"Dated" lines in media

[Amateur_Barbarian]

@Aspidistra

How strange. I totally don’t notice this being a thing in Australia. I mean, obviously you can find jewellery stores that will buy gold if you go looking for them but they’re certainly not ubiquitous, or even that common.

Until 1974 it was illegal for US citizens to own gold bullion. Gold prices weren’t high enough to make much of a street market for another decade.

[Amateur_Barbarian]

@Andy_L

I thought the laugh was about someone as square as Janet having a tattoo.

Only women of pretty low character had tats in 1975. So it’s a little of both.

[Andy_L]

@Pantastic

What I like about the line is that it meant much more than just a color; talking about a television tuned to a dead channel evoked a lot of mental images that help set the tone. When it was current you’d think of someone passed out drunk in the couch who didn’t turn off the TV, someone depressed and unwilling to face life who just left the TV on even though the channel is fake, someone trying to find a show but just clicking through static, and similar things. It sets a dreary and depressing tone as a background for the scene without using a whole lot of words. I don’t think there’s a simple modern equivalent - channels tend to run 24 hours, there are so many channels and streaming options, and TVs typically auto-sleep so you don’t generally see a ‘static’ screen for long even if the TV does something other than black. And I think the loss of the metaphorical significance is bigger than just the color change.

Well put.

@Amateur_Barbarian

Only women of pretty low character had tats in 1975. So it’s a little of both.

Thanks.

[Mean_Mr.Mustard]

@Baker

In Jim Croce’s song Operator the singer, near the end, thanks the operator he’s been on the line with “Thank you for your time, you can keep the dime”

Today’s kids probably don’t know what a phone operator is/was, and most won’t know about pay phones.

…or say thank you.

My contribution is Paul McCartney’s song Rock Show, where he states “and the ring at the end of my nose makes me look rather pretty”.

In 1975, a ring in your nose would have labeled you pretty damn freakish. Today, not so much.
mmm

[Exapno_Mapcase]

I was reading an old mystery and came across a kid being referred to as “half pint.”

Would anyone today use that? Would kids know what a half pint was?

[Darren_Garrison]

@Exapno_Mapcase

Would anyone today use that? Would kids know what a half pint was?

Yes, and yes?

[Rick_Kitchen]

@Exapno_Mapcase

I was reading an old mystery and came across a kid being referred to as “half pint.”

Would anyone today use that? Would kids know what a half pint was?

They would if they watched “Little House on the Prairie” or read the books.

[psychonaut]

@Aspidistra

Ok, here’s another one. If you really want to blow your mind, try watching the opening scene of Get Smart (TOS) with a pre-teen.

The scene is at the opera and in the middle of the crowd, while everyone is hushed and listening to the music, Max’s Shoe Phone goes off.

And the millenials are all “Duh, why didn’t he have his phone in his pocket on vibrate, like a normal person?”

If anything, that scene plays out even funnier today—in 1965, having a phone in your shoe is futuristic, whereas in 2017, it’s hilariously quaint.

[hajario]

There is a scene in the movie Silkwood that fits. The movie is from the early 80s and takes place in the late 70s. What was one of the funniest scenes takes place when the protagonists fly to Washington DC. They were a bunch of small town hicks who had never been on an airplane before. After the flight attendant served them their meal, one of the guys took out his wallet to try to pay her. It was hilarious at the time…

[RivkahChaya]

@Amateur_Barbarian

Only women of pretty low character had tats in 1975. So it’s a little of both.

During the Depression, a woman could get a few tats, and become a sideshow performer.

[Flyer]

@Amateur_Barbarian

Pretty much every plot or story twist based on the absence of mobile phones in pre-80s literature is obsolete. Many movies have scenes or events that simply wouldn’t be a problem if the character could pull out a flip-phone, and it’s rarely explained in any way… it just is/was, and we all knew it.

That’s no problem–any fiction writer worth his salt can come up with an excuse why a cellphone doesn’t work. It may be a lame excuse, but nobody seems to care. It’s already become a cliche.

Clips from a bunch of movies:

Cell Phones Are Useless - TV Tropes

[Mr_Shine]

I imagine virtually all the lines The Donald has in his various sitcom appearances over the years will have a different connotation, innocent self-mocking lines turning into harbinger of disaster.

[Mr_Shine]

@hajario

There is a scene in the movie Silkwood that fits. The movie is from the early 80s and takes place in the late 70s. What was one of the funniest scenes takes place when the protagonists fly to Washington DC. They were a bunch of small town hicks who had never been on an airplane before. After the flight attendant served them their meal, one of the guys took out his wallet to try to pay her. It was hilarious at the time…

I’m drawing a blank. Why would the scene be less funny now?

[Leaffan]

Because you actually do have to pay for meals on a plane now.

They used to be provided at no additional charge.

Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk

[Amateur_Barbarian]

@Flyer

That’s no problem–any fiction writer worth his salt can come up with an excuse why a cellphone doesn’t work. It may be a lame excuse, but nobody seems to care. It’s already become a cliche.

Of course, they just run Scotty’s doubletalk generator on the plot. But it takes that contrivance to make things work, when in the real world, almost everyone has a cell phone that works 99% of the time, so the contrivance stands out like a purple elephant.

[Amateur_Barbarian]

@hajario

There is a scene in the movie Silkwood that fits. The movie is from the early 80s and takes place in the late 70s. What was one of the funniest scenes takes place when the protagonists fly to Washington DC. They were a bunch of small town hicks who had never been on an airplane before. After the flight attendant served them their meal, one of the guys took out his wallet to try to pay her. It was hilarious at the time…

That’s where that scene is from. Thanks. (Been one of those back-brain itches for a long time.)

[PastTense]

@Exapno_Mapcase

I was reading an old mystery and came across a kid being referred to as “half pint.”

Would anyone today use that? Would kids know what a half pint was?

It’s English kids one would wonder about: do they know what a half-pint is? What a shilling is?

[Aspidistra]

@PastTense

It’s English kids one would wonder about: do they know what a half-pint is?

Yeah, it’s the size you have your beer if you need to go back to work after

[Mean_Mr.Mustard]

@PastTense

It’s English kids one would wonder about: do they know what a half-pint is? What a shilling is?

I wouldn’t go by that. There are tons of expressions used in everyday conversation today, the origins of which the vast majority have no clue.
mmm

[Little_Nemo]

@Andy_L

I thought the laugh was about someone as square as Janet having a tattoo.

@Amateur_Barbarian

Only women of pretty low character had tats in 1975. So it’s a little of both.

@RivkahChaya

During the Depression, a woman could get a few tats, and become a sideshow performer.

I don’t think people nowadays realize how uncommon it used to be for a woman to have a tattoo. As RivkahChaya noted, a woman with tattoos could actually get employed in a side show.

This is Laura Richmond (no nudity but be advised it’s mildly NSFW). Notice the small barely noticeable tattoo on her back? This was considered a big deal when she posed for Playboy. And that was in 1988.