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Examples of film/TV/comedy from the past that wouldn't be acceptable today?

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S

sa201674

Banned
This

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Cotton Gin, Get It?
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
The Richard Pryor roast is something else.

"NBC stands for N*gger Be Careful." - John Witherspoon
"18 years ago they greet him in small towns by tying a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree and then they tried hanging him from it." - Robin Williams
"He is a real family man these days. He gives his kids everything that he has, a flat nose and big lips."- Sandra Bernhard
"I found out that at one time our families were extremely close, as a matter a fact, at one time we owned them." - Jimmy Martinez
"He even hired an uncle Tom, see Paul (Mooney)." - David Banks
"She use to be a ho in Detroit. I know 7 n*ggers who fired her, fag got her and let her loose." - Richard Pryor
"Next sitting to him is a big black gorilla." - Richard Pryor
"What he did was sucked his dick. But I must say, Paul (Mooney) had a sense of humor, he didn’t let him cum in his mouth." - Richard Pryor
"He use to do push up over Wilt Chamberlain." - Richard Pryor
 
M

mclem

Member
I love it dearly in many ways, but there's a whole bunch of The Goodies that absolutely would not fly today.

Perhaps evinced best in the episode South Africa, which is positive in that it's a pretty harsh criticism of apartheit, but demonstrated in ways that would be questionable today.
 
S

SpaceWolf

Banned
Re-watched Fantasia last year and finding about this scene was kind of shocking.

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Although they've long since cut the scene out of the film for obvious reasons, Disney actually scored major points with me by directly discussing the sequence in the commentary...talking about the need to actively acknowledge that racist humor like this actually existed in their films and that choosing to sweep all mention of it completely under a rug only serves to make us willfully of the lessons of the past. I had to respect Disney for offer such a candid, uncompromising view of its own history.
 
MAtgS

MAtgS

Member
Sesha said:
Bond specifically though, definitely.

Edit: I just realized I misinterpreted the title. Wah wah :S

I guess the ghost blowjob woo-woo scene from Ghostbusters probably wouldn't fly today.
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More people would've watched the reboot if it had ghost cunnilingus.
 
S

Seesaw15

Member
While Cheers is a classic I don't think a lot of the Sam and Diane relationship dynamic would fly today.

Like that episode where Diane turns down Sam's proposal and Sam gets so mad he forces Diane to jump or be thrown off the boat.
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Or the 2nd time Diane turns down Sam's proposal and he daydreams about getting the electric chair after killing her and Diane accuses Sam of assault after she trips while Sam was chasing her.
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That honeymooners comedy don't play in 2017.
 
S

Seesaw15

Member
NEO0MJ said:
Ace Ventura was the first thing that came to mind.



I need help with this. I know the relationship between black slaves and picking cotton but what's the joke with cotton gin going for?
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Cotton Gin is a machine used to separate seeds from cotton and Gin is a type of alcohol
49824_cotton_gin_md.gif
 
P

Phediuk

Member
Eddie Murphy Raw.

Like half the humor is just calling people faggots.

Also, from the same time, there's that scene in Crocodile Dundee where Mick publicly outs a transwoman, kicks her out of a bar, and everyone cheers.
 
F

faridmon

Member
The kids are alright

The final stretch of that movie was bullshit back when it came out, and it would even be more bullshit now.
 
P

Phediuk

Member
The most recent example of this I can think of is Tropic Thunder.

Even just 9 years later, I don't think the film's reliance on mocking the mentally handicapped would go over well. It's been awhile since I've heard anyone say "going full retard" except to criticize it.
 
C

caliph95

Member
Phediuk said:
The most recent example of this I can think of is Tropic Thunder.

Even just 9 years later, I don't think the film's reliance on mocking the mentally handicapped would go over well. It's been awhile since I've heard anyone say "going full retard" except to criticize it.
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IIRC it was hollywoods potrayal of mental illness and exploitation for Oscar baits
 
M

Menome

Member
mclem said:
I love it dearly in many ways, but there's a whole bunch of The Goodies that absolutely would not fly today.

Perhaps evinced best in the episode South Africa, which is positive in that it's a pretty harsh criticism of apartheit, but demonstrated in ways that would be questionable today.
Click to expand...

Came in to post about The Goodies as well, though what I had in mind was the blackface-boxer in Kung-Fu Kapers.
 
P

Phediuk

Member
Oh, also, the entire last act of Ace Ventura is one long transphobic joke. And no, I don't think that the references to The Crying Game absolve it, since that film handled the subject respectfully.
 
S

StanleyPalmtree

Banned
Phediuk said:
The most recent example of this I can think of is Tropic Thunder.

Even just 9 years later, I don't think the film's reliance on mocking the mentally handicapped would go over well. It's been awhile since I've heard anyone say "going full retard" except to criticize it.
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its been a while since i watched that film, but was that not the joke?
"never go full retard" is being directed at how terrible that kind of portrayal would be
 
R

ReplacementPelican

Member
Bobby Roberts said:
Before someone comes in and tries to say "Blazing Saddles"

No.

Basically, the only sort of comedy that probably wouldn't get out of the writers room anymore is comedy that relies on a cultural acceptance of fairly oppressive/prejudiced notions as fact. And even then, that shit still slips through.

Otherwise, so long as you're challenging some sort of ingrained status quo with your satirical observances, pretty much everything is acceptable today. Whether or not you land your joke is a different question entirely. But unless you're shown to be a thoughtless, privileged, downward-punching dipshit, you're typically given some leeway to go where you're trying to go.

The notion that shit is somehow more off limits now than it was then is fascinating to see get regurgitated over and over again, especially by people whose knowledge of the past is entirely academic and not contextual or even drawn from personal experience.

Comedians get away with so much shit now. Comedies push envelopes way farther than they used to. Comedic storytelling fucking goes places it didn't used to on the regular when I was growing up, and the risks being taken in comedy are, from what I can see, bigger and bolder than they were back then, on average.
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I one hundred percent agree with this. There's been this sort of 'Late Gen X-Early Millennial' craze of just assuming shit doesn't fly anymore because people are more vocal of criticism.

Though I think where the OP made a distinction was 'accepted' more than 'allowed.' I agree that if someone's stand-up is just 'ha, gay people!' then that probably isn't acceptable anymore but still happens and its not 'off limits' by any means but people have more power now to voice that they thought you were being ignorant as fuck.

So much old work in TV, Comedy and Movies does come laced with this through-line of racism, homophobia or sexism that people would get complained at for doing today but there's also this sort of idea behind 'the good old days' that suggests that somehow the reaction to this stuff is unwarranted especially when you compare it to movies like Blazing Saddles which would be understood, interpreted correctly and be absolutely fine to release in the modern day and then you take genuine works of satire, pretend that it wouldn't work, cite 'SJWs' and then conflate that with a piece of work that is actually grossly offensive.

Still, I do enjoy these examples.
 
E

ElectricKaibutsu

Member
I've been watching Scrubs. Even though it's just from the 90's I'm surprised at how sexist it can be sometimes. Dr. Cox constantly calling JD a girl as an insult for example.
 
J

Jackpot

Banned
ElectricKaibutsu said:
I've been watching Scrubs. Even though it's just from the 90's I'm surprised at how sexist it can be sometimes. Dr. Cox constantly calling JD a girl as an insult for example.
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Que?

Frasier and Friends are 90s. Scrubs is not. You can tell just by looking at the image quality.
 
S

Strax

Member
I doubt Titus (the TV show) would fly today, it was censored so much in 2000-2002. They had an entire ep. about getting his alcoholic father drinking again because the people around thought he was too boring.

The characters were essentially a dysfunctional family and the situations the show dealt with were often serious and dark and unusual for network sitcom fare, including death, attempted and committed suicide, rape, child molestation, mental illness, road rage, violence, drug abuse, domestic abuse, alcoholism, and terrorism
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Still one of my top 10 fav. shows of all time.
 
H

Herne

Member
Some episodes of Only Fools & Horses would definitely not fly today - some of the words and expressions would cause a storm. Rising Damp is even worse. A lot of old shows tbh.
 
M

mclem

Member
Menome said:
Came in to post about The Goodies as well, though what I had in mind was the blackface-boxer in Kung-Fu Kapers.
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Yes, that was the other example I had in mind. At least South Africa's got good intentions, Kung-Fu Kapers is just a cheap throwaway gag
 
C

CloudWolf

Member
Sobriquet said:
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Yep. This is one of the best jokes in the film, but the 'I speak jive' stuff definitely would be taken out today, sadly.

I'm also pretty sure you can't do any of the stuff Monty Python did on tv anymore, even back then it everyone was shocked they were allowed to do the things they did.
 
P

| Praxis |

Banned
You could add most British comedies from the 60's and 70's to this list. Stuff like Till Death Us Do Part, Rising Damp, Love Thy Neighbour and Mind Your Language.

Even Del boy in early Only Fools and Horses called the local shop the Paki shop.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia does just about every thing in here people say you can't do by modern standards. Black face? Check. Racial slurs? Check. Rape? Check. And the list goes on and on.
 
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