A scene like that wouldn’t be appropriate in a comedy. It’s not funny and the movie would have been widely condemned even back in the 70’s. Raping an unconscious girl has never been accepted in any context. Certainly not in a comedy. 70’s and 80’s comedies were raunchy with innuendos, leering, and even groping but there was a definite line drawn at full on rape.
Except that we’ve been discussing a movie, Sixteen Candles, where the romantic hero Jake casually suggests to Anthony Michael Hall that he should rape his (Jake’s) unconscious girlfriend. And the happy ending of the movie is that Jake ends up with Molly Ringwald. What a lucky girl!
Mozart would have.
ETA: “Moe who?” “Zart.”
I will defend Fast Times (to me it’s defending, because I’m an advocate of what you sneer at as “PC”). There is a fairly nuanced examination of teen sexuality, from what I remember.
Fast Times just had good old fashion statutory rape. Although the guy doing it could have the ‘she said she was 18’ defense.
I wouldn’t say major rewrites. Maybe tweaks. It is on a whole, more respective of women though. I can’t think of any comparably rapey scenes in the American Pie series, Project X, or Jonah Hill’s string of teen movies. This isn’t to say modern movies have their own brand of debauchery - specifically drinking and drugs.
sidebar:
In 21 Jump Street’s final chase scene, Channing Tatum commandeers a Prom limo where there’'s a drunk girl in the back seat. As Channing is firing guns out through the moonroof, the drunk girl tries to unbutton his pants to blow him, but he stops her. I don’t know if that helps the feminist movement or hurts.
Or even a bald, vindictive, cancerous producer of illegal drugs.
This isn’t depicted as being cool, fun, or funny, though, and while the girl is willing she clearly doesn’t enjoy the experience.
I think Fast Times at Ridgemont High couldn’t be made today largely because it’s too liberal on the subject of abortion for today’s audiences. I don’t think there has been a recent teen comedy where the heroine has an abortion at all, much less one where this is treated as the sensible thing for her to do.
House on House was an anabashed abuser of Vicodin, which while isn’t illegal, is very dangerous and the fact that he used it to harshly was used as a punchline at times. Including the times he did try to illegally get scripts for it.
And the 80s movies being made today…have you SEEN some of today’s movies? Superbad? Project X, that new one about the kids 21st birthday? It’s all about sex and drugs and drinking and partying…all while underage. Granted they aren’t PG movies, but these elements are all still there.
It’s even on a somewhat related note that the biggest comedy out there right now on TV, Modern Family, features the hilarious situations of an 18 year old girl who has sex outside of marriage, parties, and drinks.
NM. I was going to say more, but what’s the point?
Yeah, I could say a lot about Mew Mexico, too, but I won’t.
I sense a whoosh, but will note that plenty of the main characters on How I Met Your Mother enjoy marijuana – sometimes abashedly, but never repentantly.
no they don’t. they had sandwiches.
I haven’t watched many episodes of that show, but I thought they ate sandwiches.
In most states, especially at that time, a girl does/did not have to be 18. How old was that character? And I agree: it was not portrayed as a positive experience.
Probably wouldn’t have had Blazing Saddles or Airplane either.
I still expect Cannonball Run to be remade, only now they’re hauling Colorado Green to Washington state. Unfortunately, the one-off Trans-Am is taken down by a Drone.
[sub]I think you mean Smokey and the Bandit[/sub]
Dammit. My childhood is a mush of mixed references.
Why not Airplane, as long as it’s rated properly? That style of comedy is still relatively popular today (albeit often done badly).
Because TITS! And blow jobbing Otto and the abortion joke in the white zone (which is for loading and unloading only). And ‘I speak jive’. All Waaaay too insensitive.
I disagree about this PC thing, and started a new thread about it. (Perhaps it should have gone to Great Debates? Not sure.)