# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/41 "2023-09-14T15:29:03Z")
There are still class divisions in the young adult world that could be played out in a movie that would be derided as a clone of the original. It was a low-brow comedy, intended to be offensive in the same way current movies intend to offend current mores, but it wasn’t intended to promote rape. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/42 "2023-09-14T15:50:01Z")
I think one aspect of that might prevent a _Revenge of The Nerds_ type film from being remade is how the increase in school shootings would give any revenge-type fantasy set in high school/college an subtext some might find unnerving/creepy. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/43 "2023-09-14T15:56:36Z")
The same with “The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao”. ---
**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 14, 2023, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/44 "2023-09-14T16:02:38Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > There isn’t the same stigma attached to being a nerd nowadays as there was in the 80s, so the whole premise of _Revenge of the Nerds_ wouldn’t work quite the same way. Yes, American society and popular culture are controlled and defined by the nerds now. Successful jocks play for professional sports teams. Successful nerds _buy_ professional sports teams. The nerds won. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/45 "2023-09-14T17:09:33Z")
I think it might have been Matt Baum on youtube who did a video about it… But Zorro, The Gay Blade is gettin re-evaluated as weirdly empowering. Yes, Bunny is a stereotype but he isn’t degraded. He’s a competent hero. The villain is clearly having his closet unlocked by Bunny’s presence but it’s treated as he’s struggling with it and not offensively homophobic. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/46 "2023-09-14T18:32:06Z")
_Dude, Where’s My Car?_ has a couple of transphobic jokes in it that don’t hold up well. _Lethal Weapon_ likewise with homophobia. Could both be remade with those removed, though. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/47 "2023-09-14T18:46:50Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > There is one film that I know absolutely could not be made today: CGI. 😀 And there is a small, tiny chance they still survive. So I wish all those idiots chasing bigfoot and nessie (hoaxes) could instead spend some time doing more useful work. Ivory Billed Woodpecker maybe even. > [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > _Zorro, The Gay Blade_. Homosexuality is **the** joke, pounded over and over again. No, there’s more than that. Before the brother even comes on scene there is funny stuff. And it is a decent swashbuckler and romance besides. And the gay brother is a hero, note. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > To be fair, the gay Zorro is — in, oh, half-a-dozen ways — _better_ at heroics than the Zorro he replaces: one of them battles injustice by succeeding at everything he tries, and the other is, uh, heterosexual. > [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > But Zorro, The Gay Blade is gettin re-evaluated as weirdly empowering. Yes, Bunny is a stereotype but he isn’t degraded. He’s a competent hero. Yep. > [@E-DUB](#): > > The same with “The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao”. That is a great film, even so. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/48 "2023-09-14T20:15:09Z")
I have long (30 years?) said that Blazing Saddles could never be re-made. [But then Mel Brooks went and proved me wrong!](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4428398/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_4_act) ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/49 "2023-09-14T21:29:38Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I don’t see why they could NOT do a remake of _Ace Ventura: Pet Detective_. It is not like the transphobic plot elements are integral to the story of a detective investigating crimes against animals/pets. While you could easily make another Ace Ventura movie, it would be a reboot/sequel, not a remake. I’d argue the the transphobic plot IS integral to the first movie. The plot of the first movie is essentially “A detective is trying to find a kidnapper/murderer, but no one knows what happened to the primary suspect. It turns out the suspect is actually a transwoman/cross dresser (it’s never made clear in the movie, part of the transphobia) and is the detective’s boss/lover.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/50 "2023-09-14T22:25:00Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > I have long (30 years?) said that Blazing Saddles could never be re-made. > > [But then Mel Brooks went and proved me wrong!](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4428398/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_4_act) _Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank_? I mean the plot is similar, but I doubt the N word is used all that often. ---
**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 14, 2023, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/51 "2023-09-14T23:35:23Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I remember thinking _The Seven Year Itch_ (a purportedly hilarious comedy about a guy sexually harassing his nameless neighbour while his wife and kid are away) had aged poorly when I saw it in the '90s. I doubt it has improved much since then. Along those same lines, I wonder about [A Guide for the Married Man](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061736/). Maybe Walter Matthew’s character getting caught at the end might save it. Creepy none-the-less. > [@Sitnam](#): > > Please, referencing some neckbeards to prove a point on the Dope? And using pejorative terms to prove yours? > [@smithsb](#): > > > [@Riemann](#): > > > > Even in the era it was made, I never understood the whole notion of a movie (and very successful stage play!) where the entire plot is “creepy middle-aged married man fantasizes about fucking the hot girl upstairs”. > > It could be remade but not as a comedy - more of a stalker/slasher/horror flick. Oooh, I’d watch that! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/52 "2023-09-14T23:59:34Z")
This isn’t the whole movie, but whenever I watch _Miracle on 34th Street_ (the version with Natalie Wood as a child), it occurs to me that the scene where Kris Kringle is sitting with Natalie alone in her bedroom, _on_ her bed (she’s tucked in and in her jammies) talking about what she wants for Christmas–that scene could not be shot that way today. Maybe he’d have to stand in the open doorway or something, I dunno. ---
**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 15, 2023, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/53 "2023-09-15T00:11:48Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I watched **Murder by Death** last night. I know Peter Sellers is mocking/parodying the classic Charlie Chan portrayal but would anyone under 40 have a clue? I don’t think his portrayal would fly today. I think the only thing holding that back is nobody really remembers Charlie Chan any more. Part of the joke with Sellars’ portrayal is poking fun at how racist the previous portrayals were. (“Why can’t one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century say his articles or prepositions!?”) Just lean more into that a bit, and you’d get away with it, much like Robert Downey Jr. got away with blackface in _Tropic Thunder_ by making the joke be how inappropriate it is. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2023, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/54 "2023-09-15T00:26:07Z")
There are many many more movies made today that could not be made in past then the reverse. People have this warped sense of nostalgia that only their era was challenging the norm. They project this nonsense into music and all other areas of pop culture. ---
**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 15, 2023, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/55 "2023-09-15T00:58:14Z")
_Tropic Thunder_ was made in 2008, and from what I recall it is a spectacular film, but also from what I recall, I’m not sure if it could be made today, not 15 years later. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/56 "2023-09-15T01:10:35Z")
I don’t think it’s a matter of people thinking only their era was challenging the norm - but I think there was something specific going on in the 70s and early 80s regarding young teenagers that I haven’t seen since. Maybe you could remake most of _Kentucky Fried Movie_ nowadays - but I saw it in the theatre with my friends when I was 14. I don’t think that would happen now. _Little Darlings_ would not be made now. Brooke Shields’ movies might have been made - but either the actress would have been older or the movies would have been changed because no way is a movie being made today with a 12 year old or even a 14 year old doing nude scenes. I was searching on line trying to find out when a particular product was sold, and my search took me to a website where someone was scanning in old copies of _Seventeen_ magazine. The magazine didn’t target 17 year olds, it was aimed at younger girls (starting at 12 or 13) and the ads seemed a little overly sexualizing to me with today’s eyes. ( “Six ways to turn a girl on” for a hair appliance? ) . In 1975. _Forever_, by Judy Blume was published . Nowadays, people are trying to ban the book. In 1975, girls were openly reading it in my Catholic school 7th grade class. Did our parents approve - I don’t know. I suspect that they had no idea what we were watching or reading - and that’s something that i don’t think happens as much any more. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2023, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/57 "2023-09-15T08:14:59Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Even in the era it was made, I never understood the whole notion of a movie (and very successful stage play!) where the entire plot is “creepy middle-aged married man fantasizes about fucking the hot girl upstairs”. Aside from the creepy middle-aged man demographic, who might like the implausible aspect that the hot young girl actually seems interested in the creep, who on earth would find this plot appealing? Is the fact that he _doesn’t_ follow through and fuck her supposed to be some kind of heroic feelgood ending? This post is baffling. Fantasizing about unattainable romantic partners is a staple of comedy involving men and women of all ages on both sides of the equation and it doesn’t make people creepy, it makes them human. There are only two ways to end stories like that and they chose one of them for this movie. How else would you end this common story that plays out in real life and fiction over and over? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2023, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/58 "2023-09-15T08:41:22Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > In 1975. _Forever_, by Judy Blume was published . Nowadays, people are trying to ban the book. In 1975, girls were openly reading it in my Catholic school 7th grade class. Did our parents approve - I don’t know. I suspect that they had no idea what we were watching or reading - and that’s something that i don’t think happens as much any more. In 1975 it made the news that a “young adult” novel included sex. I’ve been reading a lot of young adult novels recently, and was surprised at how matter-of-factly they treat sex and birth control. For instance, the books by [Tamora Pierce](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamora_Pierce) ---
**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 15, 2023, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/59 "2023-09-15T12:50:32Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Thoughts? Any other movies that might not be able to be made these days? I think a lot of movies could just have material unpalatable to modern audiences removed and you’d still have a similar story. A few years ago one of the streaming services had _The Monster Squad._ It was a rariety in my household for the entire family to go see a movie together, but we all piled in the car and went to see _The Monster Squad_ in 1987, so I decided to give it a watch because the only thing I could remember after 25+ years is that Wolfman had nards. I was more than a little surprised about the homophobic rant two of the kids went on about their principal. It came out of left field and I kept thinking, “This is for kids?” And then there’s Dracula who just straight up tries to murder some children. Dude does not screw around, he picks up some dynamite and tries to blow the kids up in a tree house. Then there’s Horace who uses a shotgun to kill the the Gillman. How many movies are we going to see these days featuring the heroic use of a shotgun by a twelve-year-old kid? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2023, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064/60 "2023-09-15T12:55:35Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > This post is baffling. Fantasizing about unattainable romantic partners is a staple of comedy involving men and women of all ages on both sides of the equation and it doesn’t make people creepy, it makes them human. Have you _seen_ the movie? You can’t just make an abstract generalization to call it “fantasizing about unattainable romantic partners” like it’s _Romeo and Juliet_ or something. It’s about selfish lust, and the male lead character is a creepy narcissistic letch. Of course that’s still a common part of human nature, but it’s a mystery to me who sees that as a good premise (the _entire_ premise) for hilarious comedy. But obviously I’m in the minority, or at least I would have been in the minority in that era, the play was very successful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-today-s-world/990064.md?page=4)