Overshadowed by Controversy: Difference between revisions
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* Despite being well-received by critics when it was shown at international film festivals, the 2020 French film ''Mignonnes'' (''Cuties'') became the subject of controversy and government scrutiny over its portrayal of pre-teen girls. The film's writer and director Maïmouna Doucouré described ''Cuties'' as a commentary on social media and girls being pushed to grow up too fast (e.g. the likes of [[Bratz]] and girl groups such as [[The Pussycat Dolls]] pushing for a borderline mature image towards youngsters), but regardless of its stated intentions and Doucouré contending that the film has been a victim of the so-called [[Convicted by Public Opinion|cancel culture]], it was savaged on social media for what was seen as [[Unfortunate Implications|sending the wrong message]], with netizens taking umbrage at the film's release using the hashtag #CancelNetflix, threatening to cancel their subscriptions over the film's content and/or review-bombing the film on sites such as IMDB in protest. Some groups, such as the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, claimed that it sexualised young girls, and politicians labelled it as "child porn" or something that would "whet the appetite of [[Paedo Hunt|pedophiles]] [and] help fuel the child sex trafficking trade". One particular point of contention was the promotional poster, which had the girls strike a risqué pose; following backlash, it was replaced with a different, more innocuous poster. The film's content also prompted other countries to give ''Cuties'' a harsher age rating, with the Japanese Netflix giving it an R18+ as if it was an adult movie, and Turkey [[Banned in China|banning]] it outright. However, it can be argued that this is part of a larger moral panic concerning children's welfare in general, particularly with the kids' videos and COPPA debacle on YouTube sparking similar controversy prior. |
* Despite being well-received by critics when it was shown at international film festivals, the 2020 French film ''Mignonnes'' (''Cuties'') became the subject of controversy and government scrutiny over its portrayal of pre-teen girls. The film's writer and director Maïmouna Doucouré described ''Cuties'' as a commentary on social media and girls being pushed to grow up too fast (e.g. the likes of [[Bratz]] and girl groups such as [[The Pussycat Dolls]] pushing for a borderline mature image towards youngsters), but regardless of its stated intentions and Doucouré contending that the film has been a victim of the so-called [[Convicted by Public Opinion|cancel culture]], it was savaged on social media for what was seen as [[Unfortunate Implications|sending the wrong message]], with netizens taking umbrage at the film's release using the hashtag #CancelNetflix, threatening to cancel their subscriptions over the film's content and/or review-bombing the film on sites such as IMDB in protest. Some groups, such as the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, claimed that it sexualised young girls, and politicians labelled it as "child porn" or something that would "whet the appetite of [[Paedo Hunt|pedophiles]] [and] help fuel the child sex trafficking trade". One particular point of contention was the promotional poster, which had the girls strike a risqué pose; following backlash, it was replaced with a different, more innocuous poster. The film's content also prompted other countries to give ''Cuties'' a harsher age rating, with the Japanese Netflix giving it an R18+ as if it was an adult movie, and Turkey [[Banned in China|banning]] it outright. However, it can be argued that this is part of a larger moral panic concerning children's welfare in general, particularly with the kids' videos and COPPA debacle on YouTube sparking similar controversy prior. |
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** And it gets worse: A Texas jury indicted Netflix for the film, citing a scene showing genitalia of a minor. Some commented on how this became a test case over the limits of First Amendment rights on free expression, especially as the scenes in question was seen by some as being unambiguously obscene and lacking in artistic value, while others criticised the indictment as "absurd", citing the Sundance award as indicative of the film's supposed merits. |
** And it gets worse: A Texas jury indicted Netflix for the film, citing a scene showing genitalia of a minor. Some commented on how this became a test case over the limits of First Amendment rights on free expression, especially as the scenes in question was seen by some as being unambiguously obscene and lacking in artistic value, while others criticised the indictment as "absurd", citing the Sundance award as indicative of the film's supposed merits. |
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* The entire ending of the 2013 film ''[[Gangster Squad]]'' had to be rewritten and reshot due to the above mentioned Aurora theatre shooting. Regardless, the film's violence is still too close for comfort as the Colorado massacre was still fresh in everyone's minds. |
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* Not only was ''[[Saving Christmas]]'' derided as a hammy Evangelical Christian film for its [[Anvilicious]] premise, its reputation soured even further when [[Kirk Cameron]] vainly called for netizens to add positive reviews in an attempt to save the film's positive ratings from the "haters and atheists"; Cameron instead got the opposite response, with trolls review-bombing the living daylights out of ''Saving Christmas''. |
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* The 2014 FIFA biopic ''[[United Passions]]'' had the misfortune of being released just as when the 2015 FIFA corruption scandal was taking place. Director Frédéric Auburtin lamented about how he was commissioned to direct a propaganda piece on behalf of a corrupt organisation, adding that he tried to strike a balance between "a Disney propaganda film [and] a Costa-Gavras/Michael Moore movie" only for [[Executive Meddling]] from FIFA to prevail which further skewed the film's tone in their favour, and both Auburtin and the cast described it as a disaster, especially as Sepp Blatter was sugar-coated as a heroic figure vowing to stamp out corruption in the association (Spoiler alert: he isn't). A bemused [[John Oliver]] lampooned the film in a segment on his show ''Last Week Tonight'', wondering "Who makes a sports film where the heroes are the executives?" |
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== Literature == |
== Literature == |
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