Netflix And Mass Shootings: Three Movies Netflix Should Never Show [Opinion]

Movies and TV shows push boundaries, which is great! However, there are some boundaries which should not be crossed. Here are three movies featuring mass shootings Netflix should not show.

Before I list off movies, I want to make it clear that I do not support state-sponsored censorship. I enjoy movies with gore and violence. However, I believe Netflix should remove or refrain from showing these movies by its own choice because they have no redeeming values. The cinematography is poor, the story is shallow, and the characters have little to nothing to admire about them.

The first of these movies on Netflix is Rampage, albeit I would argue that Netflix should not show any of the Rampage trilogy. It’s the first of a trio of movies featuring protagonist Bill Williamson who is fed up with the complacency of normal Americans towards the American elite. The first movie focuses on Williamson’s mass shooting spree in his hometown, where he murders everyone from the police to hairdressers to random people on the street to his own best friend. The original Rampage is not currently on Netflix, though it has been in the past.

In the second Rampage movie, Rampage: Capital Punishment, currently available on Netflix, Williamson assaults a TV studio to release a propaganda film. And the movie itself can hardly be considered anything but propaganda; a violent call-to-arms against the wealthy elite of the country.

The third and final Rampage movie is Rampage: President Down, not currently on Netflix, wherein Bill assassinates the President, VP, and Secretary of Defense. He fully expects to die and become a martyr for his cause.

I have watched the first and second in the series on Netflix so I could fully justify my examination of the films, but I have no interest in watching the third. The movies focus entirely on a deranged madman who murders innocent people. The protagonist is an unsympathetic character who displays no remorse for any of his actions, even the betrayal of his friend. The concept is fascinating, why would someone go on a murder spree? What would cause and ordinary person to slaughter defenseless people? Unfortunately, perhaps the film stares too long into the abyss because it certainly stares back.

The second movie Netflix should not show is God Bless America. This one I will plead guilty to finding somewhat humorous at times because the entirety of the mass murderers’ targets are rude and/or annoying people.

According the IMDB storyline description, “Loveless, jobless, possibly terminally ill, Frank has had enough of the downward spiral of America. With nothing left to lose, Frank takes his gun and offs the stupidest, cruelest, and most repellent members of society. He finds an unusual accomplice: 16-year-old Roxy, who shares his sense of rage and disenfranchisement.”

These include reality TV stars, the Westboro Baptist Church protest group, and an American Idol-esque show. They also shoot several people in a movie theater who disturb the killers during the movie, yet spare the one person in that group who tries to get her friends to be polite.

The characters in God Bless America are much more interesting than those of Rampage, and there is something to be said for the movie merely being dark comedy, yet with the number of mass murders in America over the last decade, the movie is in extremely poor taste. Netflix should remove it from the currently available films.

The third movie Netflix should take off the viewing list is Old Boy (the original 2003 Korean version, not the English 2013.) Netflix should also refrain from showing the 2013 version of Old Boy.

This one caught me completely by surprise. The ending contains the most disturbing revelations I have ever encountered in a movie. Worse, none of the blurbs I read, including on Netflix, contained the pertinent information as to why it is disturbing.

Old Boy is a superb revenge movie. I usually predict the endings of these mysterious, action-focused movies, but this one completely slammed me in the back of the head.

Heads up, major spoiler alert!

Many movies have sex scenes. They are almost expected in dark action movies. This one has one between the protagonist and his love interest who he meets after escaping a really long imprisonment. I believe it was about 15 years long. So what is the big deal? Read on.

The villain was a young man who had incestuous relations with his sister. Eventually, due to the protagonist’s interference, the sister commits suicide.

Indeed, the villain was so bitter over losing his sister that he arranged an elaborate scenario to cause the protagonist to fall in love with and have incestuous relations with his own daughter.

This is not the kind of ending most Netflix viewers particularly wish for, especially considering the surprise twist. The twist taints the entirety of the film and is why Netflix should not show Oldboy.

Have you seen these movies? What do you think of them, and should Netflix keep them available for viewers? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below!

[Featured Image by Matt Carr/Getty Images]