20 'Controversial' Movies Everyone Completely Over-Reacted To
10. The Wolf Of Wall Street
The Film:
Martin Scorsese's sublime dark comedy tells the true story of a corrupt New York stockbroker and his eventual downfall. It's the film which should've won Leonardo DiCaprio his Oscar.
The Controversy:
With over 500 uses of the F word, lots of sex and drugs and plenty of generally scummy actions from all the characters, the film was criticized for glamorizing the characters and for its general misbehavior.
Why It Was Wrong:
There are controversies that miss the point and then there's this. It appears that those attacking the film hadn't actually watched it properly. If they had, they'd have realized that the film's comic vibe satirizes and sends up the appalling behavior depicted. If anything, the film is mocking Jordan Belfort and his associates, not condoning their actions.
Throughout the film, it is made clear that what all of the characters are doing is entirely wrong and they do all eventually face consequences for their actions. In the end, they all come across as fairly tragic figures. So maybe Scorsese could've done a more straight-faced drama with a more sobering tone, but where's the fun in that?
What's most frustrating of all is that the controversies surrounding the film probably meant it didn't win any of the Oscars it was nominated for. Given that it was better than a fair few of the other nominated movies, that's a big shame.