Controversial Media

Controversial Media

Film: Escape From Tomorrow (2013)

Shot in Black and White, directed by Randy Moore and released in 2013, Escape From Tomorrow is an American fantasy/horror film that follows an unemployed father experiencing strange and disturbing hallucinations on the last day of his family vacation in Walt Disney World Resort. The film caused controversy from audiences and critics alike due to it's bizzare and violent nature but also because of the circumstances in which Escape From Tommorow was actually filmed. Moore had shot most of the film on location in Walt Disney World and Disneyland without permission from the company itself. Knowing Disney's strong reputation of being protective of it's intellectual property, Moore decided that it would be best if his cast and crew used independent filmmaking techniques as a way to divert attention from the production. This included keeping their scripts on their iPhones and shooting on hand held cameras. Moore was determined to keep the project a secret from Disney that he conducted editing in South Korea. Sundance, the festival in which the film was first chosen to be screened, declined to discuss the content of the film before it was shown. It earned the nickname of 'the ultimate guerrilla film.' Many of the people that saw the film doubted that it would even recieve wider screening because of it's negative depiction of the park itself. Disney finally admitted that it was aware of the film's existence but chose not to proceed with any legal action, thus allowing the film to be shared further.
Game: Hatred (2015)

Hatred (2005) is a isometric shooter game which allows the player to take on the character of a mass-killing sociopath who begins to try and kill as many humans as possible. The game was considered controversial by game fans and critics alike due to it's extremely violent content and was even removed by Valve Corporation (an American game developer) from their Steam Greenlight service. The game was eventually brought back after a personal apology from Gabe Newell for it's unsettling plot and glamorised violence. Hatred was received negatively by fans and critics alike for it's 'tacky' plot and structure. PC Magazine's David Murphy wrote that people should "get ready for the backlash about the ultra-violent shooter...if the game is ever released" and likened the game to it's predecessors Manhunt, Postal and Mortal Kombat due to it's similarly amount of generated controversy. Mike Splechta from GameZone believed that the game's timing could affect it's ability to "become the next scapegoat" in a society that had begun to consider video games responsible for school shootings and other acts of mass violence and/or genocide.
Television: 

South Park is an American animated sitcom that revolves around the lives of four boys (Stan, Kyle, Eric and Kenny) and their strange yet comical adventures in their titular Colorado town. Aimed to appeal to more mature audiences, the show uses crude language, dark, surreal humour and relevant topics such as politics, religion and war to draw in their adult viewers. The show, although popular, has received criticism for some of it's episode content and has caused discussion amongst critics for it's infamous structure. The series creators Stone and Parker when faced with questions about the nature of some of the episodes replied with the statement that they reject the notion of political correctness and emphasised that no one group or topic, will be spared the expense of being mocked or ridiculed, out of fairness to any person or group of people who have been mocked before. An example of when the sitcom came under fire from critics was when the series was recorded to have used the curse word 'shit' a total of 162 without censorship in it's season five premiere 'It Hits The Fan.' Further criticism came, with it's depiction of the Virgin Mary in season nine (2005) which angered several Catholics, it's portrayal of Steve Irwin with a stingray barb impaled in his chest in 'Hell On Earth 2006' which aired just two months after he was killed in a similar fashion and the depiction of the prophet Mohammed in the season ten episode 'Cartoon Wars Part II' which goes against the Islamic view that portraying Mohammed visually was blasphemous.