Overshadowed by Controversy: Difference between revisions
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* A number of songs gained notoriety for this due to their [[Backmasking|purported backwards messages]]. An often-cited example of this was [[Led Zeppelin]]'s "Stairway to Heaven" and [[The Eagles]]' "Hotel California", alleged by conservative Christian groups to have sinister satanic messages when played backwards. Some artists actually do this deliberately either to satirise the moral panic as in the case of [["Weird Al" Yankovic]], or as an [[Easter Egg]].
** An early example of the latter comes from [[Styx]]'s 1983 album ''[[Kilroy Was Here (album)|Kilroy Was Here]]'', which advertised that it had back-masked "messages" in its songs -- things like the motto off the Great Seal of the United States.
* Spanish girl group [[Las Ketchup]] gained fame in 2002 for their [[One-Hit Wonder]] "The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)", spawning a dance craze in several countries later that year, but shortly after its release and runaway success on the pop charts, conspiracy theories emerged alleging the song's lyrics as making [[Subliminal Seduction|cryptic references]] to satanic rituals and hellish imagery; the "Aserejé" lines were a [[Something Something Leonard Bernstein|misinterpretation]] of the first verse of "Rapper's Delight", a 1979 hip hop song by [[The Sugarhill Gang]], mangling "I said a hip hop, the hippie, the hippie..." into Spanish gibberish. Las Ketchup has since responded to the controversy, contending that the song ''isn't supposed to make any sense at all'' and denied incorporating any evil messages into their works. A Spanish-language expert also debunked said claims in a Filipino showbiz news programme on [[GMA Network]] when news of the controversy circulated in the Philippines at the time, providing an explanation over the song's lyrics and supposed meaning–a man named Diego struggling to recall the lyrics to "Rapper's Delight".
* Discussion of [[Michael Jackson]]'s life and career wouldn't be complete without the tabloid headlines ascribed to him such as his plastic surgeries and skin bleaching, eccentric habits like his pet chimpanzee Bubbles, unfounded rumours of him sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber, and of course the [[Paedo Hunt|child molestation]] accusations peppered towards him. Perception of him softened when he died in 2009, with the ''very same media'' who made a [[Butt Monkey]] of him now revering Jackson as a pop icon and trendsetter. The 2019 documentary ''Leaving Neverland'' brought back the paedophiliac accusations against him however, though this was arguably overshadowed with the likes of R. Kelly and the larger #MeToo movement.
* [[Milli Vanilli]] became better known for the lip-syncing scandal they got caught up with, which utterly destroyed any and all hope for them to make a comeback. The ensuing controversy took its toll on Rob Pilatus, who turned to drugs and crime as a result of mounting pressure from all the negative press they got after they were exposed as frauds and their Grammy was withdrawn.
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* [[Richard Wagner]] was a influential and innovative composer of the Romantic era, but he was also a virulent anti-Semite which led to [[Adolf Hitler]] and his [[Sarcasm Mode|merry band]] of [[Those Wacky Nazis|Nazis]] adoring his compositions and promoting it over what they perceive as degenerate ''"Negermusik"''. To this day, performing his music in Israel would land you in hot water.
* [[Scorpions]]' "Virgin Killer" gained notoriety as that one album which put [[Wikipedia]] on hot water due to the album cover containing an image of a naked prepubescent girl (the genitals were censored though, [[Squick|but still]]...). The UK-based Internet Watch Foundation blacklisted the image as child pornography, but said ban only served to pique the curiosity of those who risked their reputation [[Streisand Effect|just to know what all the fuss was about]]. The IWF lifted the ban three days later, likely as the image was used for ''scholarly purposes'' to comment on the controversy rather than to attract paedophiles or condone the practice of erotica involving minors (In a similar manner to this wiki, Wikipedia has a no-censorship policy citing [[wikipedia:Academic freedom|academic freedom]] among other things. Of course, they would not in any way encourage people to engage in or acquire illegal pornography; there was however some controversy when co-founder Larry Sanger expressed concern over the hosting of potentially obscene images of children or illustrations depicting children, which Jimmy Wales promptly deleted albeit controversially as it was carried out without community consensus).
** Similar controversy arose with [[Nirvana]]'s "Nevermind", when record stores refused to carry it due to its portrayal of [[Squick|a naked baby]]. Nirvana compromised and put a sticker that read "If you're offended by this, you must be a [[Paedo Hunt|closet pedophile]]" over the genitals.
* "You're Pitiful" by [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] got embroiled in a somewhat minor controversy when Atlantic Records persistently refused to grant permission for Yankovic to parody James Blunt's "You're Beautiful", believing that the parody might create the impression of Blunt as a "[[One-Hit Wonder|one-hit wonder]]". Yankovic isn't actually legally obliged to seek permission as per ''Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.'', instead doing so out of principle to avoid any feuds with record labels or the original artist. The ensuing controversy led Yankovic to release "You're Pitiful" as a free MP3 download on his MySpace page, which fan sites mirrored and made a semi-official cover art of, based directly on the artwork for the original song. Still needing a lead parody for ''Straight Outta' Lynwood'', Weird Al recorded [[Chamillionaire]] parody "White & Nerdy", which went on to be Yankovic's most popular song, and his first top 10 Billboard hit.
* It's hard to think about Mexican-American pop singer [[Selena]] (full name Selena Quintanilla-Pérez) without bringing up her untimely death in the hands of her assistant [[Loony Fan|Yolanda Saldívar]], with whom she had a falling out over Saldívar's underhanded control over the singer's business ventures. On the morning of March 31, 1995, Saldívar shot and killed Selena after a financial dispute, her death later compared to the likes of [[John F. Kennedy]], [[John Lennon]] and [[Elvis Presley]] in terms of cultural impact. [[Jennifer Lopez]]'s portrayal of Selena in the [[Selena (film)|1997 biopic]] is considered to be her breakout role, and [[Selena Gomez]] owes much of her influence to Quintanilla, with Gomez herself being [[Named After Somebody Famous|named after the singer]].
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== Toys ==
* [[My Friend Cayla]], and by extension, smart toys in general, had their reputation suffered when security experts pointed out on the toys' glaring flaws, i.e. ''absolutely no thought was given with its security.'' With '''no pairing codes or any safeguards in place''', a malicious party could commandeer a Cayla—itself essentially a Bluetooth speaker in the form of a doll—and make her say nasty things or listen in on children's conversations. The manufacturers were quick to defend that no such hacking incidents have taken place outside of proof-of-concept demonstrations, and it involves people with the know-how to do so (not that a [[Paedo Hunt|determined creep]] can't do it, at least hypothetically), but even then, the audio advertising and data collection by the dolls especially in this day and age where paranoia over privacy after Snowden's NSA exposé is quite common, is certainly alarming.
* The [[Bratz]] line is no stranger to controversy either due to its provocative clothing and body image, with [[Moral Guardians]] criticising MGA Entertainment for sending the wrong message "forcing young girls to grow up too soon." This led to a Tasmanian mother to come up with customised Bratz dolls<ref>[https://www.goodnet.org/articles/these-dolls-got-natural-makeovers-wowed-world These Dolls Got Natural Makeovers - And Wowed the World - Goodnet]</ref> with facial features repainted to represent younger girls and clothing to match, subverting the much-derided sexualised wardrobe and appearance the doll line is known for.
== Video Games ==
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* While ''[[Minecraft]]'' drew in players of all ages due to its sandbox-style world creation and its blocky, pixelated aesthetic, its creator, Markus "Notch" Persson, became embroiled in a number of controversial statements about feminism and "white privilege", leading to accusations of him being an alt-right sympathiser. This led to the parodic "Hatsune Miku created ''Minecraft''" meme by fans of the game who sought to distance themselves from Notch and his ideologies. Similarly, series owner [[Microsoft]] [[Unperson|removed]] most if not all references to him from the games as a result of the controversy.
* Despite receiving critical acclaim from mainstream gaming press, ''[[The Last of Us Part II]]'' was [[Critical Dissonance|savaged]] by a number of gaming circles for its inclusion of LGBTQ+ content and themes, branding it a "[[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement|social justice warrior]]" or a "woke" game as some perceive it as [[Anvilicious|pervasive agenda-pushing]] not unlike films featuring female, LGBT and racially diverse cast members. Kotaku's Riley MacLeod saw the controversy as a weak point with Metacritic's aggregation system, where he stated that the site "fails to take into account the diverse critical opinions of the game", instead focusing on the overall scores and seemingly padding it out to make the game appear better than it is, than the actual content of the review and provide a more even assessment of the game's critical both in the eyes of the press and the gaming public. It also didn't help that, like what happened with the ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' remake, the game's cast members were unfairly harassed and trolled by self-styled "edgelords" who take offense at anything remotely "diverse" or "feminist". Considering the disconcertingly divisive sociopolitical atmosphere in the United States in this day and age, the homophobic and anti-feminist sentiment thrown at ''The Last of Us Part II'' is unsurprising.
** The other part of the controversy was
== Western Animation ==
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* Media coverage of the 2019 Spanish animated feature ''[[Elcano & Magallanes: First Trip Around the World]]'' was skewed more towards the outrage it generated when Filipinos took umbrage over its [[Cross-Cultural Kerfluffle|depiction]] of [[Lapu-Lapu]] and the Battle of Mactan. [[Misplaced Nationalism]] ensued when Filipinos, whose elementary school textbook knowledge of their country's history is [[The Theme Park Version|a little distorted]] to say the least, took to social media and bashed the living daylights out of the film, the catch being that most of the outrage came from those who [[Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch|haven't even watched the whole film yet]] and were motivated more by [[Serious Business|blind patriotism]] and the [[GIFT|typical keyboard-warrior mentality]] than sincere and level-headed perception of history. Said Filipinos are under the impression that Lapu-Lapu fought for the Philippines as a whole as the first to resist colonial rule, something [[Rodrigo Duterte]] played up and over-hyped in a statement; historians and scholars disagree with this, as the Philippines as we know it is a relatively recent concept, and the archipelago was at the time made up of mostly unconnected tribal polities who waged wars against each other for whatever reason. Another thing was that Magellan and his posse weren't necessarily plotting to conquer any land, and were more into trading spices than anything else. Magellan did have chieftain Rajah Humabon and his consort Humamay converted to Catholicism, but other than that, it was mostly a trade expedition. It wasn't until 1565 when King Philip II spearheaded the conquest of the Philippines through a Spanish expedition of five hundred men led by Miguel López de Legazpi. To top it all off, a Rappler columnist bluntly pointed out<ref>[https://www.rappler.com/views/imho/244538-anger-toward-elcano-magellan-film-unjustified The anger toward the ‘Elcano & Magellan’ film is unjustified]</ref> the hypocrisy in an editorial where he noted how the producers of the 2013 religious historical drama ''[[Pedro Calungsod: Batang Martir]]'' had no qualms about portraying the Chamorro people as barbaric savages who slayed Calungsod for his missionary work–the film was universally praised in the Philippines, but was unsurprisingly panned by the Chamorros in Guam.
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'' has an In-Universe example with Russ Meyers Sr., the creator of Itchy and Scratchy (well, sort of). While most regard him as a beloved cartoonist, (often portrayed as this reality's equivalent of [[Walt Disney]]) he was also criticized for a controversial cartoon called "Nazi Supermen are Our Superiors". Oh, and as revealed in one episode, [[Plagiarism in Fiction| he was a plagiarist.]]
* John Lasseter was known for directing pioneering works such as ''[[Toy Story]]'', ''[[A Bug's Life]]'' and ''[[Cars]]'' among others, but his reputation as an influential animator went down the drain when allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced accusing him of "grabbing, kissing, [and] making comments about physical attributes" towards female colleagues, and that Pixar had minders reminding Lasseter to lay off on his perversions. In fairness, he did more or less admit to his "missteps", but still it left a sour taste on those who grew up with the films he directed. The controversy with Lasseter may have also accounted for the removal of a mock blooper scene in recent home media releases of ''[[Toy Story 2]]'' that featured the Prospector suggestively enticing a pair of [[Barbie]] dolls with a role in ''[[Toy Story 3]]''.
== Real Life ==
* A particular style of shoe sold by C. & J. Clark, one of the largest shoe manufacturing firms in the UK, became this<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40916607 Clarks in sexism row over Dolly Babe girls' shoe - BBC News]</ref> when an angry mother made a rant not just about how easily worn out the "Dolly Babe" Mary Jane school shoes were, but the [[Political Correctness Gone Mad|shoes' name itself]] being "sexist" and "promoting gender stereotypes" with its [[All Women Love Shoes|overly feminine design]]–a lavender heart-print insole and a heart-shaped charm on the toebox. Not helping matters was that the "Dolly Babes" were compared unfavourably to the football-themed "Leader" shoes for boys, also made by the same company. [[Serious Business]] ensued, and as a result Clarks issued an apology, stating that it wasn't their intention to offend, and withdrew the shoes in question from sale; they did briefly re-release<ref>[https://www.charlesclinkard.co.uk/girls-c23/school-shoes-c71/cla-dolly-babe-jnr-p23607 Clarks Movello Lo Junior Girls School Shoes]</ref> the style [[Same Face, Different Name|under the name]] "Movello Lo"<ref>[https://www.mumzworld.com/en/clarks-movello-lo Clarks - Movello Lo]</ref> presumably to clear out existing inventory, though. They would later commit to designing and selling "gender-neutral" school shoes, which presumably also had a side-effect of being more acceptable in certain schools where dress codes are stringently observed. It's not that Clarks hasn't come up with anything appealing to girls in recent years though, like the "Etch Bright" shoes for girls with its sparkly purple insole and star accents,<ref>[https://www.clarks.co.uk/c/Etch-Bright-Kid/p/26151125 Etch Bright Kid Black Patent]</ref> but by then people may have forgotten about the sexism row with the shoemaker and moved on to the next scapegoat.
** Tesco wasn't spared from a similar controversy either, when a range of school shoes got slammed by a teacher<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4777936/Teacher-slams-Tesco-selling-sexist-school-shoes.html Teacher slams Tesco for selling 'sexist' school shoes]</ref> for its alleged use of gender stereotypes most especially the "sensitive soles" on the girls' shoes with a pink butterfly design on the soles in question. Surprising they didn't take their aim at Italian children's footwear brand Lelli Kelly for selling girls' shoes with gaudy and flamboyantly feminine, if not infantile, designs, which has become something of a [[Bile Fascination|running joke]] for those in Europe who have been subjected to cringe-worthy commercials promoting said brand.
* The Ford Pinto was an economy car deserving of merit, if not for its [[Achilles' Heel]] that is the gas tank flaw which [[Every Car Is a Pinto|made the car combust in a rear-end collision]], and the subsequent controversy ensuing from it. Ford reportedly decided that paying out on wrongful-death lawsuits would be cheaper than fixing it.
* Heck, even Henry Ford himself had his reputation smeared no thanks to his antisemitic views. He was one of the few Americans whom [[Adolf Hitler]] admired and was mentioned in ''[[Mein Kampf]]''. Ford also had the canard ''The International Jew, the World's Foremost Problem'' as well as the forgery ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]'' republished. Ironically enough, he also hired black employees as well as women and people with disabilities, and if one source was to be believed, Ford was reportedly so distraught by the extent of the atrocities of the [[Holocaust]] that "he collapsed with a stroke – his last and most serious" after he was shown newsreel footage of what transpired at the time. Even more ironic was that he was a Freemason, a secretive fraternal society often if not always alleged to have been plotting for a New World Order amongst other conspiracies, and is generally viewed with contempt by most Christian denominations especially the Roman Catholic Church. If the likes of [[Alex Jones]] are virulently campaigning against Freemasonry and the NWO, the idea of an ''inducted Freemason'' believing in and espousing the same beliefs as Jones and co. would certainly confuse some people.
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