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“Everyone Just Laughed It Off”: 26 Movie Scenes That Definitely Didn’t Age Well
When we watch films, we know that we’re not seeing real life. We can suspend our disbelief to accept that bullet holes won't zoom through car doors and humans can simply brush off brutal injuries and continue along with their days. But just because movies aren’t real life doesn’t mean they should be riddled with problematic content…
Cinephiles on Reddit have been discussing some of the most famous films and scenes from years ago that definitely wouldn’t be well received today. From casual examples of racism and misogyny to consent being completely ignored, we’ve gathered some of the most blatantly problematic examples below. So enjoy reading through and being reminded of which movies you don't need to rewatch, and be sure to upvote the films that aged like milk!
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#1
Grease. That scene where Danny is pressuring Sandy in the car. And just his entire behaviour towards her. Ew.
RELATED:
#2
The way Natalie is constantly body-shamed in Love Actually.
#3
American Beauty. Something about Kevin Spacey trying to have sex with an underage kid makes it tough to watch now.
#4
Jim shares nude video of Nadia on the internet in American Pie. Everyone just laughed it off.
#5
Sixteen Candles. A lot of racism, casually addressing sexual assault, and later an actual date [sex crime].
u/thesecondaqaurius:
16 Candles, the scene where he hands his drunk girlfriend to the geeky freshman and tells him to do whatever he wants... hella problematic.
#6
Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Awful yellow face by Mickey Rooney.
The pigeon 9 months ago
This is one of my favourite films, but his scenes always ruin it for me. Like why did they do this??
#7
When Vince Vaughn is forced to have sex with Gloria in Wedding Crashers.
Dread Pirate Roberts 9 months ago
Just cuz it's a man getting raped instead of a woman doesn't make it funny.
#8
We saw Holiday Inn on Prime and said "It'll be a nice Bing Crosby movie with some Christmas songs," turned it on, and suddenly the cast is there in black face singing some of the most racist s**t I've ever heard.
#9
Blank Check. An adult woman kisses the little boy on the lips for waaaay longer than I'm comfortable with. Imagine if the genders were reversed.
Giraffy Window 9 months ago (edited)
Why would reversing the genders be worse? It's completely disgusting no matter what adult is making out with what child.
#10
Just saw this last night with the ladies in my family... Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Those ginger fellas literally went one by one and abducted the hottest chicks from some town then held them hostage for months until through Stockholm Syndrome the women all fell for them.
#11
Revenge of the Nerds.
Even if you chalk up the spy cams to be "80s College Comedy Hi-jinx" the scene where Lewis has sex with Betty because she thinks he's Stan definitely isn't cool today.
Enlee Jones 9 months ago
There’s a name for that, it’s called “R@pe by Deception”. Not to mention the sceneswhere those gosh-darn wacky nerds put hidden cameras in the girls’ house and watch them naked (oh, and one of the nerds is 12 years old), or put the nude pictures of Betty at the bottom of the pie. Comedy!
#12
That scene in the first Rocky movie where he seduces Adrian by coercing her into his apartment after she's said no, physically blocking the exit when she tries to leave, taking his clothes off without any encouragement, and then kissing her without any consent as she clearly tries to resist.
#13
White Chicks.
Try making a movie with that premise with those kind of jokes today.
#14
A whole segment in Peter Pan with a bunch of Native American people singing a song called 'What Makes the Red Man Red?'
Michael Largey 9 months ago
I saw it when I was a kid in the 1950s. I knew nothing about stereotypes, but - even though this was my favorite movie - something inside me said the equivalent of "Really?" I suspect that what my parents had told me about prejudice against black skins told me it applied to red ones too.
#15
James Bond [commits serious sex crime] on P. Galore in Goldfinger.
Dread Pirate Roberts 9 months ago (edited)
Ngl, there were times in those early Bond movies when I almost wanted the bad guy to win lol
#16
Never Been Kissed. The teacher becomes interested in Drew Barrymore’s character. She’s an adult but “plays” a high school student.
#17
Soul Man (1986) C. Thomas Howell in blackface to get a college scholarship.
#18
Blade Runner. Hold on, don't get furious yet. The film still is 95% brilliance; the soundtrack, the directing, the acting. But there's that scene where Rachael is trying to leave Rick's home after discovering her life is a lie, Rick refuses to let her leave, holding the door shut and physically handling her until he pins her to a wall and kisses her "passionately". I think it's meant to be taken as "a man taking charge" in the way the 80's loved that, but it comes across as super, super ra**y now. TL:DR Rick Deckard sexually assaults a woman during a severe mental breakdown.
Katie Lutesinger 9 months ago
My ex tried that one on thinking it was sexy. It went over about as well as you would expect.
#19
Tiptoes. For a movie made in 2003, it’s surprisingly offensive toward little people. Having to watch Gary Oldman waddle around on his knees with a fake hump on his shoulder (which is essentially a wadded up T-shirt shoved under the one he’s already wearing) is just too much.
#20
Mrs Doubtfire. Today, Daniel Hillard would never see the world as a free man again.
Katie Lutesinger 9 months ago
Did you know it was actually based on a book? I didn't. It's called Madame Doubtfire and the plot is pretty much the same. I don't remember if it's the same in the movie because I haven't seen the thing in about 25 years, but at the end Daniel gets busted and realises what a selfish a*****e he's been and that he needs to change his ways and stop being unfair to his ex by ignoring her valid criticisms of what an irresponsible slob he is.
#21
TEACHERS with Nick Nolte. Warm fuzzy teacher helps a student get an abortion. She is knocked up by his buddy, the gym teacher, and they all want to keep it quiet. This was just a side story to show how much this teacher cared about his students...so gross....
similarly 9 months ago
A couple things: 1. The gym teacher wasn't a "buddy". 2. Yes, the teacher having sex with the student is gross. But I didn't see anything in the movie hinting it was anything else. 3. Yes, as a teacher, Nick Nolte's character had a responsibility to report the incident to other people: teachers, parents, etc. However, the student didn't want that. She begged the teacher not to tell her parents saying "they'd kill me; my father would throw me out; my whole life would be over" (yes, I went back and watched the scene). He didn't ask who the father was. He saw a student who was upset and desperate and tried to help her. Even offered other suggestions (have the baby and put it up for adoption). 4. Yes, he was wrong and the school threatened to fire him. I think this is kind of misrepresenting the movie a bit.
Teachzebra 9 months ago (edited)
Correct. A teacher getting a student pregnant is not played for laughs in any sort of way, it was seen as being every bit as horrific then as it is now. The point of him taking her to get an abortion was to show that in many schools teachers are the most stable and influential adults in the lives of many kids. Basically showing that he was more of a father figure to her than her own father
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#22
Animal House, with its [sex crime]-contemplation scene.
Patrick Linnen 9 months ago
The scene where he decides not to and his shoulder devil calls him a f@***t?
#23
National Lampoon's Vacation. If an IRL Clark W. Griswold really did the things in the movie he'd be branded a domestic terrorist, not including the stealing from a hotel and k*****g a dog.
#24
The first Ace Ventura. Its still funny, but there is not way in hell they'd be able to make it now.
#25
Dirty Dancing... P**ophilia isn't as accepted now as it was in the 80s.
Mimi La Souris 9 months ago
We didn’t see the same movie then, because she’s making the decision, not him. she makes it clear that she wants to be with him as he pushes her away
What do you think ?
Aiden Brough 9 months ago
I would argue 'context' for a lot of these as I do whenever I hear the screeches of 'WHY IS HISTORY BAAAD'. But to be honest, most of these films were pretty awful even when they were released...
Sans Serif 9 months ago
I had forgotten about that when I thoughtlessly sat down with my kids to watch it...
Load More Replies...
MagicJacket 9 months ago
I hate articles like this so much. Yeah. Things were different back then. PEOPLE were different. Some things are questionable, and some are just way over the line, but as a society we have progressed to where these things bother us now. That is a good thing. We don't have to let these things ruin entertainment where you feel guilty even watching it. Just accept them as products of their era and find the laughs or drama they provide. Watching a 40 year old movie through today's societal lens is silly.
Bina Wei 9 months ago
I don't think it's silly. It's how people can improve and learn. Some like to dissect films and some like to just watch. Personally I'm more the latter, I like escapism fiction but sometimes the former is fun to see others discussing.
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Brandon Parisien 9 months ago
Not a movie, but Celiene Dion met her husband when she was 12...and he was about 30.
fasttalkingbitch 9 months ago
He totally groomed her and lied to her mother’s face that he didn’t start having sex with her before she turned 18. I was glad he died and I hope she got some age-appropriate young peen before her diagnosis.
Load More Replies... Carl Roberts 9 months ago (edited)
Most people here seem to not be able to grasp the fact that films like Revenge of the Nerds were NOT meant to be taken seriously. Yes, even 40 years ago people knew that if you did the things in the film, you'd be arrested. Nobody in 1984 actually believed colleges were like that. Everyone understood that it was an over-the-top R-rated slapstick comedy for adults.
marianne eliza 9 months ago
"White Men Can't Jump". If it was any color other than white, the movie would have been protested right out of theaters.
Orion Red 9 months ago
you...you just read an article with recent movies having blackface
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Darryl King 9 months ago
I think it's important to have artistic freedom to adress even the darkest and most hideous subjects but I think how these subjects are addressed is equally important. What is wrong with some of these movies (some I would argue shouldn't be on this list) is not that they included horrible things within the narrative, it's that they portrayed them as being acceptable or irrelevant.
Bina Wei 9 months ago
Yes, this is the point of most of the list. It was protrayed how it was allowed and thought to be back then a lot. Some of the fims back then could have been benefit from more progressive direction but it was the history we had to learn from.
Load More Replies...
glowworm2 9 months ago
There's a pirate film from 1942, that my dad loves called "The Black Swan"> I have not seen it in full, but he's seen it at least twice a few years ago. Needless to say, whenever the main male character, who unfortunately shares my name, mentions that he was watching the female lead in her room while she slept and at one point just roughly abducts her because he loves her despite her being betrothed to a nobleman, I kept shouting out "Bad pirate!" or mentioning how inappropriate his behavior was, pirate be damned.
Cosmikid 9 months ago
Blackface - was a part of theater it is now impossible to talk about, or study. Why yes, it was horribly racist. Moving on; it was also a way to make good money performing. Very popular - so that - if you search YouTube carefully among "early Black " films/performances - you will find more than one group of highly talented Black artists - performing IN BLACKFACE. Yes, Black performers sometimes put on the same makeup - which looks about 1% less phony on them than on white folk. Why? Theater. Way to make a living. Quite likely there some venues where they would not be allowed on stage if they were just normal Black folk - but pretending to be WHITE with Black makeup - sure! What a joke! And incidentally, these guys are fantastic artists... Yes, it's a mad, mad, mad, mad world.
Rebecca Ferguson 9 months ago
It's even worse that "black" people could only be accepted as performers by wearing black face. Just because they did it doesn't mean they enjoyed it!
Load More Replies... Cosmikid 9 months ago
What did our parents tell us about these kinds of problems? Remember? - No you don't- because THESE problems did not EXIST for them - the technology to make old movies instantly available was barely even dreamed of. All you could see was what was in the theaters right now. And- have "Times changed"? Um. They always do. We're going to HAVE to get around to where we judge a piece of art - in it's own time context. Can we remark on changes? Sure. But if you want to accuse people in another time, of not seeing the world exactly as YOU do today - you're a wee bit infantile.
black cat lesbo 9 months ago
In Hocus Pocus where the bullies mention wanting to look at girls undress through their windows but realize its too late so they get disappointed. Were we supposed to feel sorry for them?
glowworm2 9 months ago
Not to mention all the virgin bashing towards the main character simply because the Sanderson sisters would return once more when a virgin lit their candle. There’s nothing wrong with being a virgin.
Load More Replies...
Random Unpopular 9 months ago
Man the comments don't disappoint. People seem to lack the ability to understand what the times were like when these movies were made and what was acceptable back then. And they say newer generations are more understanding. Ya, beg to differ here.
Bina Wei 9 months ago
They understand the times well. They also understand the progress has been made in more people actually knowing and thinking this isn't okay. Back then it was less for the mainstream; media and life. That does not mean it didn't happen at all, of course. More voices isn't always a bad thing, you know. And not all the comments are calling out whole films but the scenes and the way they were protrayed or the choices the director and characters went with.
Load More Replies...
Phoebe Bean 9 months ago
I haven't seen some of the movies mentioned here, and I don't think I ever will.
Nikki Angulo 9 months ago
Why isn’t BIG on this list? Or JACK? Hello, in BIG Tom Hanks plays a KID (he may look older, but his brain is still at kid level) who eventually sleeps with an adult! And JACK was just terrible, Robin Williams was supposed to play a ten year old, but he was more like a five year old! And another one where an adult was trying to get with a child in a man’s body.
black cat lesbo 9 months ago (edited)
I remeber me and my cousins watching a show(I think it was Recess) and seeing the kindergarteners and me insisting it was racist. Then, we watched one of the Recess movies, where they get taken by kindergarteners or smth and a warning came up for offensive content. I was like, buddy I told you so.
fasttalkingbitch 9 months ago
I’m still weirded out by Clueless. -ducks from food being thrown-
SBocker78 9 months ago
That was such an odd choice for a side character in the first one and then they made him the main character in the 2nd one.
Load More Replies...
Marnie 9 months ago
I think there is a subtle problem with how people are viewing many of these complaints. Let's say 18% of the people disliked the racist jokes in Sixteen Candles. It's not as if there weren't people who saw how gross it was. Now, you say that we know better. But it might still only be 20% of the people that really care or object to it. But they say it online now, so now we say, "See, people finally recognize how bad it was." With most of these there were always people who didn't like, were grossed out by, were offended by, or objected to a lot of these things when the movies were released. It wasn't everybody then. And it wouldn't be everybody now.
copycontentbylola 9 months ago
Definitely should add 2. McClintock where John Wayne's character spanks his wife in front of the whole town whilst they all cheer him on. And Blythe Spirit where the medium goes on about how native Americans are frightfully lazy.
Rayne OfSalt 9 months ago
The number of people parroting incel/men's rights activist/white supremacist "great replacement" conspiracy talking points in the comments of these is bloody disturbing. "Imagine if the genders were reversed", "white face is ok but black face isn't, boo hoo", etc etc... good gods.
Brindle Nutter 9 months ago
at least some good movies were made before the fun police generation showed up
JayWantsACat 9 months ago
And this is why most of these films are from 20+ years ago. That doesn't mean there aren't problematic films and films with some problematic scenes but it's a good thing we've moved past a lot of these, at least as comedic and narrative crutches, for the most part.
Angrykitten 9 months ago
Im surprised ground hog day and Ghostbusters isn't on here. I tried watching both recently and couldn't get passed first few minutes.
Aiden Brough 9 months ago
I would argue 'context' for a lot of these as I do whenever I hear the screeches of 'WHY IS HISTORY BAAAD'. But to be honest, most of these films were pretty awful even when they were released...
Sans Serif 9 months ago
I had forgotten about that when I thoughtlessly sat down with my kids to watch it...
Load More Replies... MagicJacket 9 months ago
I hate articles like this so much. Yeah. Things were different back then. PEOPLE were different. Some things are questionable, and some are just way over the line, but as a society we have progressed to where these things bother us now. That is a good thing. We don't have to let these things ruin entertainment where you feel guilty even watching it. Just accept them as products of their era and find the laughs or drama they provide. Watching a 40 year old movie through today's societal lens is silly.
Bina Wei 9 months ago
I don't think it's silly. It's how people can improve and learn. Some like to dissect films and some like to just watch. Personally I'm more the latter, I like escapism fiction but sometimes the former is fun to see others discussing.
Load More Replies... Brandon Parisien 9 months ago
Not a movie, but Celiene Dion met her husband when she was 12...and he was about 30.
fasttalkingbitch 9 months ago
He totally groomed her and lied to her mother’s face that he didn’t start having sex with her before she turned 18. I was glad he died and I hope she got some age-appropriate young peen before her diagnosis.
Load More Replies... Carl Roberts 9 months ago (edited)
Most people here seem to not be able to grasp the fact that films like Revenge of the Nerds were NOT meant to be taken seriously. Yes, even 40 years ago people knew that if you did the things in the film, you'd be arrested. Nobody in 1984 actually believed colleges were like that. Everyone understood that it was an over-the-top R-rated slapstick comedy for adults.
marianne eliza 9 months ago
"White Men Can't Jump". If it was any color other than white, the movie would have been protested right out of theaters.
Orion Red 9 months ago
you...you just read an article with recent movies having blackface
Load More Replies... Darryl King 9 months ago
I think it's important to have artistic freedom to adress even the darkest and most hideous subjects but I think how these subjects are addressed is equally important. What is wrong with some of these movies (some I would argue shouldn't be on this list) is not that they included horrible things within the narrative, it's that they portrayed them as being acceptable or irrelevant.
Bina Wei 9 months ago
Yes, this is the point of most of the list. It was protrayed how it was allowed and thought to be back then a lot. Some of the fims back then could have been benefit from more progressive direction but it was the history we had to learn from.
Load More Replies... glowworm2 9 months ago
There's a pirate film from 1942, that my dad loves called "The Black Swan"> I have not seen it in full, but he's seen it at least twice a few years ago. Needless to say, whenever the main male character, who unfortunately shares my name, mentions that he was watching the female lead in her room while she slept and at one point just roughly abducts her because he loves her despite her being betrothed to a nobleman, I kept shouting out "Bad pirate!" or mentioning how inappropriate his behavior was, pirate be damned.
Cosmikid 9 months ago
Blackface - was a part of theater it is now impossible to talk about, or study. Why yes, it was horribly racist. Moving on; it was also a way to make good money performing. Very popular - so that - if you search YouTube carefully among "early Black " films/performances - you will find more than one group of highly talented Black artists - performing IN BLACKFACE. Yes, Black performers sometimes put on the same makeup - which looks about 1% less phony on them than on white folk. Why? Theater. Way to make a living. Quite likely there some venues where they would not be allowed on stage if they were just normal Black folk - but pretending to be WHITE with Black makeup - sure! What a joke! And incidentally, these guys are fantastic artists... Yes, it's a mad, mad, mad, mad world.
Rebecca Ferguson 9 months ago
It's even worse that "black" people could only be accepted as performers by wearing black face. Just because they did it doesn't mean they enjoyed it!
Load More Replies... Cosmikid 9 months ago
What did our parents tell us about these kinds of problems? Remember? - No you don't- because THESE problems did not EXIST for them - the technology to make old movies instantly available was barely even dreamed of. All you could see was what was in the theaters right now. And- have "Times changed"? Um. They always do. We're going to HAVE to get around to where we judge a piece of art - in it's own time context. Can we remark on changes? Sure. But if you want to accuse people in another time, of not seeing the world exactly as YOU do today - you're a wee bit infantile.
black cat lesbo 9 months ago
In Hocus Pocus where the bullies mention wanting to look at girls undress through their windows but realize its too late so they get disappointed. Were we supposed to feel sorry for them?
glowworm2 9 months ago
Not to mention all the virgin bashing towards the main character simply because the Sanderson sisters would return once more when a virgin lit their candle. There’s nothing wrong with being a virgin.
Load More Replies... Random Unpopular 9 months ago
Man the comments don't disappoint. People seem to lack the ability to understand what the times were like when these movies were made and what was acceptable back then. And they say newer generations are more understanding. Ya, beg to differ here.
Bina Wei 9 months ago
They understand the times well. They also understand the progress has been made in more people actually knowing and thinking this isn't okay. Back then it was less for the mainstream; media and life. That does not mean it didn't happen at all, of course. More voices isn't always a bad thing, you know. And not all the comments are calling out whole films but the scenes and the way they were protrayed or the choices the director and characters went with.
Load More Replies... Phoebe Bean 9 months ago
I haven't seen some of the movies mentioned here, and I don't think I ever will.
Nikki Angulo 9 months ago
Why isn’t BIG on this list? Or JACK? Hello, in BIG Tom Hanks plays a KID (he may look older, but his brain is still at kid level) who eventually sleeps with an adult! And JACK was just terrible, Robin Williams was supposed to play a ten year old, but he was more like a five year old! And another one where an adult was trying to get with a child in a man’s body.
black cat lesbo 9 months ago (edited)
I remeber me and my cousins watching a show(I think it was Recess) and seeing the kindergarteners and me insisting it was racist. Then, we watched one of the Recess movies, where they get taken by kindergarteners or smth and a warning came up for offensive content. I was like, buddy I told you so.
fasttalkingbitch 9 months ago
I’m still weirded out by Clueless. -ducks from food being thrown-
SBocker78 9 months ago
That was such an odd choice for a side character in the first one and then they made him the main character in the 2nd one.
Load More Replies... Marnie 9 months ago
I think there is a subtle problem with how people are viewing many of these complaints. Let's say 18% of the people disliked the racist jokes in Sixteen Candles. It's not as if there weren't people who saw how gross it was. Now, you say that we know better. But it might still only be 20% of the people that really care or object to it. But they say it online now, so now we say, "See, people finally recognize how bad it was." With most of these there were always people who didn't like, were grossed out by, were offended by, or objected to a lot of these things when the movies were released. It wasn't everybody then. And it wouldn't be everybody now.
copycontentbylola 9 months ago
Definitely should add 2. McClintock where John Wayne's character spanks his wife in front of the whole town whilst they all cheer him on. And Blythe Spirit where the medium goes on about how native Americans are frightfully lazy.
Rayne OfSalt 9 months ago
The number of people parroting incel/men's rights activist/white supremacist "great replacement" conspiracy talking points in the comments of these is bloody disturbing. "Imagine if the genders were reversed", "white face is ok but black face isn't, boo hoo", etc etc... good gods.
Brindle Nutter 9 months ago
at least some good movies were made before the fun police generation showed up
JayWantsACat 9 months ago
And this is why most of these films are from 20+ years ago. That doesn't mean there aren't problematic films and films with some problematic scenes but it's a good thing we've moved past a lot of these, at least as comedic and narrative crutches, for the most part.
Angrykitten 9 months ago
Im surprised ground hog day and Ghostbusters isn't on here. I tried watching both recently and couldn't get passed first few minutes.
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