Manipulative

Just a quick thought. When someone complains that they thought a movie was "manipulative," what they really mean is that "The movie manipulated my emotions in ways I don't approve of," or something similar. All good movies manipulate your emotions; that's why we go see movies, and experience storytelling in general: to have our emotions manipulated. Casablanca manipulates you into sympathizing with Rick; Star Wars manipulates you into rooting for the scrappy Rebels; Crash manipulates you into... well, I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't seen it, but the scene with the little girl and her father and the Iranian shopkeeper? Yeah. The whole point is manipulation.