# Movies that made a big pop culture splash but are now disporportionately forgotten **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2014, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755 "2014-11-16T08:07:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/121 "2014-11-17T12:44:52Z")
**CarnalK** , bluntly put: What … the … fuck??? You are _so_ goddam out of bounds here. If your only point was to try (and completely fail) to illustrate that the public not remembering a movie 40 years old does not mean much, then you totally contradict yourself in other posts. Some movies that were culturally major in their time have stayed within the cultural awareness envelope and remembered and some have not. There are movies of the 70s and from far far before, that have (and several Chaplain films, such as _The Great Dictator_ are arguably in that far before list) and some that have disproportionally not. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/122 "2014-11-17T12:54:50Z")
I came here to mention American Beauty and AI but those were already taken so I’ll instead offer **Cruel Intentions** which seemed to be all anybody was talking about in the Summer of 99 yet seems to have completely dropped off the cultural landscape. I thought it was a great movie but I haven’t seen anyone reference it in years. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/123 "2014-11-17T12:59:19Z")
Also, **Borat** seems to have faded extremely quickly given how deeply it got it’s hooks into the culture. There was a good year where you couldn’t go anywhere without someone mindlessly interjecting with “My Wife!” or “High Five!”, it was the “That’s what she said” of 2006 (also, “That’s what she said” was the “That’s what she said” of 2006 making 2006 a very annoying year to be alive). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/124 "2014-11-17T13:03:42Z")
Some of the films (American Graffiti, Jaws, etc.) mentioned here as being “forgotten” are among those added to the [National Film Registry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Film_Registry) of the Library of Congress. They add up to 25 films each year that they feel are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/125 "2014-11-17T13:18:32Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > Give me an example of their huge popularity. I’m aware the Wizard of Oz is still culturally relevant, but it’s not the ubiquitous presence it was during the TV age. What kind of example do you want? You’ve named some of the most popular movies of the last few decades and said no one watches them anymore. The Sixth Sense is still held up as one of the great twists of all time. Jerry Maguire has the catchphrases that people still remember. Rocky has another sequel in development right now. Jaws gets a new deluxe DVD/Blu-ray every few years because people love it. American Graffiti is loved mostly by film buffs of a certain age, but still loved, Bad News Bears, same deal. Dumb & Dumber just spawned a sequel that made $40 million YESTERDAY. The Wizard of Oz begat Oz: The Great and Powerful, one of last year’s most popular movies. What is your criteria for saying they’re forgotten? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/126 "2014-11-17T13:31:32Z")
A couple of movies from (more or less) the year I went to college seem to have disappeared even though I was sure they’d be in the Pantheon of Great Films: **Breaking Away Reds The China Syndrome An Unmarried Woman Cruising** ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/127 "2014-11-17T13:51:56Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > That’s common knowledge, but still Oz is no longer the cultural presence it was during the TV age when it was a widespread tradition to watch it on prime-time TV during the holidays. \*I added Oz at the end of my list as an aside rather than another instance of a forgotten movie. Wizard of Oz might not be the annual TV event it once was (what non-live thing on TV is? Now that we have all sorts of recording options, not even the Christmas specials are.), but it’s definitely not dead. All sorts of consumer goods are still invoking that movie – there;'s a calendar this year (as always), the DVD is still selling, there’s a casino-type card collecting game at arcades. I don’t know if WoO is still a major theme at the MGM Grand Casino, but it certainly was several years back. Recent variations on the Oz stories from the stage musical _Wicked_ to Disney’s _Oz the Great and Powerful_ spin their visuals off the 1939 movie, not from the illustrations in Baum’s book. The 1939 movie is clearly alive and well. It’s not forgotten, like _Cavalcade_. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/128 "2014-11-17T13:54:50Z")
I’m not really understanding this thread. Best I can tell, the concept is movies that were huge in pop culture, but are now forgotten by pop culture. If that’s the case, a bunch of the nominations are demonstrably wrong, because if you can find any recent pop culture reference to it, it’s not forgotten. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > **Pretty Woman** seemed to have a decent cultural footprint for a few years after it came out, but has faded since. One of the new sitcoms this season (Maybe Selfie? I forget which one) included a Pretty Woman reference. Or maybe it was Scorpion, which I lasted a whopping two episodes with. In any case, doing a “Pretty Woman” where you go shopping while looking poor then shock the staff by being rich is a still a well-known touchstone in pop culture. > [@mack](#): > > Flashdance > > Sophie’s Choice Pretty sure I saw a flashdance bit in a movie recently, though in fairness, since I can’t remember which movie, it’s quite possible it was from 10+ years ago. I know I’ve seen at least one Sophie’s Choice reference in a movie released since 2010. Pretty sure it was a joke, but it’s definitely still part of the pop culture reference book. > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Me, either. It doesn’t get much bigger than The Wizard of Oz. It may not be on TV every year, but it’s been parodied/spoofed endlessly, spawned two additional musicals, and I’d wager to guess most people know most, if not all, of the songs from it. Even simple references still work. For example, John Oliver referenced it during his scathing indictment of Dr. Oz peddling “magic pills.” Something like “Name me one instance where someone named Oz was pretending to have magical powers and it turned out badly!” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/129 "2014-11-17T14:00:47Z")
IMHO, _The Wizard of Oz_ is probably the most culturally “relevant” film made, if you define “relevant” as being constantly referenced. Touch-phrases as “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto”, “Yellow Brick Road”, “Good witch/bad witch”, “Emerald City”, “Over the Rainbow”, “ruby slippers”, “There’s no place like home”, “Cowardly Lion”, “Tin Man”, etc pop up in unlikely spaces - movies, commercials, TV newscasts, songs, sports broadcasts (I heard a few during the World Series, for example), more. Overall, in the entire cultural landscape that is modern day America, I would safely say it’s the most referenced film of all time, easily beating out such pretenders as _The Godfather_, _Star Wars_, _Gone With the Wind_, etc. No other film comes even remotely close. Of all the films mentioned in this thread, reading that TWoO is no longer culturally relevant is the most surprising… and wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/130 "2014-11-17T14:35:48Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > One of the new sitcoms this season (Maybe Selfie? I forget which one) included a Pretty Woman reference. Or maybe it was Scorpion, which I lasted a whopping two episodes with. **It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia** did an entire **Pretty Woman** spoof episode (titled “Frank’s Pretty Woman,” no less) in 2011. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/131 "2014-11-17T14:36:30Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Also, **Borat** seems to have faded extremely quickly given how deeply it got it’s hooks into the culture. There was a good year where you couldn’t go anywhere without someone mindlessly interjecting with “My Wife!” or “High Five!”, it was the “That’s what she said” of 2006 (also, “That’s what she said” was the “That’s what she said” of 2006 making 2006 a very annoying year to be alive). Good example, methinks! Yeah, Sasha Baron Cohen came out with the Bruno flick a few years later, it made a much smaller impact, and now his act on the whole seems to have faded. He’s trying to bring his stuff back to TV, but it doesn’t seem very promising. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/132 "2014-11-17T14:42:00Z")
Anyone else remember how positively scandalous **Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice** when it came out? Catch it on TV now and it’s a snoozer. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/133 "2014-11-17T14:46:51Z")
That film where the couple is on vacation and a rich guys sleeps with her for a million dollars. I do not even remember its name now. It was \*the \*topic of discussion for months, and my Wife and I still have the agreement that if it is ever offered, I’ll see her at the breakfast buffet. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/134 "2014-11-17T14:47:53Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > The Sixth Sense is still held up as one of the great twists of all time. > Jerry Maguire has the catchphrases that people still remember. > Rocky has another sequel in development right now. > Jaws gets a new deluxe DVD/Blu-ray every few years because people love it. > American Graffiti is loved mostly by film buffs of a certain age, but still loved, > Bad News Bears, same deal. > Dumb & Dumber just spawned a sequel that made $40 million YESTERDAY. > The Wizard of Oz begat Oz: The Great and Powerful, one of last year’s most popular movies. > > What is your criteria for saying they’re forgotten? Yes, I would agree that these movies are _not_ good examples of what I was talking about in the OP. Take Bad News Bears. The vast majority of movies from 1976 are _totally_ forgotten. BNB was big that year and is remembered a lot more than the average movie from that year. So I would not call it “disproportionately forgotten.” You could make a four-by-four matrix that might look like this: Big then, relatively big now: Classic Big then, relatively forgotten now: Flash in the pan Small then, relatively big now: Cult film Small then, forgotten now: POS The “relatively” is not needed for the last one because its absolute level of popularity never changed. “Flash in the pan” is not quite the right word, since that “flash” can continue for several years. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/135 "2014-11-17T14:50:43Z")
**The Moon is Blue** – a 1952 comedy that was scandalous – _scandalous_ – because it used the word “virgin”. The Catholic Bishops council actually gave it a “Condemned” rating. They used this as a humorous point in the TV series **M_A_S\*H** episode “The Moon is Not Blue” (S11E8, broadcast in 1982), where is where most people today would know of it, if they know it at all. (I know it from reading Allan Sherman’s _The Rape of the A_P_E_, myself. Otherwise, and if not for that detail, I doubt if anyone would know about this film. > **[The Moon Is Blue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_Blue)** > > The Moon Is Blue is a play by F. Hugh Herbert. A comedy in three acts, the play consists of one female and three male characters. > The Moon Is Blue premiered at The Playhouse in Wilmington, Delaware on February 16, 1951 for tryout performances in preparation for the New York stage. This was followed by further tryout performances at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston in early March 1951. The production premiered on Broadway on March 8, 1951 at Henry Miller's Theatre with Barbara Bel Geddes as Patty O'... Similarly, the Swedish pair of films **I Am Curious (Blue)** and **I Am Curious (Yellow)** were scandalous when first released in the late sixties because of the nudity (including a penis!), and simulated sex in a relatively mainstream film. Actually banned in Boston, and an early recipient of the “X” rating. How many people know of or recall it today? The only time I see it mentioned is among the films released on DVD by Criterion. > **[I Am Curious (Yellow)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Curious_(Yellow))** > > I Am Curious (Yellow) (Swedish: Jag är nyfiken – en film i gult, meaning "I Am Curious: A Film in Yellow") is a 1967 Swedish erotic drama film written and directed by Vilgot Sjöman, starring Sjöman and Lena Nyman. It is a companion film to 1968's I Am Curious (Blue); the two were initially intended to be one .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-a... ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/136 "2014-11-17T14:50:42Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Anyone else remember how positively scandalous **Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice** when it came out? Catch it on TV now and it’s a snoozer. I actually saw that recently and thought it was a pretty darn good movie! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/137 "2014-11-17T14:56:32Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > That film where the couple is on vacation and a rich guys sleeps with her for a million dollars. I do not even remember its name now. Indecent Proposal. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/138 "2014-11-17T15:04:46Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > That film where the couple is on vacation and a rich guys sleeps with her for a million dollars. I do not even remember its name now. _Indecent Proposal_: [Indecent Proposal (1993) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107211/?ref_=nv_sr_1) This seems to me like one of those movies that makes the news but is not really a big part of the zeitgeist. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/139 "2014-11-17T15:08:57Z")
I don’t think many people bother to watch the original Indecent Proposal movie anymore but it remains a common reference point for sitcoms which ape the plot in some fashion so it’s still in the zeitgeist. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/140 "2014-11-17T15:15:57Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > E.T. was a monstrously large cultural event when it came out, but almost none of that impact has lingered. Are you kidding? If not for this movie, the abdominal candy known as Reese’s Pieces would only be on those “Candies of the past” threads. It’s also one of the reasons that product placement in films has become such a thing. People may not say “Phone home” as often as “May the Force be with you” but it’s there. People still spoof Eliot on the bike with ET in the basket. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755.md?page=8)