Entertainment Weekly recently put out a list of the top 25 most controveresial movies. I thought it was interesting to see what a mainstream publication put on this list. Here goes;

1. The Passion of the Christ
2. A Clockwork Orange
3. Farenheit 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 Da Vinci 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 and Clyde
22. Do the Right Thing
23. Kids
24. Caligula
25. Aladdin- yeah, the Disney one.


Thoughts?

Some surprising choices on there, but when I read them I think "you know, now that I think about it, that actually WAS controversial".

Yep, me too. Except for The Warriors. Why was that controversial?

i am not blaming you for posting this, but that list is super dumb

No "Some Like It Hot"? No "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"? Hmph.

UHHHH, where THE FUCK is the original Manchurian Candidate?

Oh, we can't release this movie, it too much like the JFK killing...

I mean, not HYPED controversy, but they buried the bugger for some reason.

I would have thought a movie like Team America would have made the list if Farenheit 9/11 made it.
I would have thought Bamboozled was more controversial than Do the Right Thing, it's just that it sucks compared to Do the Right Thing.
I was also thinking about Last House on the Left.

Isn't this movie pretty much responsible for the advent of movie ratings? I would think that would merit a higher ranking than a 21.

Also, re: The Last Temptation of Christ--people were really, really pissed off about that movie.

Maybe it's because I don't watch TV but I don't remember United 93 being controversial at all.

Was Alladin actually controversial? If so, why?

from the magazine:

wtf, aladdin?

surprised that american psycho was not on the list... i thought there was some controversy about that one.

The Movie wasn't, but a couple of the Disney animators added in some phallic symbols and background lines that talked about sex from my recollection. I believe that the Little Mermaid had similar issues.
I guess that is what happens you are a major entertainment company that shits on their lowly animators.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_(movie)#Controversy

Here is what wikipedia has to say about it.

they mention american psycho in a sidebar. the mpaa wasn't against the violence but made them trim down the menage-a-trois scene.

i love the part during that scene when he's fucking the girl and looking in the mirror and flexing.

Last Temptation of Christ was far more controversial than Passion of the Christ.

yeah but i thought there was controversy over the killing of the prostitutes after the menage-a-trois scene... like the feminists were really pissed off about that or something to that extent.

christian bale is amazing in that movie.

the little mermaid controversy was simply a phallic spire on the movie poster and some versions of the VHS copies. and that was done by an animator who knew he was being fired.

Billz - What was controversial about Some Like It Hot?

- The Warriors had some controversy over whether it glorified gang violence, and there was at least one stabbing in a theater during a screening.

- The United 93 controversy was partially for the movie itself (Didn't we have a whole thread about whether it was "too soon!"?), plus they got some bad reactions from unprepared audiences who were subjected to the trailer.

- Ironically, the original working title of The Little Mermaid was The Secret Penis.

- Re: The Manchurian Candidate (from IMDB): "Contrary to popular belief, the film was not pulled from circulation following the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The film made its American television debut on The CBS Thursday Night Movies in September 1965 (source: Broadcasting magazine), and was repeated on that network later that season before turning up for third and fourth network showings on NBC in spring 1974 (source: TV Guide) and summer 1975 (source: Variety). Only when the rights reverted to Frank Sinatra later that decade did the film disappear from view. Frank Sinatra's neglect in keeping the film in distribution gave rise to the legend that it was suppressed because of its alleged role in Lee Harvey Oswald's assassination of the 35th president. The legend was further perpetuated when Frank Sinatra, in alliance with MGM/UA, re-released the film to theaters in 1988. When the rumor was debunked in an article in Films In Review, another myth, one claiming that Frank Sinatra and UA had a dispute about the profits, took its place. The myth survives to this day, but it is pure fiction."

- The Last Tango in Paris controversy was from doctors who thought that an overweight man such as Brando really shouldn't be using that much butter.

Absolutely some glaring ommissions...

Dustin Hoffman's films in particular

-Midnight Cowboy
-Dog Day Afternoon
-Straw Dogs
-The Graduate

Speaking of The Little Mermaid, not only is there a penis-spire, but near the end of the movie when Ariel and Eric are about to get married on the ship, the captain who is performing the wedding is sporting quite the boner.

I don't think Passion of the Christ was overly controversial...well at least i didn't notice it.

and Alladin?

Passion Of The Christ wasn't controversial in the sense of its religious content. It was controversial in that Gibson is old-school catholic in an age of non-old school catholics and pretty much an indomitable prick who gets what he wants and who bypassed the "way things are done" in order to get his film out.

It wasn't what was in the film, though there were some graphic scenes and some baseless natterings about anti-semitism by a bunch of people who don't actually believe in Yahweh anyway.

It's who Gibson is, what he believes and how he made the movie a blockbuster. It ruffled feathers.

Like if some internet-only music release sold 10 million copies AND the artist actively spoke out against the RIAA the whole time.