5 Movies & Shows That Are Popular For Unexpected Reasons

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Leonardo DiCaprio In Titanic Was The First Sexual Touchstone For Many Young ... Lesbians?

Gay women growing up in the '90s didn't have a whole lot of wank material. It was pretty much Ellen DeGeneres, Xena the Warrior Princess (right?), and Ross' ex-wife on Friends. And then came Jack Dawson from Titanic, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Remember when we explained that Titanic is a much more intriguing movie if you pretend DiCaprio's character is secretly female? Well, many gay women seem to agree. Titanic started a phenomenon in the late '90s which historians refer to as "Leomania" -- teenage girls losing their minds over DiCaprio and his baby-faced good looks. And that sea of girls included a surprising amount of budding lesbians. As the (also-lesbian) writer of this article explains, young DiCaprio, with his soft features, bisexual wardrobe, and nonexistent facial hair, embodied a certain androgynous look that many queer women possess. Some young women became Leomaniacs without realizing that they were attracted to him not as a girlish boy, but as a boyish girl.

Titanic and DiCaprio provided a "safe" way for homosexual women to fantasize without the anxiety of fully coming out. They could see the kind of thing they were attracted to, but it was on display by a man, so it didn't create any sort of personal crisis to think "I am attracted to this." DiCaprio remains beloved by the lesbian community to this day -- or at least we assume so, judging by these videos of lesbian "lookalikes" reenacting his scenes.

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Frozen Is A Feminist Icon In Japan

While Disney's Frozen is beloved by children all over the world, Japan's obsession with the movie is something else. It's the country's third-highest-grossing movie of all time, and the highest-grossing 3D film ever. Nearly 20 percent of Frozen's box office returns came from Japan, and it's not like they have a shortage of animated films over there.

And oddly enough, the fact that Japanese society is horribly sexist might have something to do with this. In the U.S. and Europe, Disney tried to market the movie to boys, focusing on the male characters (remember, the first teaser was all about Olaf), and doing its best to hide the fact that it was a musical. In Japan, on the other hand, they sold it as a tale of female empowerment, playing up Anna and Elsa.

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The Simpsons Is Now A Shining Mainstream Example Of Christianity

The Simpsons has been a mainstay on TV for so long that it's easy to forget how edgy and controversial it was in its early years. An actual president of the United States (the first Bush) even used the show as an encapsulation of American moral decay, and an audience of fiercely religious people applauded him for it.

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Kingsman Represents South Korea's Class Struggle

South Koreans love spy movies, but their most beloved character isn't James Bond or Jason Bourne -- it's Harry Hart, Colin Firth's character in the Kingsman movies. The first film became South Korea's #1 R-rated foreign film ever, and the second one did the same thing, minus the "foreign" part.

It might all be down to timing. The first Kingsman movie came out right after a series of videos of rich Koreans being abusive to the general public went viral. In one instance, the daughter of the chairman of Korean Air blew her fuse after being served nuts in a plastic bag. She yelled at the crew, made them kneel in front of her, and delayed the flight just to kick out the chief steward. Since Kingsman is about a working-class lad becoming a secret agent, Fox Korea decided to take advantage of the national mood by releasing a series of viral videos of people going vigilante on rich jerk-offs. Like this one, coincidentally set on an airplane.

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Inside Out Is Helping Teach Autistic Kids About Emotional Response

In Pixar's Inside Out, emotions are represented as separate, unique people all squatting in the same brain. But while most people see that premise as a fun excuse to keep John Ratzenberger employed, those struggling with kids on the autism spectrum found it a godsend.