Movies That are Like Milk, They Didn't Age Well...

Hey everybody! I hope you all having a good day! Have you ever seen a product, object, or even movie and wondered: 'How was this a good idea?' I have had my fair share of thoughts like this. I grew up on movies from the 80's and the decades that follow. You have your cult classics, and nostalgia triggers like Goonies, Indiana Jones, or The Karate Kid, but there are movies that you might look back on today and wonder: 'How and why did somebody think this was a good idea?' Yes. Today we are talking about those movies. The ones that make you cringe when you watch them again as a fully grown adult and think: 'Why did I like this?' Believe me, I've had that experience more than once...

Today's article is going to be a list of these movies that were once popular once upon a time, but wouldn't survive the box office today. Even if it was a different time, I would never understand how any woman would want to be a part of the Revenge of the Nerds movies... (More on that later.)

I should also say that some of these mention situations that would be rendered unacceptable today, so as always, I will put a disclaimer at the heading of each section, so you know what to expect from the paragraphs that follow.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let us persist and prepare to cringe, wince, and anything in between.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and National Lampoon's Vacation (1983-1989)- Kind of sexist for both men and women (Arguably the tamest out of all these...)

I'll admit, I have fond memories of this movie in particular. When the calendar struck December, my family and I would go on a Christmas movie binge all throughout the month, and it included this movie. We would laugh, eat popcorn and cookies, and snuggle in our warm blankets to shield against the cold weather of the West coast winters.

It was a crude comedy, yes, but it was a fun watch. In the midst of all the festive holiday cheer, the husband, Clark Griswold, is shown to flirt with a woman in the lingerie department of a mall. It doesn't stop there, he is seen staring at her breasts and dropping a bit of sexual innuendo, and later fantasizes about her in a swimming pool removing her swimsuit seductively. Keep in mind, he is a married man with children in this movie. Me and my siblings had to close our eyes during this scene. Was it funny for its time? Yes and no... But it could never be re-made today. I could see why it could be offensive. It depicts women in a bad way as sex objects for the fantasy and depicts men as rampantly sexually aroused and unfaithful to their marriages when an attractive woman comes along. Below is a link to the shopping scene:

Shopping Scene - National Lampoons Christmas Vacation HD - YouTube

Though this isn't the first film of this franchise to have 'this kind' of content. In National Lampoon's Vacation, Clark Griswold is yet again the subject of this behavior.

He 'notices' a woman in a car (Dubbed 'Ferrari Girl' who is played by Christie Brinkley) and nearly cheats on his wife with this woman. They are shown skinny dipping in a hotel pool, while his wife is in the adjacent room. Below is a link to the scene in question:

National Lampoon's Vacation[Pool Scene] - Christie Brinkley (HD) - YouTube

I always felt sorry for Mrs. Griswold in these movies, and it seems like her husband always has a wandering eye, no matter how much he apologizes. It puts both men and women in a pretty bad light. I doubt this could get made today without some type of criticism. (I know they're supposed to be somewhat raunchy.) Other than those unsavory moments, they're nostalgic and loveable movies.

All Revenge of the Nerds Movies (1984-1994)- What were they thinking?! (Warning, mentions of rape, sexual misconduct, and racism.)

Ah yes, the infamous Revenge of the Nerds trilogy... Where do I even start? I must say this, I've only seen the first one, fully, the others are bits and pieces. The first one is probably the worst one. There was a lot of things going on, not particularly good things like sexual deviancy, invasion of privacy and sex under false pretenses. Those seem like pretty bad offenses, don't they? Well, nobody batted an eye during the filming or the release of these dastardly movies. These movies overall feed into the 'weirdo pariah nerd' stereotype, which is outdated and has changed, but is somewhat acceptable. I'm not talking about that; I'm talking about recording sorority girls changing and getting naked... without them even knowing! Yeah, this should have resulted in an arrest, but nope it was played off as a joke. They secretly set up cameras in their rooms for that purpose and set up a 'panty raid' beforehand so that they could implement the cameras.

This isn't the only offense. There is also another instance of the nerds' fraternity (Lambda Lambda Lambda) doing a fundraiser selling pie, which is just whipped cream in a pie pan, but that's not the concerning part, what's most concerning lie when all the whipped cream is finished. At the bottom of the pan lies a nude photo of a jock's girlfriend (Betty) taken without her consent from an earlier scene where cameras are installed in the sorority.

The worst one out of all these is the infamous 'rape scene.' One of the nerds (Lewis) witnesses one of the jocks blowing off his girlfriend Betty (Same girl who had her nudes sold and taken without her knowledge) at a Halloween party. Lewis did what any 'nice guy' would do: He stole the costume the jock was wearing and pretended to be the jock. He then, 'had his way' with Betty. Betty was under the pretense that the man in the costume was her boyfriend, but it was actually Lewis the creepy nerd. (Exactly what he was going for.)

Did Betty find out? Yes! Did she file a restraining order against Lewis and had him arrested? Nope, but I wish! She actually FORGIVES him because of his sexual prowess, and becomes his girlfriend, and then wife in later movies.

What. The. Heck?

On top of all this is the widespread racism in this movie and the poor depiction of minorities. Takashi mispronounces every word in the English language. And even wears this at one point:

These nerds might have been accepted by the Lambdas, but they are still mocked and marginalized throughout the film.

I think that the thought process of this movie was an excuse to get the actresses naked. It's quite weird and perverted to think that a group of people had to think about a plot and film the scenes, but this is what I think about for all of these movies, 'What were they thinking?'

Sixteen Candles (1984) - How is this considered a Young Adult classic? (Warning: Mentions of rape and racism.)

I first watched this movie when I was 14. My dad recommended it to me, so I found it and watched it. It went from 'Man, I can't believe they forgot their daughter's birthday.' to 'Another stereotypical geek raping an attractive girl?'

Yes, this coming-of-age romcom also has a geeky character raping the drunk girlfriend of the main character's (Samantha, played by Molly Ringwald) love interest.

Jake Ryan (I just found the guy's name) trades his passed-out girlfriend to Ted (The geeky character who was also interested in Samantha) in exchange for Samantha’s underwear.

“I’ll make a deal with you. Let me keep [Samantha’s underwear]. I’ll let you take Caroline home. But you gotta make sure she gets home. You can’t leave her in some parking lot somewhere, okay?” Ryan says.

Ted responds by saying, “Jake, I’m only a freshman,” to which Ryan counters,

“So? She’s so blitzed she won’t know the difference.”

Ryan then convinces his girlfriend that the freshman is him and tells him:

'She's totally gone, have fun.'

(Jack Ryan is such a creep!)

“In the 1980s, ‘rape’ meant an attack from a stranger in a dark alley, not something that acquaintances did to each other at house parties where everyone knows each other.”

Rape is, by definition, sex without the mutual consent. If someone if forcing themselves on another person and that person is refusing, that's rape. If a person is unconscious/vulnerable or thinks you are somebody else when you aren't who they think they are, that is also rape.

There is also the blatant racism against Asians in the movie. Long Duk Dong is an Asian transfer student, who came to live with Samantha’s family, and bunks with her brother. His ethnicity isn't officially disclosed, but it is implied that he is Chinese. In the ‘80s, Asians were lumped into one culture and were considered interchangeable.

Samantha tells her mother “There’s a very weird Chinese guy upstairs.” Not only that, but 'Donger' is also commonly referred to as 'Chinaman,' which is a derogatory term used to describe people of Chinese descent. Historically, the term was used to marginalize Chinese immigrants in the 19th century.

Not only that, but they don't fail to include the 'Asians are bad drivers' archetype in the film. A lot of his screen time is him crashing cars. Speaking of his screen time, the character is occasionally introduced on screen with the sound of a gong or a traditional Chinese instrument.

At one point, he drives to the song 'Turning Japanese' by The Vapors. And then, Dong, completely wasted, is seen in a tree wearing a kimono (a traditional Japanese article of clothing from the Heian period). He then jumps out of the tree shouting 'bonsai!' So, Dong is first introduced as Chinese, but then has various aspects of Japanese culture tossed into his identity.

Finally, when Long Duk Dong accompanies Samantha to her high school’s dance, Dong finds himself a 'new-style American girlfriend,' (Named Marlene). Marlene, dubbed 'lumberjack,' is tall and athletic. Hughes’ choice of partnering Donger with Marlene plays into the stereotype of Asian men being small and feminine, and therefore in need of a more masculine girlfriend.

If it only took me one watch to recognize something wrong, then something was really wrong. I'm just glad that we are able to grow, change, and know that this is wrong, that way we can avoid these mistakes in the future.

Big (1988)- How to be a pedophile without actually being a pedophile (Warning: Mentions sexual situations, and indirect pedophilia.)

I first watched this movie when I was 13. (I think) I don't think I noticed anything strange right away, but then I thought about it further, I remember saying 'He's about my age, what's he doing with that lady?'

So sum this movie up, a 12-year-old boy wishes on a magical fortune telling machine that he was 'big.' The next morning, he wakes up in the body of a man, and gets into all kinds of antics, which includes getting an adult girlfriend. I enjoyed the movie up until the budding relationship with an adult woman. I remember watching it recently and my mom took the words right out of my mouth when she said: 'He's still technically a child, so what is he doing having sex with an actual adult woman?'

I couldn't agree more, mom...

Other than that, it was a good movie, but the almost pedophilia left a bad impression on me. To top it all off, the woman says something along the lines of 'I'll wait for you' (To get older) or something like that at the end. If that was a man, there would be a bigger uproar. Women can be pedophiles too, while it's not pedophilia per se, it's a bit weird and uncomfortable to think about that a young boy, almost, had sex with a grown woman.

It's so creepy to think about!

Grease (1978)- Change everything about yourself for your summer fling! (Moderately bad, it could have been worse.)

I'll be frank, I liked Grease, which is weird since I usually hate musicals. It was fun, the songs were fun, catchy, and it was an overall enjoyable movie. (Ah, to be a teen in the 50's) That is, until you think about the ending. It all ends when nice girl Sandy Olsen (Olivia Newton John), turns into a sultry, 'bad' girl (Like how Allison from Cry Baby became a drape) and finally catches the eye of Danny Zuko, (John Travolta) which was her summer lover.

It's not date rapes and racism, but the message isn't all that great. 'Change yourself to impress that boy you've been swooning over.' is what I get from that ending. It's a loveable movie that is light and fun for any occasion, but that ending sticks out like a sore thumb. If Zuko really loved her, he would have noticed that she was fine just the way she was. You shouldn't have to conform yourself to other's expectations to be happy. This also goes for Zuko as well. He stepped away from the gang life, and started wearing letterman jackets, even if he got ridiculed for it. Neither should have to change to fit the others' perfect type.

I should also mention there’s a line in the song 'Summer Nights' where Danny's friends say, 'Tell me more, tell me more / Did she put up a fight?' as a way of asking if Sandy resisted Danny's attempts to sleep with her.

It's still a good movie, but these factors can turn a few heads...

As I look back on all these movies, some of them are really bad, while others, not so much. Things change as the years roll on, but that doesn't mean we should focus on the past. There are much worse things out there that are being overlooked, so I think we should just let it go. I wrote this for entertainment purposes, as just a thought. I think it's interesting how society changes and pop culture evolves. Though I admit, the Revenge of the Nerds Trilogy and Sixteen Candles are more than a little questionable.

These films have been made a long (or not so) time ago, so we just have to let them be. They might not live up to today's standards, but like many have said, it was a different time. Eventually, the subjects of today might not be relevant or acceptable anymore. The future generation might be baffled why everyone wanted everything to be 'aesthetic' or might be scratching their heads wondering what 'rizz' or 'dank' means.

We're in the, as I like to call, 'Era of Cancelling' so it's not surprise that some people are going after these movies. I guess what I'm trying to say is that yes we should honor the past, we can look back, but we can't just live our lives crying about things people made in the past that don't fit our standards today. Let us learn from it and not make those mistakes for a better future.

'The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.' - Socrates

Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I enjoyed writing it, and always have a good day🏙️/night🌃!

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(My official blog: https://inkyrose.wixsite.com/inky-rose)

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(Stay tuned for sources and further reading!)

Sources and Further Reading (Videos too!):

15 Popular Movies That Have Aged Very Poorly (buzzfeed.com)

Iconic Movies That Didn’t “Age Well” - FandomWire

Top 10 2000s Movies That Haven’t Aged Well - YouTube

Revenge of the Nerds | That One Regrettable Scene | Movies That Don't Age Well - YouTube

https://screenrant.com/revenge-nerd-movie-aged-poorly-bad-taste/#the-depiction-of-women