# Things that seemed funny at the time but you couldn't get away with them now **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [September 25, 2020, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472 "2020-09-25T04:50:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [September 29, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/61 "2020-09-29T20:10:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The TV show had black actors playing black roles. Mind you, today, many of the lines would be politically incorrect, sure, and cringe worthy. But for it time, having black actors in a black show, with jobs and families and such- ahead of it’s time. The TV show should be praised not condemned . Ah, yes, The TV Show. I watched that one all the time as a kid! Didn’t we all? Um, just which show are we talking about here, again? ---
**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:** [September 29, 2020, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/62 "2020-09-29T20:51:58Z")
I think he means Amos And Andy ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/63 "2020-09-29T23:09:26Z")
Obviously, Doc. 😀 ---
**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:** [September 29, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/64 "2020-09-29T23:15:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Obviously, Doc. 😀  Oh, the post 46 posts before yours. Got it! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/65 "2020-09-29T23:18:32Z")
Yes, the Op. who is now banned for trolling. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/66 "2020-09-30T08:55:05Z")
> [@digs](#): > > If your point is that nobody laughs at drunken hijinks in today’s world, well, I’m not sure I want to live in that world\*. But also, looking around this world, I think people DO laugh. > > \*Though I’m pretty much a tee-totaller, I can still laugh at the loss of control and the over-inflated faith in one’s expertise. I mean, where would “FAIL” videos be without alcohol? > > The saying is “Hold my beer!” Not “Ok, watch me totally nail this. Here, hold my Diet Sun-Drop Cola…” If someone gets drunk, behaves foolishly, and then is mocked for it - well, they pretty much had it coming. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/67 "2020-09-30T09:28:55Z")
> [@LLCoolL](#): > > How about the phrase “non-union Mexican equivalent” from this sequence on the Simpsons?: I think that’s ok because the character of Monty Burns is consistently played as racist, xenophobic, elitist, and basically evil in every way. The character of Apu OTOH “can’t get away with” because he is voiced by Hank Azaria affecting a bad Indian accent. In the movie Weird Science, the “mutant biker” scene at the end where ultimately Gary and Wyatt pull out .357 Magnum, threaten the bikers with it, calls them “faggots” (one of the bikers obviously intended to be the gay character Wez from Road Warrior), and then dangerously waves the gun around the crowd until it accidently goes off. I feel like there’s a lot in that scene that would be done very differently now. In fact, there’s a lot of stuff in Weird Science you couldn’t get away with these days. Typical 80s stuff like the trip to the “rough black neighborhood” to hang out with negative black stereotypes. The portrayal of Wyatt and Gary as “nerds”, such that their being bullied and ostracized is acceptable, even expected. Pretty much the core concept of creating an artificial fantasy woman that they “own” (although Lisa does have her own agency and often goes directly against the boy’s wishes). ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/68 "2020-09-30T14:57:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Isn’t that an anti-trans stereotype? That transgendered women aren’t “real women”; they’re men because they have a penis so they’re just pretending to be women. With the element we saw in _Ace Ventura_ and _Crocodile Dundee_ of it being intentional deceit and we should be cheering for the protagonists when they figure out the deceit and reveal the truth. And when all the men who kissed Einhorn started puking when they learn her secret complete with The Crying Game playing in the background. I suspect that’s part of what makes it so offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/69 "2020-09-30T15:02:01Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Pretty much the core concept of creating an artificial fantasy woman that they “own” (although Lisa does have her own agency and often goes directly against the boy’s wishes). That sounds like something a teenage boy might wish for without really thinking through the consequences. Thinking through the consequences being something teenage boys aren’t really good at to begin with. Despite being their creation, Wyatt and Gary don’t really know what to do with Lisa and certainly by the end of the movie have abandoned any idea of owning her. I think the basic concept is fine given that Lisa is her own person and Wyatt and Gary don’t give her shit about that. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/70 "2020-09-30T16:27:27Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > In fact, there’s a lot of stuff in Weird Science you couldn’t get away with these days. … Pretty much the core concept of creating an artificial fantasy woman that they “own” (although Lisa does have her own agency and often goes directly against the boy’s wishes). That still seems to be a usable theme. Look at _Ex Machina_, _Westworld_, and _Humans_. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/71 "2020-09-30T16:42:58Z")
_Revenge of the Nerds_ has a ton of stuff that wouldn’t fly today: Secretly filming girls undressing. Panty raids. Games, sanctioned by the college no less, that encourage excessive drinking. Selling pies containing nude photos of a woman, obtained from when they secretly filmed her earlier, without her consent. Tricking the jock’s girlfriend into having sex with a nerd she never would have had sex with had she known his identity. Come to think of it there are a bunch of teen comedies from that era that treat spying on nude women as if it were just good, clean, teenage hijinks. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/72 "2020-09-30T18:08:03Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > That still seems to be a usable theme. Look at _Ex Machina_ , _Westworld_ , and _Humans_ . yes, but these days, the theme is played for the ethical ickiness/horror it implies, and not for the “boys will be boys” comedy trope that it used to be. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/73 "2020-09-30T18:19:50Z")
Re Weird Science I feel that it’s, besides a lot of other things, a coming of age story. At the start of the film, Gary and Wyatt think ‘scoring with a hot chick’ will turn them from boys to men. Instead, they eventually learn that women are people to, that they have to take responsibility and stand up for what they believe in, and it’s these lessons that turn them into men. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/74 "2020-09-30T18:51:17Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > That still seems to be a usable theme. Look at _Ex Machina_ , _Westworld_ , and _Humans_ . > > yes, but these days, the theme is played for the ethical ickiness/horror it implies, and not for the “boys will be boys” comedy trope that it used to be. But I feel that theme was there in _Weird Science_. As you and others have noted, Gary and Wyatt started with the idea of having an artificial woman they could control but the woman ended up having her own independent agency. And that’s the same theme we see in _Ex Machina_, _Westworld_, and _Humans_. The only difference is the idea was played as a comedy rather than as a drama or a thriller - but that’s a difference in tone not theme. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/75 "2020-09-30T21:57:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But I feel that theme was there in _Weird Science_ . … The only difference is the idea was played as a comedy rather than as a drama or a thriller - but that’s a difference in tone not theme. I haven’t actually seen Weird Science, but that’s exactly the thing this thread was getting at, isn’t it? Something “funny” that’s no longer funny. If it has become drama, it’s not funny anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/76 "2020-09-30T22:25:56Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > I haven’t actually seen Weird Science, but that’s exactly the thing this thread was getting at, isn’t it? Something “funny” that’s no longer funny. If it has become drama, it’s not funny anymore. Maybe it’s a matter of interpretation. I don’t feel the idea was portrayed as something the characters “got away with” back in 1985. Gary and Wyatt wanted to build an obedient sexbot but their effort backfired on them. The humor came from their failure not from their success. Compare that to another example that’s been given; _Revenge of the Nerds_, which was released a few months earlier. In that movie, Lewis succeeded in his attempt to have sex with Betty by impersonating her boyfriend. There was no implication in the movie that Lewis’s actions was wrong or should be condemned and he faced no consequences for what he did. That was an example of a character getting away with something and having the fact he did so portrayed as humorous. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/77 "2020-10-01T00:01:27Z")
Yes, the boys in Weird Science failed in their attempt, but I don’t think there’s really any implication that they were wrong to attempt it, was there? There’s a difference between “there was no chance you’d succeed”, and “you shouldn’t have tried”. ---
**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, 2020, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/78 "2020-10-01T00:08:56Z")
I disagree. One of the film’s many lessons is ‘women are people too and don’t exist just to serve you’ Another lesson, be very glad you don’t have elephant balls ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/79 "2020-10-01T15:38:50Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > That still seems to be a usable theme. Look at _Ex Machina_ , _Westworld_ , and _Humans_ . I gotta admit, I misread the middle title as “_Waterworld_” and had an absolute complete W.T.F moment. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/80 "2020-10-01T17:58:13Z")
On Golden Girls there are several references to Phil. He is the son of the Estelle Getty character. Most of comments (as i remember) were jokes about him wearing dresses. . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472.md?page=5)