y'know what movie they could never make today?

[Dan]

Weird Science. I hadn't seen it in years, but I watched it last night and realized, even though it's a really fun, innocent movie, it would be considered hellishly offensive if released today.

Examples:
1. teenage smoking made to look cool
2. teenage drinking and driving
3. a 15-year-old kid almost has sex with a 23-year-old girl that he created.
4. the classic "corny white guys go to a dangerous stereotypical black bar" scene
5. pretty liberal use of the word "faggot"

It still holds up, though, even though it's so very 80s. I still think this might be Bill Paxton's best movie.

 

[Lefty Wilbury]

there are tons of movies like that. animal house is one. breakfast club is another. the pot smoking might be wee bit much. slapshot is another.

 

[nukeman]

How about Balzing Saddles by Mel Brooks. You talk about a completely politicly incorrect movie. Its the greatest movie to make fun of everyone....

 

[KarlMarx]

How about Balzing Saddles by Mel Brooks. You talk about a completely politicly incorrect movie. Its the greatest movie to make fun of everyone....

Definitely one of the funniest movies ever. Of course, back then, people weren't so up tight, either. Mel Brooks even made fun of Jews (and he's Jewish).

Unfortunately, a lot of movies that we consider classics wouldn't be made today because of Political Correctness....

"Gone With The Wind" --- slavery, portrays blacks in a bad light

"Citizen Kane" --- mistreatment of women, domestic violence

"From Here to Eternity" --- too pro-military

Marx Brothers Comedies --- some racial stereotypes

Alfred Hitchcock films e.g.
"Vertigo" --- stalking

"North By Northwest" --- gay man is one of the bad guys, definitely homophobic

TV shows...

Honeymooners --- "To the moon Alice" ?!?!?!? too violent!!!!

I Love Lucy --- women are portrayed in a bad light

P.S. I once asked someone I was mentoring whether she had seen "Blazing Saddles", and she told me that she hadn't even heard of it (she was born in 1982). I jokingly told her that I was going to put "watch Blazing Saddles" on her performance plan just so that she would.

P.P.S. Speaking of TV shows. Those Norman Lear shows, e.g. as "All in the Family", "Good Times", etc etc were so blatantly left wing political, it's not funny. Lines like "Jesse Jackson is fighting for HIS people", and pot shots at Ronald Reagan every chance they got made me wonder how many legions of young minds were brainwashed by Mr Lear.

 

[Hobbit]

Goodness, even half the James Bond movies couldn't be made today. "Live and Let Die" has black guys as ALL the villians. "Diamonds Are Forever" features two FLAMING villains. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" shows women who are all too easily brainwashed into taking terrorism. Many of the movies feature people with disabilities as villians. Bond also hurts several women to get information from them.

 

[dmp]

I wonder if ANY studio will have the balls to make a movie simply WITHOUT a token queer nowadays.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

Was there a gay character in Crash?

 

[Dan]

P.P.S. Speaking of TV shows. Those Norman Lear shows, e.g. as "All in the Family", "Good Times", etc etc were so blatantly left wing political, it's not funny. Lines like "Jesse Jackson is fighting for HIS people", and pot shots at Ronald Reagan every chance they got made me wonder how many legions of young minds were brainwashed by Mr Lear.

Well, that's not fair. I've never watched Good Times, but All in the Family seemed to be showing extremes on both sides, a la South Park.

 

[KarlMarx]

Well, that's not fair. I've never watched Good Times, but All in the Family seemed to be showing extremes on both sides, a la South Park.

I can't say that I agree.... Norman Lear retired from show business to found "People for the American Way" --- a "progressive" political action group (read "Leftist").

His politics definitely reflected in the shows he produced.

 

[Abbey Normal]

Well, that's not fair. I've never watched Good Times, but All in the Family seemed to be showing extremes on both sides, a la South Park.

They went for laughs on all sides, but IMO Archie was always made to look the worst by far.

 

[Dan]

I can't say that I agree.... Norman Lear retired from show business to found "People for the American Way" --- a "progressive" political action group (read "Leftist").

His politics definitely reflected in the shows he produced.

That's fair enough. All I'm saying is Meathead was just as much of a 'whiny pussy' liberal stereotype as Archie was a 'retarded lunk' conservative stereotype.

And he didn't retire completely, he cowrote an episode of South Park, the one with the town's liberals and conservatives fighting over the war. The "if you don't like America, you can GIIIIT out!!" one. Which was actually one of the most well-balanced episodes of South Park ever.

 

[Dan]

They went for laughs on all sides, but IMO Archie was always made to look the worst by far.

Well, yeah, but Archie was supposed to be a dumb, blind Conservative type. I read an interview with Trey Parker where he talked about how Cartman was based on Archie Bunker. I think his exact quote was "we realized that as long as we had the stupidest character on the show saying the f*cked up stuff, we could say whatever we wanted."