# Lines That Don't Play as Well as They Used To **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 4, 2002, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714 "2002-04-04T03:51:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/21 "2002-04-06T08:46:35Z")
From _It Happened One Night_ (forgive me, I forget the year) Claudette Colbert, addressing a black man on a bus loading platform: “Oh, boy?” It’s still a good film, but that line makes me cringe. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/22 "2002-04-06T16:02:01Z")
Tuckerfan writes: \> Geez! Lighten up, dude! Back when the show was made it \> would have been unthinkable to portray cops on a TV show as \> the bad guys. So? My point is that anyone who really knew what was going on would always have felt uncomfortable about that line. There’s no reason to feel more uncomfortable about it now than then, unless you’ve just woken up to how the world works. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/23 "2002-04-06T17:56:10Z")
Anything said by Mickey Rooney in _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/24 "2002-04-06T19:14:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DesertGeezer \* > \*\*From _It Happened One Night_ (forgive me, I forget the year) Claudette Colbert, addressing a black man on a bus loading platform: “Oh, boy?” It’s still a good film, but that line makes me cringe. \*\* Ditto for Ilsa asking “Who is that boy playing the piano?” in _Casablanca_. Grates like nails on a blackboard in an otherwise perfect movie. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/25 "2002-04-06T19:51:38Z")
Umm, maybe I’m just misinformed, but what’s so bad about “Who’s that boy on the piano?” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/26 "2002-04-07T00:22:02Z")
He’s a full-grown man. She’s calling him boy because he’s black. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/27 "2002-04-07T05:30:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Leifsmama \* > \*\*He’s a full-grown man. She’s calling him boy because he’s black. \*\* Oh… I’ve heard white/asian/native men all called boy… to me it’s just a term of endearment. “Hey, ma boy!” ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/28 "2002-04-07T05:53:59Z")
This is about Whites, even 10-year old kids, being socailly allowed to call grown, mature Black men “boys”. No term of endearment intended. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/29 "2002-04-07T14:04:33Z")
This isn’t exactly what the OP was asking for, but a month or so ago I happened to come across a 1999 interview with David Bowie from the British talk show “TFI Friday” (you can see the clip at [http://www.tfifriday.com/](http://www.tfifriday.com/)). In it, David has a merry laugh about Americans being afraid of anthrax. Doesn’t seem so funny now, does it Mister Bowie? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/30 "2002-04-07T18:48:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alphagene \* > \*\*Anything said by Mickey Rooney in _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_. \*\* anthing said by Mickey Rooney **ever**. ---
**Author:** ![shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/31 "2002-04-07T20:59:28Z")
_Oo Oobley Oo_ any reference to “daddy-o” and “cat” as said by the Jets and their “female groupies” in _West Side Story_. My students just glare at me and roll their eyes. ---
**Author:** ![dew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@dew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dew)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/32 "2002-04-07T21:57:23Z")
“We’ll have a gay old time.” - The Flintstones It just doesn’t mean what it used to… Of course, to quote Seinfeld: “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” ---
**Author:** ![mancunian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mancunian/32/12244_2.png) [@mancunian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mancunian)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/33 "2002-04-07T23:17:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\*This isn’t exactly what the OP was asking for, but a month or so ago I happened to come across a 1999 interview with David Bowie from the British talk show “TFI Friday” (you can see the clip at [http://www.tfifriday.com/](http://www.tfifriday.com/)). In it, David has a merry laugh about Americans being afraid of anthrax. Doesn’t seem so funny now, does it Mister Bowie? \*\* Harsh. I don’t think David Bowie can be blamed for not being psychic now, can he? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/34 "2002-04-07T23:39:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mancunian \* > \*\* > Harsh. > > I don’t think David Bowie can be blamed for not being psychic now, can he? \*\* No, but you don’t have to be psychic to realize that laughing at a deadly disease isn’t particularly sensitive. ---
**Author:** ![mancunian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mancunian/32/12244_2.png) [@mancunian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mancunian)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/35 "2002-04-07T23:58:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\* > > No, but you don’t have to be psychic to realize that laughing at a deadly disease isn’t particularly sensitive. \*\* Hmm. Just 'cos it’s Americans, eh? If what happened last year, _hadn’t_ happened, you wouldn’t have been offended about that comment in any way whatsoever. In my circle of friends (and possibly everyone I have met), we all make jokes about things like that. You have to. You would all go outta your mind if you didn’t. AIDS, cancer, all of 'em. It’s not funny, but being lighthearted makes things seem less serious. And for you to pick on David Bowie for doing the same as we all do is ridiculous. Yes, in hindsight, we can all be goody goody smartasses can’t we? ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/36 "2002-04-08T00:15:24Z")
What was the OP about again? C’mon guys, this is Cafe Society, not the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![mancunian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mancunian/32/12244_2.png) [@mancunian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mancunian)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/37 "2002-04-08T00:18:44Z")
Sorry. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/38 "2002-04-08T03:07:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mancunian \* > \*\* > If what happened last year, _hadn’t_ happened, you wouldn’t have been offended about that comment in any way whatsoever. > \*\* Uh, did you read the subject line? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/39 "2002-04-08T03:14:06Z")
I think what **macunian** is saying is that David Bowie shouldn’t be faulted and reviled for making a crack about anthrax, because there’s no way anyone could have known. His statement doesn’t play as well nowadays, but it’s not something that should be held against him, as he wasn’t trying to offend. Okay…well. I thought of a line in the movie “Quick Change”- where Randy Quaid’s character is saying that it’s too bad they can’t put the stolen money in suitcases instead of taping it under their clothing, because of the x-ray machines. Bill Murray responds, “Yeah, those terrorists ruin it for us bank robbers.” Actually, I guess that’s a line that plays even _better_ right now. It’s just sort of ironic when you watch it. ---
**Author:** ![shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714/40 "2002-04-08T03:24:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mancunian \* > > Hmm. Just 'cos it’s Americans, eh? > > If what happened last year, _hadn’t_ happened, you wouldn’t have been offended about that comment in any way whatsoever. Well, if the civil rights movement hadn’t happened, I might not find anything wrong with Ilsa calling the pianist “boy” in _Casablanca_. I don’t blame Ilsa, nor do I blame Bowie, but **the lines don’t play as well as they used to** , which is all we’re talking about here. _shrug_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lines-that-dont-play-as-well-as-they-used-to/101714.md?page=3)