There’s a well known French phrase, succès de scandale, that essentially describes the phenomenon where a work of public art gets more popular because of its perceived notoriety — that the controversy it sparked contributed, in whole or in part, to its later popularity. English speakers might be more familiar with the adage “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” — something more than a few directors and film production companies have been forced to keep in mind whenever their movies become the subject of major discourse.
Films are works of art, and all art is made to elicit an opinion from its audience. Some opinions are stronger than others, and sometimes the time comes around where a movie elicits such a strong, widespread, infectious opinion among the populace that it becomes controversial. This can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on the makers’ intentions, but it almost always means your film will be remembered for something, even if it’s not remembered for being particularly good.
Some movies are more controversial than others, and here we’ve gathered ten films from the last half century whose public controversy upon release nearly overshadowed the actual content of the movies. Whether it was due to extreme violent or sexual content, religious tomfoolery, lending credibility to debunked conspiracy theories, nearly inciting an international incident, or some combination of all of these things, these films were famously subjected to a fervor of public outcry that, for many of them, only made people want to watch them more.
10 Movies That Sparked Major Controversy When They Were Released
In many ways, the controversy actually made these movies a bigger deal.
Gallery Credit: Emma Stefansky
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