# Movies that could not be made in today’s world **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 13, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064 "2023-09-13T18:10:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/181 "2023-09-27T20:33:06Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > 20 hours round trip driving gives four to load, and that’s at posted speed limits. No problemo. The speed limit would have been 55 at the time the movie was made. The shortest route I see says 626 miles, so a minimum of 11.4 hours one way if you can go 55 the entire time. The only way to do it is to get a blocker so the truck can exceed the speed limit and not draw attention. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/182 "2023-09-27T20:58:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > _Huckleberry Finn_ is my candidate for The Great American Novel (if such a thing can even exist) in part because it deals with racism and how it affects people as an integral part of the novel. Twain himself had become aware of his own racism and that of his society over the previous years (it’s clear from his writing. Yeah, Twain was “woke”, in the best sense of that term). One of the most important parts of the story is Huck’s evolution from a person raised in a racist society and thinking in its terms to become his own person, breaking free from those bounds. One person wrote that when Huck said “All right then, I’ll go to Hell” when he thought helping Jim escape was a sin, but still the Right thing- was a breakthrough. But I agree- HF is the greatest American novel. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Holy shit, seriously? I thought it was Ten Little Indians. It use the “Ten Little N-” only in early brit editions, in America it was changed to _And Then There was None_, except for one PB company that used _Ten Little Indians._ > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > In Britain, [they name their dogs that](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger_(dog)). In 1943, things have changed since then, but yeah it wasnt considered quite as offensive then. That word was also used for people from the subcontinent. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/183 "2023-09-27T21:12:54Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Of course, it’s possible that the audience would be wrong about that. That is, you could have shown RotN to a group of teenagers at the time, then hooked them up to lie detector tests (pretending for a second that such a things existed and were infallible), asked them “does this film endorse/trivialize/support rape? does it make you more likely to commit rape?” and have them answer “no”, and they would honestly consciously mean it… not realizing that the film very slightly moved the needle on their opinions about rape. I’m guessing most of them would have honestly answered no. If you go back and look at the discourse over movies like RotN, Sixteen Candles, Porky’s, etc., etc., there weren’t many people in mainstream circles talking about that kind of thing. Even absence movies, if you had asked a lot of students if X behavior constitued rape there’s a good chance they would have said no even if most people today would say yes. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/184 "2023-09-27T21:30:05Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The brits are more cavalier with that word than Americans. In America it’s used an an insult. In Britain, [they name their dogs that](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger_(dog)). they used to do it here too as mom rescued one with that name she trained to come to “dog” or boy" ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/185 "2023-09-27T21:49:49Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > The speed limit would have been 55 at the time the movie was made. The shortest route I see says 626 miles, so a minimum of 11.4 hours one way if you can go 55 the entire time. The only way to do it is to get a blocker so the truck can exceed the speed limit and not draw attention. I thought the bet in _Smokey and the Bandit_ was 400 cases of Coors in 28 hours. The easy way would have been to fly to Texas, rent a truck, fill it with the beer, and drive to Atlanta. What was the deal with taking Coors east of Texas, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/186 "2023-09-27T22:21:08Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In 1943, things have changed since then Maybe not as much as you think: > [@Anyone familiar with this racist term?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-familiar-with-this-racist-term/790936): > > UK MP is [suspended](http://www.rawstory.com/2017/07/the-real-nr-in-the-woodpile-conservative-tory-british-mp-caught-using-n-word-while-defending-brexit/) for using the term “nigger in the woodpile.” I live in rural South Carolina and have never once heard the phrase. It is notable enough to [have a Wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger_in_the_woodpile), though, and I see from the wiki that the phrase has escaped from a British Lord. before this instance and even [shows up in one of Dr. Seuss’s less commendable artworks](http://www.complex.com/style/2015/05/super-racist-dr-seuss-drawing-heading-to-auction). So does this phrase still have life in some corners of the US and the UK? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/187 "2023-09-27T22:24:47Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > What was the deal with taking Coors east of Texas, anyway? Tl;dr, unpasteurized beer, unrefrigerated trucks. > **[How the Bandit, Coors and a bunch of Makers changed the course of booze history](https://boingboing.net/2010/11/30/how-the-bandit-coors.html)** > > So last night, while attempting to explain the plot of Smokey and the Bandit to my husband, it occurred to me that I didn't really understand the back story that… ---
**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:** [September 27, 2023, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/188 "2023-09-27T22:45:39Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > unrefrigerated trucks. Coors always hauled in refrigerated trucks (I think they still do, even if they don’t have to any longer). They just wouldn’t haul it east, apparently. 70s vintage hauler: [![](https://www.coors.com/sites/coorsbanquetus/files/2023-03/slide4_back.png) ](https://www.coors.com/sites/coorsbanquetus/files/2023-03/slide4_back.png) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/189 "2023-09-27T22:48:01Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It use the “Ten Little N-” only in early brit editions… The UK publisher didn’t change it until _1985_. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/190 "2023-09-27T23:04:08Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Tl;dr, unpasteurized beer, unrefrigerated trucks. Interesting article, and it confirms that it was 28 hours. Although we have to subtract the time Bandit spent buying a Trans Am, loading it onto his truck, and driving to Snowman’s house. I still think the smart plan would be to fly to Texas and get a truck there. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/191 "2023-09-27T23:48:35Z")
That’s the same phrase in the Agatha Christie book! Never heard it before. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/192 "2023-09-27T23:51:20Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > What was the deal with taking Coors east of Texas, anyway? It was probably a mystique and availability. Back in the early to mid 70’s Coors wasn’t available in the Houston area, while it was plentiful and relatively cheap in Dallas where I lived. On the weekends, we would load up our car with as much Coors as we could afford and drive down to the beach and make enough profit to pay for the whole weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/193 "2023-09-27T23:58:38Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > In Britain, [they name their dogs that](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger_(dog)). Not to belabor this, and I’m honestly asking out of ignorance, was this in a direct reference to black people? Because the “sniffer dog” in the linked article is white. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/194 "2023-09-28T00:21:29Z")
Check again. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/195 "2023-09-28T00:39:31Z")
Here’s one that I saw when I was 11 years old (1974). A TV movie on _ABC’s Movie of the Week_. Billed as a comedy. And about a man played by Paul Sorvino who is _raped_ by a beautiful woman played by the star of the Saturday morning kiddy show, _Isis_. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ns3RLdXXCH4/hqdefault.jpg "It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy (1974 TV Movie)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns3RLdXXCH4) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/196 "2023-09-28T01:01:30Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > The director of the film said it was very difficult to get the white actors to play their part. Even though that is the point of the scene, they didn’t want to do it. Honestly it’s hard to blame them. > > (Great film, BTW.) Burton Gilliam, who played Lyle in _Blazing Saddles_, said in an interview about the movie that he had a hard time using the N-word, especially in the presence of the African-American actors. Cleavon Little finally pulled him aside and said, “If this were real life, and you called me that, I’d kick your ass. But it’s a movie - we all know you’re just playing a part.” Little had to grant Gilliam what TvTropes calls “N-word Privileges” before he could use it naturally. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/197 "2023-09-28T01:11:45Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Maybe not as much as you think: Yeah, since UK MP is [suspended](http://www.rawstory.com/2017/07/the-real-nr-in-the-woodpile-conservative-tory-british-mp-caught-using-n-word-while-defending-brexit/) for using the term “nigger in the woodpile.” Note that word- suspended. In 1943 few would care. He might get a couple of boos. > [@Miller](#): > > The UK publisher didn’t change it until _1985_. Yeah, and so? I quoted the same wiki. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/198 "2023-09-28T01:15:50Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In 1943, things have changed since then, but yeah it wasnt considered quite as offensive then. That’s not quite the change. The change is that the racists were in absolute power back then, and the people who found it offensive had much less power to enact consequences on racists for using it. If anything, it might have been _more_ offensive to its targets, as the threat of violence it carried was much more immediate. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/199 "2023-09-28T01:21:48Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > The change is that the racists were in absolute power back then, and the people who found it offensive had much less power to enact consequences on racists for using it. While I would admit the the Brits have their share of racists, they dont use all words the same way we do. When we say “Bloody” they think nasty curse word, when they say “fag” they mean a cig. Now if that had been an American pilot, it would have been different. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/200 "2023-09-28T01:34:39Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > and it may well have been used in the same way among whites in the US, with casual indifference and ignorance of its being derogatory by most people. My Tarheel grandmother, born in 1901, would not permit her children or grandchildren to use the N-word. But only because people who did were “common”. Her preferred term was “colored”. So there was a taboo, but it was class-based and aimed at poor whites, the folks from “Mill Hill” who Grandmother was very careful to distinguish herself and her family from. (Which, now that I think about it, is probably why she insisted on “Grandmother”, rather than “Grandma” or 'Granny". She would also correct us if we pronounced her native state “North C’lina”). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064.md?page=11)