# Movies that could not be made in today's PC world. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073 "2011-02-03T22:06:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/81 "2011-02-04T20:28:47Z")
Heck, the popularity of _Boardwalk Empire_ and _Mad Men_ (and before them, _That Seventies Show_) indicates that storylines that are may be currently unPC can still be popular, in large part because they’re _not_ modern, or at least they’re sold that way. And, of course, these shows can be far more adult than was remotely possible during the eras they portray. Heck, I figure there’s no movie made during the Hayes era that couldn’t be redone (not necessarily _improved_, mind you). ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/82 "2011-02-04T21:29:15Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Because it would be on the Internet. Just like \*\*American Pie \*\*ten years ago. > > I think you people (and you know what I mean by “you people”) are mistaken about movies not being made because we are “too PC”. Did you actually watch **Borat**? What about the endless parade of Judd Apatow films? or Dave Chapelle’s comedy show? > > If anything, many of the old “edgie” jokes would be considered lame and dated by modern standards. Completely agreed. Most of the stuff people are saying would be out-of-bounds are things that you’d see in any given episode of Gossip Girl. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/83 "2011-02-04T21:33:53Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Pinky (1949) a black girl “passes” for white in the north, and has to decide whether to keep it up to marry her white beau. Actually I could see Pinky easily being updated for 2011 with a setting in a very segregated part of the country like the South. ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/84 "2011-02-04T21:45:37Z")
Any Charlie Chan film. or Fu-Manchu ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/85 "2011-02-04T22:05:04Z")
Quoth **ascenray** : > [@](#): > > It [_High Fidelity_’s abortion] also was backstory. It didn’t happen on-screen. You seriously think they should show abortions on-screen? There’s plenty of reason they don’t do that, but it’s not because they’re prudes. For comparison, how many movies show childbirth on screen? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/86 "2011-02-04T22:07:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You seriously think they should show abortions on-screen? There’s plenty of reason they don’t do that, but it’s not because they’re prudes. For comparison, how many movies show childbirth on screen? “On-screen” was explicitly contrasted with “backstory.” Care to rephrase your response? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/87 "2011-02-04T22:28:44Z")
[QUOTE=ZPG Zealot] Actually I could see Pinky easily being updated for 2011 with a setting in a very segregated part of the country like the South. [/QUOTE] I seriously doubt it would work even if set in the South. The only way it or any other film set in America about race-passing could be filmed would be as a period piece. > [@audit1](#): > > Any Charlie Chan film. What if they cast an actor of Chinese-descent and cut back on his fortune-cookie aphorisms? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/88 "2011-02-04T22:36:04Z")
> [@audit1](#): > > Any Charlie Chan film. or Fu-Manchu There are people out there who want to try: > [@](#): > > There have been several unsuccessful plans to revive [Fu Manchu] for the big screen since the early 1970s. The most recent project was announced by Distant Horizons at Cannes in 2007. > [@](#): > > An updated film version of the character was planned in the 1990s by Miramax; this new Charlie Chan was to be “hip, slim, cerebral, sexy and … a martial-arts master”, but the film did not come to fruition. Actress Lucy Liu is slated to star in and executive-produce a new Charlie Chan film for Fox. The film has been in pre-production since 2000; as of 2009 it is still slated to be produced. I doubt either one is going to happen, but if it’s a name people know, someone will think it’s a good idea for a movie. Go figure. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/89 "2011-02-05T04:37:45Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Brooke Shields childhood movie career would never happen today. She seemed to specialize in the sexy Lolita roles. Pretty Baby, Blue Lagoon, Endless Love, Sahara none of those could be made today without drastically cutting back on the implied “young girl” sexuality. I don’t know, I think that nowadays, quite a lot of young girl sexuality is played up. Like in the movie the Runaways. And in the fashion world, look at how many models are young teenagers. Just as **StuBlues** points out about Tropic Thunder, I’m sure in ten or twenty years, people will be saying that stuff like this [French Vogue spread](http://jezebel.com/5725707/french-vogues-sexy-kiddie-spread-is-misunderstood/gallery/) could NEVER happen today. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/90 "2011-02-05T06:26:09Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > One example of [early Shirley Temple](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OYiauWwtKQ) that might draw some raised eyebrows today. You can find others on youtube by searching for ‘Baby Burlesks.’ Seriously. Talk about some raised eyebrows, go about 4.5 minutes in to this and it’s just weird: https://www.youtube.com/embed/dcQ8yjXoAMU?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/91 "2011-02-05T07:05:58Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Pinky (1949) a black girl “passes” for white in the north, and has to decide whether to keep it up to marry her white beau. > [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Actually I could see Pinky easily being updated for 2011 with a setting in a very segregated part of the country like the South. > [@NDP](#): > > I seriously doubt it would work even if set in the South. The only way it or any other film set in America about race-passing could be filmed would be as a period piece. [The Human Stain](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308383/), 2003, with Anthony Hopkins. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/92 "2011-02-05T08:29:45Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > think you people (and you know what I mean by “you people”) are mistaken about movies not being made because we are “too PC”. Did you actually watch **Borat**? What about the endless parade of Judd Apatow films? or Dave Chapelle’s comedy show? There’s a difference between un-“PC” and the sort of generally offensive, shock-humor stuff that you’re talking about. PC refers to sensitivity about racism and sexism, basically. Borat is all about exposing other peoples’ racism. It’s a highly self-conscious form of comedy. Likewise with Chappelle’s Show - the same show would _never_ fly if Chappelle was a white man. Judd Apatow’s movies _have_ been criticized by some as racist - mostly because the only black characters in them tend to be “ghetto” stereotypes, but again, it’s very self-conscious comedy. You have Pakistanis making Pakistani jokes, Jews making jokes about being Jewish, etc, as well as a lot of expository dialog about sex and male-female relations. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/93 "2011-02-05T08:34:24Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Likewise with Chappelle’s Show - the same show would _never_ fly if Chappelle was a white man. It would’ve ruined the blind Klansman sketch, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/94 "2011-02-05T08:40:38Z")
I forgot to add: Borat got away with a lot of Jewish jokes because Sascha Baron Cohen is (obviously) Jewish. Could a non-Jewish comedian do what Cohen did? I highly doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/95 "2011-02-05T09:09:22Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I forgot to add: Borat got away with a lot of Jewish jokes because Sascha Baron Cohen is (obviously) Jewish. Could a non-Jewish comedian do what Cohen did? I highly doubt it. Seth Macfarlane, the creator of Family Guy would disagree. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/96 "2011-02-05T09:36:08Z")
Adding my voice to the “you’re all nuts” camp. Every meaningful element is in full force in today’s movies: School shooting movies are a dime a dozen. (Elephant, The Life Before Her Eyes, Home Room, etc…) As for blowing up buildings, much was made of the scene in 2012 with the two skyscrapers coming down, mainly because they highlighted it _in the trailer_. Young kids swearing? I haven’t seen it, but wasn’t that part of the marketing focus for Kick Ass? Young girls drinking and drugging and having sex while being played by underage actresses? You mean like Thirteen? Or the perv (I forget his name) who made Kids and Bully. I’m just not seeing this uber-PC regulation you guys are claiming. I would bet good money that if this were last year people would be saying how I Spit On Your Grave couldn’t be made [today](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1242432/). ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/97 "2011-02-05T09:50:37Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Adding my voice to the “you’re all nuts” camp. Every meaningful element is in full force in today’s movies: > > School shooting… > > As for blowing up buildings… > > Young kids swearing… > > Young girls drinking and drugging and having sex… Again, this is not PC. PC stands for political correctness and it is generally understood to mean sensitivity to minorities, gays, and women. PC is _not_ inherently against displays of violence or sexuality. Kojak yelling at a Jewish criminal he just apprehended that “you didn’t see it coming even when we were waving it in your Jewish face” is an example of un-PC. Yes, that is an actual line from _Kojak._ The Delta House in _Animal House_ openly displaying a Confederate flag on the wall, without _any_ back-story or exposition at all - that is un-PC. There was no “reason” for it provided in the movie - it was just something that looked cool. That would never fly today. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/98 "2011-02-05T09:56:37Z")
Don’t correct me, correct the rest of the thread. I was merely responding to examples posted. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/99 "2011-02-05T09:58:05Z")
I already tried to do that…sorry if I seemed like I was jumping on you. You’re actually one of my favorite posters here. No, you are right - the term PC is being grossly misapplied by many people in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073/100 "2011-02-05T10:32:59Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Seth Macfarlane, the creator of Family Guy would disagree. I believe most of his writing staff is Jewish, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-not-be-made-in-todays-pc-world/570073.md?page=6)