 25 Mar 2007 @ 18:31, by Unknown
What do those films have in common?
1. "The Message (Mohammed: The Messenger of God)" (1976)
Offended Party: Muslems
Controversy:
"The Message" opened in the United States during the rise of the Black Muslim movement and some followers were so incensed that Mohammed would be shown on-screen that they took more than 100 hostages in Washington, D.C.: "A siege was staged against the Washington D.C. chapter of the B'nai B'rith under the mistaken belief that Anthony Quinn played Mohammed in the film, threatening to blow up the building and its inhabitants unless the film's opening was cancelled. The standoff was resolved without explosion or injuries..."
2. "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988)
Offended Party: Christians
Controversy:
Jesus chooses the path not taken; scenes depicting him as fully human, exploring aspects of lust and other "base" human temptations.
Based on the novel of the same name, Martin Scorsese's "Temptation" follows the life of embattled Christ (Willem Dafoe) as Satan shows him what life might have been like had he not been crucified. Christ takes temptation for a ride around the block several times, including marrying and explicitly making love with Barbara Hershey's terribly earnest Mary Magdalene. At the end of his hot and heavy life, Christ rejects all temptations and time rolls backward to his crucifixion as he chooses the path not taken. Too little, too late for some: A French Catholic fundamentalist group protested the screening, fire-bombing a Parisian theater and badly injuring more than 12 people.
3. "The Passion of The Christ" (2004)
Offended Party: Jews
Controversy:
Perceived anti-Semitism, debated historical accuracy. This is the movie Entertainment Weekly rated No. 1 of the 25 most controversial movies of all time.
One of the most controversial aspects of the film is its portrayal of Pilate reluctantly sentencing Jesus to crucifixion under pressure from a bullying mob and conniving Jewish priests. Scholars acknowledged the scene is faithful to the gospels, but some experts said a "historical" perspective is imperative. According to the latter, the gospels, were written many years after the crucifixion at a time when the early Christians felt it would be politically wise to "soften Pontius Pilate as a way of placating" the Romans who ruled over them.
4. "The Profit" (2001) :
Offended Party: Scientologists
Controversy:
Eric Rath plays a cult leader named L. Conrad Powers (taken by some observers to be a parody of L. Ron Hubbard), whose organization is called the "Church of Scientific Spiritualism." Notwithstanding the fictional elements of the film, the Church of Scientology took legal action against the film makers after a handful of test screenings in Florida.
The Church claimed that the film was intended to influence the jury pool in the wrongful death case of a Scientologist, Lisa McPherson, who died while in the care of the Church of Scientology in Clearwater, Florida. In response to the lawsuit, Pinellas County, Florida, Judge Robert Beach issued a court order in April 2002 banning The Profit from worldwide distribution for an indefinite period. As of 2006, the ban still stands; the film has yet to be released to the public.
The producers of the film had a court hearing on March 5, 2007 to ask that the injunction on the film's distribution be lifted. However as of February 28, 2007 that hearing was pushed back to March 27, 2007, due to a resolution of legal matters between Bob Minton and the Church of Scientology - and subsequent attempt by Minton to block the film's distribution.
Hmmmm, it'd appear that, in these things as in most things, Money and lawyers still trump guns---of all the above titles, The Profit is the only film which has been successfully banned (so far) in the United States.
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