# How does Mrs. Doubtfire hold up to modern scrutiny? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 2, 2021, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-mrs-doubtfire-hold-up-to-modern-scrutiny/947882 "2021-08-02T17:42:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-mrs-doubtfire-hold-up-to-modern-scrutiny/947882/41 "2021-08-05T21:13:51Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > In Arizona we have the Department of Redundancy Department names of Table Mesa and Picacho Peak. (which of course mean Table Table and Peak Peak.) Los Angeles has you beat with The La Brea Tar Pits (The The Tar Tar Pits) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-mrs-doubtfire-hold-up-to-modern-scrutiny/947882/42 "2021-08-05T21:18:57Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > The La Brea Tar Pits (The The Tar Tar Pits) OK that one wins! ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-mrs-doubtfire-hold-up-to-modern-scrutiny/947882/43 "2021-08-05T23:36:13Z")
Must it hold up at all to “modern scrutiny?” Can’t a silly 30 year old movie just remain a silly 30 year old movie? Must it be a referendum? Must everything? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-mrs-doubtfire-hold-up-to-modern-scrutiny/947882/44 "2021-08-06T00:02:08Z")
> [@spifflog](#): > > Must it hold up at all to “modern scrutiny?” If the goal is to watch it today as a movie, and not a historical piece? I’d definitely say so. If something doesn’t hold up—if the movie’s problematic parts overshadow the entertaining parts—then it is no longer fun to watch, and will just fall by the wayside. It’s not uncommon for movies or other works of fiction to not hold up in various ways. It’s just that, in the past, we didn’t necessarily discuss it so much. I’m glad we discussed this one, as I’ve seen good arguments that the movie does not have trans issues. If we didn’t discuss these things, it might just be reflexively lumped in with other problematic fiction. I actually continue to be impressed with Williams’s voice for Mrs. Doubutfire. He’s one of the few male actors I’ve heard do a convincing female voice. I think utilizing an accent where women often speak in the head voice works well. And I know there are trans women who struggle with having their voices sound feminine. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-mrs-doubtfire-hold-up-to-modern-scrutiny/947882/45 "2021-08-07T03:36:07Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Indeed. Sally Fields’ character is awful. She drops the kids off late & shows up an hour early to pick them up, stays in the gorgeous house in SF while he has to make do in a shitty apartment, then uses his shitty apartment as an excuse to deny him any rights, trashes him in front of the kids, etc. And she cares so much about her kids that she hired the first stranger who didn’t sound insane on the phone to care for them without bothering to check a single reference or see any form of ID. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-mrs-doubtfire-hold-up-to-modern-scrutiny/947882/46 "2021-08-09T16:57:18Z")
The thing that holds up best in my memory, because in truth, I haven’t seen the movie in 20 years, is Pierce Brosnan’s character. I don’t remember him being any kind of a dick at all, and it would have been easy to turn him into one to make the Robin Williams character even more sympathetic. Pierce Brosnan seemed to be a decent human being, there was no suggestion of boarding school like would have been typical in prior analogous movies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-mrs-doubtfire-hold-up-to-modern-scrutiny/947882.md?page=2)