# Things that date movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465 "2011-03-12T23:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/101 "2011-03-14T02:42:26Z")
No,[it was in the first one:](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/quotes?qt=qt0416297) **Lou:** You gonna order something, kid? **Marty McFly:** Ah, yeah… Give me - Give me a Tab. **Lou:** Tab? I can’t give you a tab unless you order something. **Marty McFly:** All right, give me a Pepsi Free. \*\*Lou: \*\*You want a Pepsi, PAL, you’re gonna pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/102 "2011-03-14T04:13:18Z")
I was watching Disney’s [Aladdin](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103639/) last night, and Robin Williams (as the Genie) really dated the movie somewhat by some of his impressions. Jack Nicholson I guess would stand up for quite a while, as he’s still making films. But Williams’ impression of Ed Sullivan kinda threw me. As timeless as Disney’s animated films are supposed to be, how long until we have to explain to our children exactly who Ed Sullivan was? ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/103 "2011-03-14T04:22:28Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I was watching Disney’s [Aladdin](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103639/) last night, and Robin Williams (as the Genie) really dated the movie somewhat by some of his impressions. Jack Nicholson I guess would stand up for quite a while, as he’s still making films. But Williams’ impression of Ed Sullivan kinda threw me. As timeless as Disney’s animated films are supposed to be, how long until we have to explain to our children exactly who Ed Sullivan was? I’d have an easier time explaining him (“He introduced the Beatles to America!”, etc.) than [Arsenio Hall](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenio_Hall_Show), whom the Genie also imitates. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/104 "2011-03-14T05:25:50Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > For that matter, having family or friends come to the gate to say goodbye/meet the plane. Still happens all the time here. > [@elmwood](#): > > For that matter, walking out onto a runway to board a plane. I did that four times last week. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/105 "2011-03-14T05:33:35Z")
> [@Sakuma\_Drops](#): > > I’d have an easier time explaining him (“He introduced the Beatles to America!”, etc.) than [Arsenio Hall](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenio_Hall_Show), whom the Genie also imitates. He introduced Bill Clinton to America!\* \*adjusting for media fragmentation ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/106 "2011-03-14T05:53:03Z")
[Red LED Digital watches](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTbicgdtDFo). These were prominent props in some thrillers and Sci-fi movies to show cutting edge tech. Even James Bond had one. [Using sliderules on spaceships](http://drexfiles.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/spock-with-comp.jpg?w=570&h=386) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/107 "2011-03-14T06:13:37Z")
> [@Sakuma\_Drops](#): > > I’d have an easier time explaining him (“He introduced the Beatles to America!”, etc.) than [Arsenio Hall](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenio_Hall_Show), whom the Genie also imitates. According to IMDB’s trivia, impressions cut from the movie included Dr. Ruth Westheimer. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/108 "2011-03-14T12:29:05Z")
I was watching a Three Stooges short from the mid40s the other day. At one point Moe lists several great inventors such as Edison, Bell, da Vinci and Don Ameche. This completely threw whoever did the closed captioning because they spelled the last one as “damichi”. My father used to say that around 1940 it was common to refer to a telephone as an “Ameche” because actor Don Ameche played Alexander Graham Bell in a movie. > **[Don Ameche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Ameche)** > > Don Ameche (/əˈmiːtʃi/; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stocks, and vaudevilles, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which led to the offer of a movie contract from 20th Century Fox in 1935. > As a handsome, debonair leading man in 40 films over the next 14 years, he starred in comedies, dramas, and musicals. In the 1950s he worked on Broadway and in television, and was the hos... ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/109 "2011-03-14T13:46:54Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Still happens all the time here. I’ve done that as well, but post 9/11 I don’t bother since it’s a bit of a hassle to get through security. If all I’m doing it picking up a friend, I’ll just wait at baggage. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/110 "2011-03-14T13:50:03Z")
Prices. Nobody even mentions a price anymore–they always write it down. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/111 "2011-03-14T14:23:23Z")
Dustin Hoffman using a church-key to open his beer at the beginning of _The Graduate_. I’m old enough to remember when the original pop-top, foot-slicers came out - but I imagine that the younger generation would have a bit of a moment trying to figure out what he’s doing. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/112 "2011-03-14T19:12:25Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > And, on a similar note, ghetto blasters, most often seen in the aforementioned New-York-in-decline movies. > > And, on a similar note, breakdancing, also usually in the context of a dying NYC. Funny, I just saw a story on the news how both of these were making huge comebacks! ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/113 "2011-03-14T19:26:40Z")
This is a specific movie, but I loved the scene in **North By Northwest** where Cary Grant is dragging his mother and the police to the house where he was forced to get drunk and drvie away, almost killing himself. After the fake housekeeper convinces the police and his mother that he really did drvie away drunk and no one was trying to kill him, the mother rolls her eyes and says to him “Pay the two dollars.” ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/114 "2011-03-14T19:43:32Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Dustin Hoffman using a church-key to open his beer at the beginning of _The Graduate_. I’m old enough to remember when the original pop-top, foot-slicers came out - but I imagine that the younger generation would have a bit of a moment trying to figure out what he’s doing. I’m 33, never used a church key, but know what it is. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/115 "2011-03-14T22:07:04Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I’ve seen/read that in old movies/books too, but never understood the point. Why were guests expected to leave their keys at reception? I travel a lot, and I still encounter that at smaller non-chain hotels and B&B’s. The hotel doesn’t want guests leaving with a key to get it duplicated, so they have you give it back to the front desk. They will maintain a couple dozen of key types, but only rekey the room doors sporadically all at once (once a month or so.) For some it is deliberate quaintness at using neat old skeleton keys, but at others it is still just the old way of doing things. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/116 "2011-03-14T22:17:55Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Skiing with what appears to be leggings on (for both men and women). I’m not sure if leggings is the right word, but some sort of pants that don’t appear all that warm. Although it wasn’t only in the movies, I know I’ve seen pictures of my grandparents wearing the same thing. > [Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZo954DwLhA) an example. > > Also, really bad green screen work on ski slopes. That’s an awesome trailer - watch all the way through to see a very young James Brown busting some moves! 😃 You’ve reminded me of another thing that dates movies - coffee and water. Coffee is always in Starbucks cups or travel thermoses now, and water is always in bottles (bottles with lids or sports bottles) - people rarely have a mug of coffee or glass of water now. One exception to that rule - someone having an emotional breakdown might be offered a glass of water. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/117 "2011-03-15T00:37:11Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Funny, I just saw a story on the news how both of these were making huge comebacks! I’m planning on buying one from Sears soon…the modern ones come with iPod docks, DVD players, and TV screens. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/118 "2011-03-15T01:15:20Z")
One thing that dates some older movies is, I’m not sure quite how to put this, women being almost wholly secondary characters, at least outside of romance plots. Men were the heroes, or came up with the important ideas & discoveries, or otherwise actively moved the plot along. Women were almost always just there for men to fight over, for the men to rescue, or to get captured by the villain/monster. I do have images sometimes of an old-school villain menacing a modern action heroine and getting pistol whipped for his trouble… > [@elmwood](#): > > - Generous female public hair: pre-1995. \ > [@WhyNot](#): > > This drives me nuts when it’s still a plot device on CSI/NCIS type shows. Still, like, this week. Who the heck still has an answering machine with a blinky light that the detective can press to hear the murderer who just left a message?! > > (Waiting for the torrents of troglodyte Dopers who don’t use voicemail…) \ I’ve got a phone with a built in answering machine and don’t see the need for anything fancier. For that matter, I’ve yet to get a cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/119 "2011-03-15T04:01:38Z")
Huh, I know I posted in this thread…well, here goes again: One from **Die Hard 2** : there are non-passengers at the gates, which has already been mentioned. What bugged me even more, though, was the long “let’s learn to use a fax machine!” diversion. Silly. Another one that occurred to me: drug use. Specifically, cocaine, being snorted in lines. No one does that anymore; you make more money turning the cocaine into crack. So, even **Robocop** isn’t exempt. I thought about this while watching **Bachelor Party** last week. On cell phones: they’ve not only changed visibly in the movies, but they’ve changed movies, too. Every dang horror movie now has to have a character whip out a cell phone, say, “Dammit, no signal!”, and keep running away from the deranged killer. It’s like they exist only to be dismissed. Thinking of cell phones, the 1990 movie **L.A. Story** , which is one of my all-time favorites, has a scene where Steve Martin gives a “Car Phone Report” on the news, telling everyone that interference is low, so go ahead and make that call. Not even cell phones yet, but _car phones_, as the symbol for yuppieness. There’s another great dated joke reference in the movie: Martin’s character’s car has a suction-cup Garfield in the rear window. Although, wacky guy that he is, it’s on the _outside_. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/120 "2011-03-15T04:23:29Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > I’m 33, never used a church key, but know what it is. I’m 57 and I remember when drink cans were made of ? tin - certainly pre-aluminium. I have no idea what a church key is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465.md?page=7)