15 Most Controversial Movie Moments 2016
8. London Has Fallen’s Insensitive Terrorsploitation
Releasing the first trailer for London Has Fallen featuring
the British capital being blown to smithereens just a week before the tenth
anniversary of the 7/7 bombings was insensitive to say the least, and the film
didn’t fare any better when viewed in its entirety either. As the sequel to the
perplexingly successful 2013 action romp Olympus Has Fallen, the movie sees
Gerard Butler reprise his role as a Secret Service agent who this time around
is tasked with tackling a group of vaguely Middle Eastern terrorists who plan
to assassinate world leaders who have congregated in London to attend the
funeral of the British prime minister.
Deemed racist ‘terrorsploitation’ by the film press, the movie was criticised for promoting a xenophobic, fear-mongering world view that is particularly insensitive in the wake of the recent terror attacks in Paris and the current furore over immigration in Europe. Given that the movie includes such dialogue as ‘Get back to F*ckheadistan or wherever it is you're from’, who can blame them?