# Scenes that were serious back then but risible now **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2022, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223 "2022-09-25T21:57:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/61 "2022-09-29T17:47:30Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > > [@Akaj](#): > > > > Jim Carrey’s character (an alien) in _Earth Girls are Easy_ watches _Rebel_ and then quotes the line “You’re tearing me apart!” completely out of context. After watching that, the original by James Dean seems pretty hilarious. > > I haven’t seen that one, but _The Room_ uses that line as well. Actually I haven’t seen The Room either, but I’ve seen clips of it, and I’ve seen _The Disaster Artist_. For those not familiar with it, _The Room_ is widely considered to to be one of the worst movies ever made. While it’s trying to be a drama, it falls into the “so bad it’s funny” category. Oh hi Mark! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/62 "2022-09-29T18:26:40Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Similarly, one line that was _meant_ to be funny was, when I saw it, much more hilarious, for a completely different reason. In **Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home** the Enterprise Bridge crew has time-traveled back to the 20th century and Kirk, trying to account for Spock’s apparently eccentric behavior, explains to their 20th Century contact that “I think he did a little too much LDS” In the Star Trek Writer’s Guide that you could buy when TOS was runnng, one of the questions was: Are you guys on LSD. The answer was We tried it, but we couldn’t keep it lit. So LSD jokes go way back. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/63 "2022-09-30T13:05:04Z")
The Lethal Weapon movies were landmark, trendsetting action films, but are filled with cringe-worthy stuff now, mostly having to do with a) playing L.A.P.D. brutality for laughs and b) Mel Gibson generally. The scene in the first film in which Riggs and Murtaugh are theorizing that the victim who’d set the plot in motion may have been a lesbian, and Riggs casually says that that’s disgusting, is a standout. ---
**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 30, 2022, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/64 "2022-09-30T16:38:31Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > The scene in the first film in which Riggs and Murtaugh are theorizing that the victim who’d set the plot in motion may have been a lesbian, and Riggs casually says that that’s disgusting, is a standout. As is the scene when the house they’re approaching explodes, setting Rigg’s shirt on fire. When Murtagh jumps on him to smother it, Riggs, not realizing he’s aflame, asks, “What are you, a faggot?” ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/65 "2022-09-30T17:02:50Z")
There was a similar scene in the first Bill and Ted movie. It’s shocking to think how a comment like that was acceptable so recently. It’s completely cringeworthy now. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/66 "2022-09-30T17:41:01Z")
If the OP includes scenes that may have seemed normal at the time but are just bizarre now due to time moving on… I love Brian De Palma’s _Body Double_, but the scene I find hilarious is at the video store (which I’m pretty sure was the Tower Records video annex on the south side of Sunset Strip…the same place was used in _Amazon Women on the Moon_, I think) where Craig Wasson goes to find a copy of _Holly Does Hollywood_. He asks if they have VHS (!!!) and the clerk is like “We got VHS, Beta, half-inch, whatever you want.” Wow. I don’t even remember anything beyond VHS and Beta, and Beta was on the way out by the time that movie came out. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/67 "2022-09-30T22:13:50Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Probably the most throwaway line in the speech is, “My father is in the Army and he wants me to join but I could never work for that corporation.” When I saw the movie it got the biggest reaction in the entire movie. I was watching it in the Fort Rucker theater. When I watched “Dr. Strangelove” with a group of military officers, this line got some unintended laughs: > …we are plowing through every possible three-letter combination of the code. But since there are seventeen thousand permutations, it’s going to take us about two and a half days to transmit them all. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/68 "2022-09-30T23:50:38Z")
Something similar with _Free Enterprise_ (which if you haven’t seen if you’re any kind of Trekkie, you’re missing out) the characters talk about their vast collections of SF movies – all on laserdisc. That format was already getting dated by the late nineties when this movie came out. Mind you, early DVDs had certain pixelation problems when the format transfer was not done correctly (have a serious videophile of that era explain “black bloom” to you, in tones that remind you of someone describing leprosy, and you’ll see what I mean). But having an entire collection of movies on these multi-disc platters the size of dinner plates… you practically needed to buy a second house. * * * When seeing the theatrical re-release of _Return of the Jedi_ in the early thousands, this exchange got a funny-with-a-side-creepy reaction: **Emperor** Are you sure? **Vader** I have _felt_ him, my master **Emperor** (turning around with a strange expression on his face): Strange that _I_ have not. It didn’t hit that way in 1983. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/69 "2022-10-01T00:01:18Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > But having an entire collection of movies on these multi-disc platters the size of dinner plates… you practically needed to buy a second house. Friend of mine devoted an entire room (floor-to-ceiling shelves) to his 12" LaserDiscs. And his other formats he was sure would emerge victorious: BetaMax tapes and HD-DVDs (they were competing with Blu-Rays). But I’ve got to admit, the LaserDiscs did look good, even if you had to take a break in the middle of a film to switch to Disk 2. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/70 "2022-10-01T00:05:03Z")
Yeah. Freeze-framing on those was like freeze-framing 70mm film - almost never any blur. My friend had nearly as many LDs, but he had to get rid of them all when he moved. It was getting increasingly hard for him to find a player for them. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/71 "2022-10-01T00:09:30Z")
A few years back, the local Goodwill (which I love for their great selection and low prices) had a Laserdisc player. It was $199. At that time, I visited once a week. The Laserdisc player was there for at most 6 days before being sold. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/72 "2022-10-01T04:07:00Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > James Bond disguising himself as a Japanese man in You Only Live Twice seems pretty silly nowadays. Or Mickey Rooney doing the same thing in _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/73 "2022-10-02T03:40:28Z")
_Say hello to my little friend._ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/AVQ8byG2mY8/maxresdefault.jpg "Scarface - Say Hello To My Little Friend (HD)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVQ8byG2mY8) ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/74 "2022-10-02T16:12:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > _Angel_ was a pretty cheesy movie (it’s about a high school student who also works as a prostitute) I thought me and my friends were the only ones that ever saw that movie. i hate to admit it, but we watched the sequel too. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > When I see _The Maltese Falcon_ now, I’m amused that Wilmer, Cairo, and Guttman are all clearly meant to be gay. I thought that was pretty obvious, even as a teen. Cairo was a walking talking gay stereotype. I wonder how many people recognized Wilmer as Rick’s mafia friend Icepick in Magnum P.I. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/75 "2022-10-02T20:35:48Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > _Angel_ was a pretty cheesy movie (it’s about a high school student who also works as a prostitute) > > I thought me and my friends were the only ones that ever saw that movie. i hate to admit it, but we watched the sequel too. > > > [@RealityChuck](#): > > > > When I see _The Maltese Falcon_ now, I’m amused that Wilmer, Cairo, and Guttman are all clearly meant to be gay. > > I thought that was pretty obvious, even as a teen. Cairo was a walking talking gay stereotype. It wasn’t quite as obvious in 1941, since the censors allowed the use of “gunsel.” ---
**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:** [October 3, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/76 "2022-10-03T14:01:46Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It wasn’t quite as obvious in 1941, since the censors allowed the use of “gunsel.” But that was a somewhat obscure bit of slang back then. Hammett used it in his original magazine serial (later republished as a novel) because he was sure that the magazine censors wouldn’t be aware of its real meaning, probably thinking it meant something like “gun slinger”. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/77 "2022-10-03T14:44:20Z")
Also apparently there was a secondary “safe” meaning of “newb inexperienced at this life” that he could keep in his back pocket if questioned. “I mean naive in the ways of crime, honest!” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/78 "2022-10-03T15:05:23Z")
Also, Austin Gunsel was a former (1960s) treasurer for the NFL and former FBI agent, possibly the most famous ‘gunsel’ if such a thing is possible. Just doing a browse of the word ‘gunsel’ in newspaper archives, they pretty much all match up to someone’s surname. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/79 "2022-10-03T15:23:38Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > My friend had nearly as many LDs, but he had to get rid of them all when he moved. It was getting increasingly hard for him to find a player for them. I had a lot of laserdiscs, which was really folly on my part, and I regret the money I spent on them. Even had a bunch of Criterion editions: the one for _Brazil_ was five discs and you could strap it your chest and use it as a flak vest if the ened arose. There was some spectacular artwork on the occasional LD: the _Natural Born Killers_ box set and _The Killer_ Criterion set were both gorgeous. Sold them all for pennies on the dollar to a used book/movie store many years ago. I only kept two, for sentimental reasons, though I know they’ll never see the inside of a player again: a small indie film that I crewed on, that AFAIKT has never been released on DVD or BluRay, and the Japanese pressing of the 3-hour cut of _Until The End of the World_, because the packaging is so cool. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223/80 "2022-10-03T16:40:03Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Is the tinkly piano in the original movie _Bananas_? I’ve never seen it, but that music saps a lot of seriousness out of the subway scene with Stallone. Yes, they used that music originally. It was a farce, not even a regular comedy. So the music is not sucking out the seriousness; it’s preventing seriousness from happening. And I think what really makes Stallone’s presence ironic is that he almost always plays good guys, and when he strides into a scene the way he does in this, it’s usually to straighten something out and deliver some well-deserved beatdowns. It’s a trip to see him causing trouble instead of settling it. Kind of like when I re-watched Lady Jane after many years of seeing Patrick Stewart as Captain Picard. He’s Jane’s martinet father, who wants to get her married off and is prepared to back up his “expectation” with violence if necessary. Yikes! Yeah, that authoritative tone can work two ways. And, for that matter, in Band of Brothers, when David Schwimmer was the hard-ass captain who trains the recruits. His character is harsh, bordering on sadistic, but it’s for a purpose: to toughen the guys up, and to give them a common enemy. So that New Yawk patois, that was so humorous when he was Ross, was downright menacing when he was Captain Sobel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-were-serious-back-then-but-risible-now/972223.md?page=5)