. Natural Born Killers (1994)
9. Last Tango in Paris (1972)
10. Baby Doll (1956)
11. The Message (1977)
12. The Deer Hunter (1978)
13. The Da Vinci Code (2006)
14. The Warriors (1979)
15. Triumph of the Will (1935)
16. United 93 (2006)
17. Freaks (1932)
18. I Am Curius (Yellow) (1969)
19. Basic Instinct (1992)
20. Cannibal Holocaust (1985)
21. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
22. Do the Right Thing (1989)
23. Kids (1995)
24. Caligula (1980)
25. Aladdin (1992)
I know we shouldn't care what these people think. But was anyone else shocked at how incredibly pathetic (not just sorta pathetic) a list of "controversial" films this is? First of all, there are WAY too many recent films, which is not necessarily a surprise . . . but what is rather stunning, in my opinion, is that current releases United 93 AND The Da Vinci Code made the lineup, the latter ahead of Triumph of the Will. Plus, for all the brouhaha caused by The Passion of the Christ and Fahrenheit 9/11 two years ago, I find it difficult to argue that either widely released film was more controversial than Birth of a Nation, which revival houses still refuse to screen based on protests.
And do they really expect us to take seriously a list with Aladdin on it? They're joking, right? Wouldn't it make more sense to include Disney's Song of the South, which is still unavailable after 60 years? Of course, it might take a token knowledge of film history to be aware of THAT controversy . . .
2. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
3. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
4. Deep Throat (1972)
5. JFK (1991)
6. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
7. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
8. Natural Born Killers (1994)
9. Last Tango in Paris (1972)
10. Baby Doll (1956)
11. The Message (1977)
12. The Deer Hunter (1978)
13. The Da Vinci Code (2006)
14. The Warriors (1979)
15. Triumph of the Will (1935)
16. United 93 (2006)
17. Freaks (1932)
18. I Am Curius (Yellow) (1969)
19. Basic Instinct (1992)
20. Cannibal Holocaust (1985)
21. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
22. Do the Right Thing (1989)
23. Kids (1995)
24. Caligula (1980)
25. Aladdin (1992)
I know we shouldn't care what these people think. But was anyone else shocked at how incredibly pathetic (not just sorta pathetic) a list of "controversial" films this is? First of all, there are WAY too many recent films, which is not necessarily a surprise . . . but what is rather stunning, in my opinion, is that current releases United 93 AND The Da Vinci Code made the lineup, the latter ahead of Triumph of the Will. Plus, for all the brouhaha caused by The Passion of the Christ and Fahrenheit 9/11 two years ago, I find it difficult to argue that either widely released film was more controversial than Birth of a Nation, which revival houses still refuse to screen based on protests.
And do they really expect us to take seriously a list with Aladdin on it? They're joking, right? Wouldn't it make more sense to include Disney's Song of the South, which is still unavailable after 60 years? Of course, it might take a token knowledge of film history to be aware of THAT controversy . . .