Movies with Muddled Morals
This is a list of movies whose morals I would argue are misguided or at the very least muddled by the events in the movie itself. Of course this is all pretty subjective and many of these films I do like, so take my comments with a grain of salt.
List activity
1.8K views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
22 titles
- DirectorMartin BrestStarsAl PacinoChris O'DonnellJames RebhornA prep school student needing money agrees to "babysit" a blind man, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.Moral of the Story: Don't be a snitch.
- DirectorRoger AllersRob MinkoffStarsMatthew BroderickJeremy IronsJames Earl JonesLion prince Simba and his father are targeted by his bitter uncle, who wants to ascend the throne himself.Moral of the Story: Ambitious political reform which includes the disenfranchised (Hyenas) goes against the natural order.
- DirectorBryan SingerStarsPatrick StewartHugh JackmanIan McKellenIn a world where mutants (evolved super-powered humans) exist and are discriminated against, two groups form for an inevitable clash: the supremacist Brotherhood, and the pacifist X-Men.Moral of the Story: Discrimination is wrong, even if the people you are discriminating can kill you in a thousand different ways.
- DirectorDon SiegelClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodAndrew RobinsonHarry GuardinoWhen a man calling himself "the Scorpio Killer" menaces San Francisco, tough-as-nails Police Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan is assigned to track down the crazed psychopath.Moral of the Story: The criminal justice system is so stacked against law enforcement that sometimes its okay to cut through the red tape and just break someone's leg.
- DirectorChris ColumbusStarsTaye DiggsWilson Jermaine HerediaRosario DawsonIn New York City's gritty East Village, a group of bohemians strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.Moral of the Story: Being a squatter, having sex with multiple partners and just being an all-around irresponsible person isn't just plain dumb, its having an "alternative lifestyle."
- DirectorBobcat GoldthwaitStarsMelinda Page HamiltonBryce JohnsonBrian PosehnA recently engaged woman's life is thrown into turmoil after confessing to her fiancé that she once experimented with bestiality.Moral of the Story: There are limits to telling the truth, even to your most trusted friends and family.
- DirectorScott WiperStarsSteve AustinVinnie JonesNathan JonesJack Conrad is awaiting the death penalty in a corrupt Central American prison. He is "purchased" by a wealthy television producer and taken to a desolate island where he must fight to the death against nine other condemned killers from all corners of the world, with freedom going to the sole survivor.Moral of the Story: Watching people kill each other for your sick entertainment is wrong...so don't watch this movie about people killing each other for your entertainment.
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsRobert De NiroKenneth BranaghHelena Bonham CarterWhen the brilliant but unorthodox scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein rejects the artificial man that he has created, the Creature escapes and later swears revenge.Moral of the Story: There are just somethings man is not meant to do/create/discover.
- DirectorJudd ApatowStarsSeth RogenKatherine HeiglPaul RuddFor fun-loving party animal Ben Stone, the last thing he ever expected was for his one-night stand to show up on his doorstep eight weeks later to tell him she's pregnant with his child.Moral of the Story: Completely changing yourself for someone else is not only a good thing to do but entirely healthy and will not produce any feelings of resentment.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsF. Murray AbrahamTom HulceElizabeth BerridgeThe life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.Moral of the Story: God just naturally favors some over others.
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsMatthew BroderickAlan RuckMia SaraA popular high school student, admired by his peers, decides to take a day off from school and goes to extreme lengths to pull it off, to the chagrin of his Dean, who'll do anything to stop him.Moral of the Story: It's okay to skip school, destroy a car, ruin a parade, con your way into a restaurant and treat your friends like crap so long as you're having fun doing it.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsRobert De NiroKevin BaconBrad PittAfter a prank goes disastrously wrong, a group of boys are sent to a detention center where they are brutalized. Thirteen years later, an unexpected random encounter with a former guard gives them a chance for revenge.Moral of the Story: Justice and revenge are very much the exact same thing.
- DirectorPaul JohanssonStarsTaylor SchillingGrant BowlerMatthew MarsdenRailroad executive Dagny Taggart and steel mogul Henry Rearden form an alliance to fight the increasingly authoritarian government of the United States.Moral of the Story: The unwashed masses are lazy and ignorant and only selfish, rich people can make a real difference.
- DirectorTom ShadyacStarsRobin WilliamsDaniel LondonMonica PotterThe true story of a heroic man, Hunter "Patch" Adams, determined to become a medical doctor because he enjoys helping people. He ventured where no doctor had ventured before, using humour and pathos.Moral of the Story: Laughter is the best medicine even when terminally ill.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsChristian BaleHeath LedgerAaron EckhartWhen the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.Moral of the Story: The only way to stop crazy people is constant vigilance and completely destroying the right to privacy.
- DirectorKunihiko YuyamaStarsVeronica TaylorRachael LillisEric StuartScientists genetically create a new Pokémon, Mewtwo, but the results are horrific and disastrous.Moral of the Story: Forcing animals to fight each other for sport is wrong. Which is a good moral until you consider no one in the film actually learned it.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHenry ThomasDrew BarrymorePeter CoyoteA troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.Moral of the Story: Letting an extra-terrestrial roam around a small town then letting it go once it has figured out some of your species are hostile, won't come back to bite you.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantRosalind RussellRalph BellamyA newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying.Moral of the story: Nothing beats working at a newspaper, even when you're working under a manipulative ex.
- DirectorMatthew KohnenStarsMatthew DavisJulianna RobinsonMichael Grant TerryTurning the zombie film on its head, this film is an oddball comedy from the perspective of the brain munching monsters themselves.Moral of the Story: Zombies are people too.
- DirectorNorman FergusonT. HeeWilfred JacksonStarsDickie JonesChristian RubMel BlancA living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.Moral of the Story: This is more a placeholder for all those movies that require more than a reasonable amount of faith in fate. There's no need to concern yourself with the realities of the situation when you can just wish upon a star.
- DirectorPaul BrickmanStarsTom CruiseRebecca De MornayJoe PantolianoA Chicago teenager is looking for fun at home while his parents are away, but the situation quickly gets out of hand.Moral of the story: Turning your house into a brothel is a great idea that will have no negative consequences whatsoever.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJane RussellMarilyn MonroeCharles CoburnShowgirls Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw travel to Paris, pursued by a private detective hired by the suspicious father of Lorelei's fiancé, as well as a rich, enamored old man and many other doting admirers.Moral of the Story: If you're a dim, gold-digging blonde, all your dreams will come true.