Writers and directors are creative people who often intend to convey hidden themes within their cinematic works of art. Still, the problem is that audiences aren’t always able to pick up on these subversive messages.
Here are 21 movies where audiences totally missed the point.
The Fabelmans
An autobiographical film about Steven Spielberg’s life, many viewers watched this movie at face value. It was about Spielberg’s growing up as a young boy who was fascinated with film. But Spielberg has even admitted himself that the movie was intended to reveal some darker aspects of the psychology behind his work and film career.
Gold
This epic film starring Matthew McConaughey is about a Gold digger who risks everything, even his life, to discover Gold in the jungle of Ghana, West Africa. But the film was really about the ills of gluttony and the dangers of chronic consumerism.
Rambo: First Blood
Notorious for its combat scenes and graphic violence, Sylvester Stallone has said that Rambo wasn’t intended to glorify violence, but instead, he intended for audiences to be shocked and abhorred by it, with the hope of ultimately steering society away from war and conflict.
Juno
A movie about a 16-year-old girl, played by Elliot Page, who gets pregnant and decides to keep her baby, this film was praised by Pro-Life campaigners as they believed that it carried a Pro-Life message. However, Page stated, “What I get most frustrated at is when people call it a Pro-Life movie, which is just absurd. The most important thing is that the choice is there, and the film demonstrates that.”
Goodfellas
Nearly all of this Martin Scorsese movie is about horrible criminals doing horrible things. In recent years, the film has been criticized for glorifying crime when its intention was the complete opposite: to send an anti-crime message.
Cuties
This French drama caused a political storm in 2020 for its apparent sexualization of children. However, what some viewers and critics didn’t get was that it was made to deliberately expose and criticize the exploitation and sexualization of children in our culture, not to capitalize off it.
The Matrix
Billed as an action, sci-fi movie in which space and time can bend, you might be surprised to hear that this film was intended as a metaphor for the trans experience. At the time the movie was made, the two Wachowski siblings were thought to be two cisgender men. But the two writers and producers, Lily and Lana Wachowski, have since confirmed that they are two trans sisters.
Bicentennial Man
Starring Robin Williams, this film is about an android who begins to develop human emotions. However, this movie’s deeper meaning is about the preciousness of humanity, individuality, family, and love, which should all be cherished.
Fight Club
While some viewers mistakenly thought Fight Club was just about a group of disillusioned men who wanted to meet up and fight, they were missing a much deeper meaning within the film. Essentially, Fight Club is a critique of modern society, consumerism, and toxic masculinity, not a celebration of it.
Fool’s Paradise
Charlie Day from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia failed to impress audiences with this film comedy about an actor in West Hollywood. Criticized for “lacking charisma,” Day stated that this was the point of the character’s lackluster demeanor, as he was trying to highlight how “white men can fail forward” without seemingly having to do much.
The Wolf of Wall Street
Although this movie was mistaken by some to be showcasing the glorification of addiction, crime, and sexual immorality, the film was intended as a cautionary tale against the dangers of excess, greed, and greedy materialism.
RoboCop
Made in 1987, this famous sci-fi fantasy film is about a fatally wounded police officer who is mechanically brought back to life as a cyborg. However, the robot is haunted by memories of his old human life submerged in his unconscious. The hidden message of this movie was about the importance of personal identity and corporate greed, and it was also a rebuke of the era of Reaganomics.
Vanilla Sky
Vanilla Sky has been criticized for being a confusing movie, as many audiences struggled to ascertain its point. However, the key message that Tom Cruise and the writers were trying to convey is that happiness doesn’t come from having every desire met but only from embracing life in its entirety, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Life of Pi
This film left audiences puzzled and confused as what the movie appears to be about isn’t actually what it is about. Although it depicts the journey of a boy stranded at sea with a Bengal Tiger, the story’s original writer, Yann Martel, has said that Life of Pi can be summarized in three statements, “Life is a story,” “You can choose your story,” and “A story with God is better.”
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
It is a brilliant movie starring Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey, but many viewers missed the point of this film. While it looks like it’s about a couple who break up and get back together, the film’s underlying message is that happiness cannot exist without sadness, as it is from painful memories that we learn what true happiness is.
Mrs. Doubtfire
Surely, this is a funny movie about a man who dresses up as a Scottish granny? I’m afraid not. Hidden behind a layer of jokes and laughs cleverly crafted by Robin Williams, it is a film about the pain of separation and divorce, of the judgments made against working mothers and so-called part-time fathers. It is a funny but also deeply emotive film.
American Psycho
Starring Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, an egotistical, psychopathic serial killer, this film isn’t only about what it appears to be about on the surface. According to literary critic Jeffrey W. Hunter, American Psycho is a critique of the “shallow and vicious aspects of capitalism, greed, and materialism.”
Starship Troopers
Many thought this movie was a jovial space adventure; however, it has since transpired that it was actually a clever satire of the American war machine and the propaganda surrounding it.
V for Vendetta
This film confused many audiences as it was quite cryptic in parts, but its basic theme and message were anti-establishment and the right to freedom.
Barbie
Probably the “pinkest” movie ever made, the Barbie film wasn’t just about children’s toy dolls. The deeper meaning behind this film was that being different is a good thing; it makes us special, and we should love and embrace our uniqueness.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
This legendary film touched the hearts and minds of an entire generation of children during the 80s and 90s. Based on a story about a boy who becomes friends with an extra-terrestrial alien, the point of this film is about learning to accept and embrace others who are different from ourselves.
