10 Controversial Movies Everyone Misunderstood

9. First Man

Damien Chazelle's First Man had all the potential to be a slam-dunk Best Picture-winner, what with Ryan Gosling playing Neil Armstrong and Chazelle sure to deliver a stylish, emotional rendition of man stepping foot on the Moon for the first time.

But as soon as the film had its premiere at last year's Venice Film Festival, word got out that Chazelle had chosen not to show Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll) planting the American flag on the Moon, as was interpreted by the American right as a deliberate, politicised slight.

Chazelle insisted it wasn't a political move but simply reflected his desire to focus on other aspects of the mission, yet this controversy was all most outlets were prepared to discuss, to the extent that it's widely associated with harming the film's box office performance.

All the hyperbole and patriotic whining of course glossed over the fact that the Moon landing is considered by history to be a human achievement more than an American one, a claim Ryan Gosling himself cited, yet which only made the complainers even angrier.

But more than that, First Man is as much about Armstrong as it is the landings - hence the film's title - and given the abundant presence of American flags throughout the film, moping about the flag planting being omitted smacks of misplaced outrage.

Hopefully time will remember the film as the brilliant historical drama it is, even if many on the right-end of the political spectrum won't ever watch it solely due to this controversy.