20 'Controversial' Movies Everyone Completely Over-Reacted To

The Film:

David Fincher's handsome yet somewhat empty and largely over-hyped adaptation of the (Far superior) novel, which is about the disappearance of Amy Dunne. It turns out halfway through that Amy is actually alive and trying to frame her unfaithful husband for her murder.

The Controversy:

Both the film and the novel have faced accusations of misogyny, while others have stated it's a feminist work.

Why It Was Wrong:

Hollywood cinema is rightly criticized for its lack of good female roles. Here is a powerful female character but because she's a villain, she's automatically seen as misogynist?

Gone Girl is not a work of misogyny. If anything, it seems critical of women's largely limited roles in society and the apathy with which they are often treated by their husbands. Amy Dunne, superbly played by Rosamund Pike, is a female character with agency and power, shade and depth - such a rare thing in Hollywood cinema.

The film leans far more towards feminism than misogyny. It should also be remembered that the original book and subsequent screenplay was written by a woman who identifies as a feminist.

In the book, Amy is a better-realized character but unfortunately the complicated narrative structures wouldn't really translate to film very well, so the film largely does away with Amy's internal thoughts. The character as conceived by writer Gillian Flynn is not fundamentally a misogynist idea, and she shouldn't be seen as such in the film.