10 Stupid Movie Controversies That Totally Missed The Point

6. Pain & Gain Trivialised The Horrific True Story

Michael Bay's most recent film, Pain and Gain, is an extremely liberal take on the true story of a group of bodybuilders who decided to kidnap, torture and murder people all in the name of making some money. With the publicity surrounding the film, some of the victims and investigators associated with the crimes were interviewed, expressing their disdain for a film which takes a semi-comedic approach to real life crimes which resulted in death and a lot of misery, and moreover, may make audiences sympathise with or idolise the protagonists. Though it's fair to say that the film does make the protagonists out to be more sympathetic than in real life, Bay's film makes it very clear from the outset that it is only loosely based on the actual events. More to the point, it uses the facts as a base to weave a satire about the American dream, painting Mark Wahlberg's character in particular as a deluded dufus who absolutely nobody in their right mind would aspire to. Is it arguably a little tacky to treat the real tragedy like this? Perhaps, but to attack the filmmakers overtly and question their moral fiber because of it is a different kettle of fish altogether. Does The Great Escape trivialise the Holocaust because it has a flighty tone and fudges the facts? Absolutely not. It's maybe not the best comparison, but you get the idea.