The "Crash" Controversy

This book, which draws on a year-long investigation funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, offers a series of important and challenging findings on an almost unprecedented campaign mounted in 1996-97 by the British press against one film: David Cronenberg's Crash. What motivated this campaign? What can it tell us about British film culture? What impact did the campaign have on general audiences? The Crash Controversy is a major contribution to our understanding of censorship campaigns, how audiences respond to films of a controversial nature, and the strategies employed in engaging with such texts.