What are some movies that are controversial yet you happen to enjoy?
I have one, Disney’s Pochahontas. I LOVED this movie as a kid, it was one of my favorite Disney movies growing up and when I learned that this movie is actually one of Disney’s most controversial movies and the scapegoat for ending the so-called “Disney Reinassance”, I felt hurt. I feel that it is controversial for the wrong reasons, they say that it offends Native Americans. Like really? Disney has offended many different cultures and was/still is accused of cultural appropriation whenever they decide to use a non-western setting for their movie. The Chinese, Greek, and Arab American communities criticized Mulan, Hercules, and Aladdin as offensive to their cultures yet those movies are still critically acclaimed by critics and most fans.
Pochahontas was released 27 years ago and yet it still gets derision from both audiences and critics. The notion that it offended Native Americans is absurd because it goes to great lengths to paint Native American culture in a positive (bit romantic) light. It uses the story of the colonizing of the Americas by the British as an Aesop of bigotry. How both sides are xenophobic toward each other and how hatred is just plain bad.
People say that “well it uses real life history so it obviously offends someone!”, just because it uses real world history doesn’t mean that it’s offensive to someone. Lots of movies have been made as fictional representations of historical events like Gladiator, 300, Braveheart, and so many others. Yes, those movies got criticized for being historically inaccurate as well, but those criticisms were overshadowed by praise by critics and audiences. It just ticks me off that my favorite childhood movie is trashed non-stop because of “muh feelings and cultural appropriation”. It’s not fair.