Overshadowed by Controversy: Difference between revisions
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** [[D.W. Griffith]] later produced ''[[Intolerance]]'' in response to said criticisms, though Griffith felt he had nothing to apologize for with the racist portrayals in his earlier epic. [[Shirley Temple]] later recalled in her memoirs about Griffith's controversial views on black people, specifically on how uncomfortable he was seeing a little white girl performing alongside a black tap dancer.
* Speaking of [[Shirley Temple]], at least some of her films veer into this largely due to [[Values Dissonance]] over her interactions with grown men, and the various abuses she witnessed on- and off-set like in ''Baby Burlesks'' where misbehaving child actors were locked up in a cupboard with a big block of ice and left to freeze, and an incident where an errant MGM producer [[Squick|exposed his willy]] in front of the then twelve-year old Temple, the latter [[Children Are Innocent|unaware]] of the obscene act being done in front of her. In fairness, she did fare better than the likes of [[Lindsay Lohan]] and other former child actors after retiring from acting, but the creepiness factor with her films did turn off some modern audiences who were uncomfortable about the things the actress went through during her childhood.
* [[Charlie Chaplin]], while arguably an iconic and influential comedian to this day, had his reputation nearly plummet to the ground when he made no secret about his sociopolitical beliefs, especially during the height of the [[Red Scare]] where paranoid witch hunting against anyone and anything suspected or accused of being remotely socialist or communist was rife during the 1940s to 1950s. To further discredit Chaplin, FBI commissioner [[J. Edgar Hoover]] used Chaplin's affairs with various other women as a leverage against the comedian, and on top of that, the Feds wanted Chaplin out of the country owing to [[Cold War]] fears. Chaplin denied of being a communist and maintained that he was a "peacemonger" (and later an "anarchist"), accusing the United States government of curtailing his civil liberties and "powerful reactionary groups who, by their influence and by the aid of America's yellow press", but the damage against him had been done, and he vowed never to return to the States. Public perception towards Chaplin changed for the better however, and re-releases of his films garnered praise in the States in his later years. He received an honorary Oscar following his visit to the States in 1972, the first since his deportation.
* ''[[The Passion of the Christ]]'' became more well known for its gratuitously visceral portrayal of [[Jesus]]' passion and death as well as accusations of anti-Semitism than [[Mel Gibson]]'s efforts at a period-accurate retelling of the crucifixion. The film's violence also caused controversy in the Philippines when the Movie and Television Rating and Classification Board reportedly gave the film a dubious PG-13 rating due to its religious content (especially as the Philippines is predominantly Catholic), and even some French bishops were also disturbed by the portrayal as a "distortion of Christian teaching" and questioned the necessity of said violent scenes.
* ''[[The Dark Knight Rises]]''{{'}} release was marred by tragedy when a crazed gunman identified as James Eagan Holmes opened fire at a midnight screening in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people ''including children'' and injuring 58 others. Initial reports stated that Holmes identified himself as "the Joker" at the time of his arrest though this has been debunked. While he did not receive the death penalty as a result of his atrocities, Holmes was sentenced to twelve life sentences without parole, and [[Longer-Than-Life Sentence|an additional 3,318 years]] in prison. Judge Carlos Samour stated that the defendant should "[[You Can't Go Home Again|never set foot in free society again]]," adding that "the defendant deserves [[No Sympathy|no sympathy]]." To rub salt in Holmes's wound, a fellow inmate named Mark "Slim" Daniels assaulted him in what Daniels claimed to be [[Vigilante Man|in retribution]] to such a heartless and disgusting act.<ref>[https://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-inside-prison-assault-aurora-theater-shooter-james/story?id=37339691 Exclusive: Inside the Prison Assault on Aurora Theater Shooter James Holmes]</ref> Whether Slim was sincere about sending the Aurora shooter straight to hell or not is debatable as he could be just doing it for the notoriety, but regardless, [[Even Evil Has Standards]].
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