Controversy
During the initial release, a large crowd of protesters formed at the main entrance of MGM calling for a ban on the film because, they claimed, it would incite violence in children. Local news reporters from two TV stations were broadcasting live from the scene. The producer, David Kirschner, was watching the demonstration on TV and was disturbed. Jeffrey Hilton, who had been working in Kirschner's office at MGM, indicated that he could quell the disturbance in 10 minutes. While Kirschner was watching from the safety of his office, Hilton spoke to the group's leader, shook hands and the group instantly dispersed, much to the chagrin of the newscasters. Hilton did not reveal to Kirschner whether it was a threat or simply diplomacy that saved the day.
Hilton's diplomacy notwithstanding, the film's franchise was plagued with accusations of inciting violence in children. Child's Play 3 was cited as the "inspiration" for the murder of James Bulger. A gang in Manchester, England, kidnapped and murdered a 16-year-old girl. While they tortured her, they forced her to listen to recordings of the gangleader repeating the catchphrase "I'm Chucky, wanna play?". Tom Holland, in response to both murders, defended the film stating viewers of horror movies could only be influenced by their content if they were "unbalanced to begin with".
Read more about this topic: Child's Play (1988 film)
Famous quotes containing the word controversy:
“Ours was a highly activist administration, with a lot of controversy involved ... but I’m not sure that it would be inconsistent with my own political nature to do it differently if I had it to do all over again.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“And therefore, as when there is a controversy in an account, the parties must by their own accord, set up for right Reason, the Reason of some Arbitrator, or Judge, to whose sentence, they will both stand, or their controversy must either come to blows, or be undecided, for want of a right Reason constituted by Nature; so is it also in all debates of what kind soever.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)