# Films that don't make sense unless you understand the zeitgeist of the time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730 "2010-02-20T03:42:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/181 "2010-03-03T09:56:08Z")
Maybe “Under The Yum Yum Tree”. Then again maybe it was crap all along. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/182 "2010-03-03T14:08:04Z")
I was thinking last night of _My Favorite Wife_ and its remake _Move Over, Darling_. Cary Grant/James Garner marries Irene Dunne/Doris Day, who is missing and presumed dead, so he marries Gail Russell/Polly Bergen, and on their wedding day Irene/Doris returns. Fully two-thirds of the plot of both movies involves Irene/Doris contriving to prevent the newlyweds from consummating their marriage, through utterly ridiculous strategies. That should have been the least of her worries, as today they would have been living together for months. **Cicero** , _Under the Yum Yum Tree_ was a sleazy movie when it was made. But it’s still sleazy now. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/183 "2010-03-03T16:33:43Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > **Smokey and the Bandit** followed the brief 70s CB radio and truck driver “cowboy” fad. It’s more than that - I was explaining this movie to my younger coworkers and they couldn’t comprehend how much America had changed. The premise of the movie is that a trucker is to drive 1300 miles round-trip from Atlanta to Texarkana to run an illicit shipment of Coors beer. The notion is that Coors is worth risking arrest for, and also it isn’t on the store shelves everywhere. Younger people question both points. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/184 "2010-03-03T16:50:55Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > This encapsulates everything that is wrong with the American education system, in my opinion. It’s not about education, it’s about establishing a society where people learn how to effectively dominate and humiliate other people. No wonder your politicians couldn’t care less if the poor die from lack of health care or not. Whatever we’ve done, we learned from the Brits and the Germans… ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/185 "2010-03-03T16:54:14Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > It’s more than that - I was explaining this movie to my younger coworkers and they couldn’t comprehend how much America had changed. > > The premise of the movie is that a trucker is to drive 1300 miles round-trip from Atlanta to Texarkana to run an illicit shipment of Coors beer. The notion is that Coors is worth risking arrest for, and also it isn’t on the store shelves everywhere. > > Younger people question both points. Use the movie “Road Trip” or “Euro Trip” to compare and contrast. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do for your beer/woman/country/friends. Try explaining the blue laws and dry counties to your kids. Then they will understand Smokey and the Bandit. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Punkyova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@The\_Punkyova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Punkyova)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/186 "2010-03-03T19:27:08Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > I’m actually watching _First Blood_ right now, and the beginning made me think of this thread. The whole “respect my authoriTAY” small town cop horseshit after he comes back into town and most of the escalation is pretty straightforward, but stopping to hassle the guy in the first place, giving him shit about having been in the service–I think it’s very much a post-Vietnam thing that doesn’t make nearly so much sense to someone who grew up in the yellow-ribbon-car-magnet era. > > (Of course, being shortly after Nam makes the whole thing even stupider on the part of the cops, considering what was common knowledge about the POW camps and the sort of fighting that took place there.) Remember that this movie was made in 1982. By that time, it was accepted dogma on the American right that Vietnam vets were routinely hassled and disrespected when they returned home. It’s part of the whole “we only lost because we were betrayed by those at home” rhetorical stance. No one in 1972 was hassling returning vets.\* In other words, this is an excellent example of the OP. \*OK, there may have been someone, but it was definitely NOT standard. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/187 "2010-03-03T19:42:32Z")
I know a lot of baby boomers for whom seeing [Harold and Maude](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067185/) was some kind of major event in their lives. Not being of that generation, I watched it and went “Meh.” [Butterflies Are Free](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068326/) is another film that is stuck in late-60s-early-70s zeitgeist. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/188 "2010-03-03T19:47:10Z")
> [@The\_Punkyova](#): > > Remember that this movie was made in 1982. By that time, it was accepted dogma on the American right that Vietnam vets were routinely hassled and disrespected when they returned home. November 2000: > [@](#): > > The latest [Gallup poll](http://wdb.sad17.k12.me.us/teachers/bburns/com/documents/ttc/gallup_poll_on_vietnam.htm) shows 72% of Americans believe that the people of the United States have not treated Vietnam veterans well in the years since the war. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/189 "2010-03-03T19:48:45Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > I know a lot of baby boomers for whom seeing [Harold and Maude](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067185/) was some kind of major event in their lives. Not being of that generation, I watched it and went “Meh.” > > [Butterflies Are Free](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068326/) is another film that is stuck in late-60s-early-70s zeitgeist. To these two stinkers, I’d add “Love Story”-most people find the final death scene as unbearably schamltzy. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/190 "2010-03-03T20:58:54Z")
It’s hard to imagine that the Monkee’s meisterwerk, [Head](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_%28film%29) was made in any year other than 1968. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/191 "2010-03-03T21:39:18Z")
_Team America: World Police_. Was only a few years ago(2004), yet barely makes any sense upon re-viewing now. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/192 "2010-03-03T22:05:33Z")
Hey, y’all, can you think of a movie that was out-of-date before it even got released? Not one of those like Sinatra’s thing about assassinating a president that was held back so long nobody cared when it finally came out. But one that was only a year or two old when it was released. I’m thinking many of those 70’s shlock fests might qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/193 "2010-03-03T22:11:24Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Hey, y’all, can you think of a movie that was out-of-date before it even got released? Not one of those like Sinatra’s thing about assassinating a president that was held back so long nobody cared when it finally came out. But one that was only a year or two old when it was released. I’m thinking many of those 70’s shlock fests might qualify. The aforementioned **Butterflies Are Free** was already an embarrassingly dated relic of the 60s, even when it was released in 1972. ---
**Author:** ![flano1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f14d63/32.png) [@flano1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flano1)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/194 "2010-03-04T00:29:19Z")
a rose by any other name; sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. many of the movies mentioned above were crap when they came out. any 60s and 70s movie trying to be " hip " were just embarrassing, particularly the dreadful generic " rock music ", and were avoided by everyone i knew. benjamin was a dick in 1968; a dying gasp " rosebud "; bob and ted etc blah… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/195 "2010-03-04T02:05:35Z")
> [@](#): > > **Breakfast at Tiffany’s**? > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I think I remember the film. > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > As I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it Maybe you two ought to think about getting a room? You seem to have found common ground. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/196 "2010-03-04T02:26:48Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > It’s more than that - I was explaining this movie to my younger coworkers and they couldn’t comprehend how much America had changed. > > The premise of the movie is that a trucker is to drive 1300 miles round-trip from Atlanta to Texarkana to run an illicit shipment of Coors beer. The notion is that Coors is worth risking arrest for, and also it isn’t on the store shelves everywhere. > > Younger people question both points. If it does any good, tell your young colleagues that 35 years ago in New York, Coors was indeed considered this great mystical beer only available in Western states and there were reports of rich celebrities having it flown to them. We never made any 1300 road trips though… To comment on a slightly different from what the OP wanted, 1979 was about 10 years too late to make a movie of “Hair”. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/197 "2010-03-04T04:11:54Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > To comment on a slightly different from what the OP wanted, 1979 was about 10 years too late to make a movie of “Hair”. And about ten years too early for 60s nostalgia. I remember a positive review of the film version that pointed out how effectively the end of the movie reopened the wounds of the Vietnam War. When I read that, I knew the critic had inadvertantly doomed the movie to box office failure because in 1979, _nobody_ wanted to argue about the Vietnam War all over again. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/198 "2010-03-04T13:16:55Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > _Team America: World Police_. Was only a few years ago(2004), yet barely makes any sense upon re-viewing now. How does it not make sense? America is still at war with foreign countries and there are “concerns” (i.e. sabre rattling) about “rogue states” like North Korea and Iran. The “war on terror” is still not over and we’re still hearing about bad or fumbled decisions and activities made by the intelligence agencies, yet the focus on terrorism continues to be out of proportion to the number of actual deaths caused. Just because Obama is now in the White House the world ain’t that different, sad to say. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/199 "2010-03-04T17:52:12Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > If it does any good, tell your young colleagues that 35 years ago in New York, Coors was indeed considered this great mystical beer only available in Western states and there were reports of rich celebrities having it flown to them. We never made any 1300 road trips though… My mother once told me a story of a classmate of hers at either Maryland or South Carolina from Colorado back in the late 60s who would drive home to Colorado for breaks and come back with the car loaded with Coors that had been kept religiously cold the entire way. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730/200 "2010-03-04T18:02:24Z")
> [@](#): > > To comment on a slightly different from what the OP wanted, 1979 was about 10 years too late to make a movie of “Hair”. The movie was completely different from the play, though. I don’t think any of the play survived to the onscreen version\*. The film was really a “looking backward” not entirely accurate rendering of what 1979 remembered 1969 as. \*I never saw the play – too young – but I have the script, and have read it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-make-sense-unless-you-understand-the-zeitgeist-of-the-time/529730.md?page=11)