10 Movie Characters That Shocked The World

"Get the butter." Hearing the lispy Marlon Brando utter those words triggers a gag reflex - no kidding, The Village Voice reported that New York screenings were met with vomiting from "well-dressed housewives."

The scene in question involves an horrific sex act and is even more repulsive today, knowing now that it was unscripted and what followed, though simulated according to those involved, happened without actress Maria Schneider's consent. She felt raped, and it was all Brando's idea, and though the two remained friends, she was uneasy and never spoke to director Bernardo Bertolucci again.

Paul was already a controversial character at the start of the film, a widower who engages in meaningless, anonymous sex with a younger woman. But everything must be on is terms, giving her little agency until she's forced to take it for herself.

The American right was not pleased, with William F. Buckley calling it pornography disguised as art. But people still lined up in two-hour long queues, enduring shootouts of "Perverts!" from passing motorists.