In the thread George Lucas is even more evil than we thoughtDangerosa wrote “Frankly though, movies (society in general, in my opinion) have gotten much more prudish over the last 20-30 years. Isn’t there a scene in Animal House involving an underage girl? Then there is the Bad News Bears - I was shocked rewatching that (Its a good movie, it just shows how much MORE you got away with in mainstream movies regarding kids 20-30 years ago). The teenage sex comedy was a staple of 1980s cinema - hey, lets have high school kids run a brothel, it will be funny.”
I agree. There are movies that simply would not be made today and would not exist if they had not been made when they were. A great example is Heathers. Christian Slater brings a gun to school, he and Wynona Rider kill other students, all the while the message is revenge is good. Christian Slater’s character commits suicide with an explosive vest. Favorite quote: “I love my dead gay son!” Think Columbine, think Al Qaeda, now think about trying to get the Heathers script approved in our time, assuming it hadn’t already been filmed when it was. No way.
Or how about Blazing Saddles, with the exact same script? Not likely.
Blazing Saddles makes fun of racism…I think it could still get made, although it would have more of a hip-hop edge to it. The main difference is, it would HAVE to be made by a black director. I don’t think black Americans would accept that movie from a Jewish director.
No, Rambo III would still be made. Hollywood has no problem making misunderstood Muslims the good guys or the victims. They just can’t be the villains, unless it is also shown that they’re only doing what they’re doing because the Evil West MADE them do it.
We did a thread like this not long ago. I suggested Soul Man. The plot involves a rich white kid whose parents won’t pay for his Harvard education, so he starts looking for scholarships. He finds one, but it’s only for black applicants, so he ODs on tanning pills and afrocizes his hair to swipe it. Lots of “what’s happenin’, brotha!” moments ensue.
Yes. The townie girl who comes to the toga and drinks 'till she passes out. After listening to an argument between the devil on one shoulder and the angel on his other shoulder, Pinto nobly decides not to rape her.
Well, that’s a good question. There are movies from the fifties and sixties that would never be made today, but I have noticed that during the same time range that Dangerosa wrote about our society has become so PC that it seems there is less risk taking with regard to movie scripts. Fast Times at Ridgemont High portrays plenty of teenage marijuana use, underage sex, and Phoebe Cates topless. Yeah, Phoebe Cates topless. Favorite quote, Jeff Spicoli to Mr. Hand: “You Dick!”
I don’t understand. Movies are getting more graphically violent and sexual all the time. It works the other way. Most edgy movies of the last 20 years would barely fly in the '80s, let alone before. The '50s and '60s may as well been the Victorian era.
Heathers has plot points and key scenes I doubt would be filmed today. He uses a gun at school, and now we have had many school shootings between the making of the film and the present day. That plot point would not likely be used if that same movie was to be made today.
Or how about the end result of Project Mayhem in Fight Club? It was filmed before the September 11 attacks. I doubt that script would have been funded after the towers fell.
Aside from the toplessness (it was on a broadcast chanell after all), That 70s Show included plenty of marijuana use and lots of underage sex. Jackie is 15 when the show starts and she was already having sex with Kelso. And this is never shown as a bad thing.
Most of the Shirley Temple movies would not only not get made by a major studio nowadays, but if they did, the filmmakers would be charged with child pornography. I mean, seriously, an eight-year-old playing a prostitute in a light comedy?
And what’s wrong with the Bad News Bears? All I remember of it is fairly standard kids’ sports movie stuff about an underdog team that ends up winning.
Much James Bond would lift serious eyebrows if redone exactly. For one I can imagine *You Only Live Twice * getting picketed by Asian women’s organizations. Tanaka: “Mr. Bond, in Japan, man always come first”; 007: “I may retire here!”
With much cursing, and a final scene of beer drinking, on the kids’ part (in the Matthau/O’Neal version).
When she was three she played a character named “Polly Tix” in a satire about corrupt politicians. All of the characters were played by very young child actors, who surely had not the faintest idea what they were doing.
Oh, and I’m sure Fight Club couldn’t be made post 9/11. Let’s bomb all these skyscrapers where the credit card companies have their headquarters! I’m kinda astonished it got made even then.
Unless, of course, the last scene never happened. I was a little confused by then.
