Yes a lot of child exploitation was justified in Hollywood then and by the media since then. Jodie Foster as a 12 year old prostitute in Taxi Driver is unlikely to be remade.
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I find it interesting that some things are no longer appropriate (with good reason)…… yet current movies are much more vivid with sex scenes (usually consenting adults, not always), gun violence etc
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Could not agree more. How someone can watch Babylon without throwing up is beyond me
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The US public has always been more prudish about sex and particularly casual nudity than most European countries. My sense is that many in Hollywood used to be closer to European mores (ask Roman Polanski), but have (fortunately) moved away from that in recent decades. “Me too” has undoubtedly accelerated the trend, as have growing box offices in more prudish countries like China and India. HBO gained a niche at least partly because it was not governed by the nudity rules applicable to broadcast TV (where public opinion set very strict boundaries, unlike in Europe).
You say that there’s now more sex and violence, but I think the casual nudity seen in films like Airplane is less common (as opposed to nudity that’s seen as essential to the plot). And even casual violence is more focused on fantasy films than “real life” films like Dirty Harry.
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There have been networks who tout themselves as family-friendly because they keep sex and nudity off their network, yet have no problems with physical violence and gun deaths in what they show. One of these so called family networks actually led the industry in deaths per hour of programming.
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Great example.
Looking at the Always Sunny episode list on Hulu, i see 5 episodes have been removed from Hulu. Apparently they’ve also been removed from DVDs and blu-rays. Every episode that involves blackface was removed. Every episode without blackface remains For example, the gang uses blackface to portray Danny Glover in their Lethal Weapon remake episodes. I believe Hulu removed the episodes in mid 2020, during the BLM events. Given the reaction from distributors, I doubt that Always Sunny will make another episode with blackface in the future.
- America’s Next Top Paddy’s Billboard Model Contest (2008)
- Dee Reynolds: Shaping America’s Youth (2010)
- The Gang Recycles Their Trash (2012)
- The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 6 (2013)
- Dee Day (2019)
I’m binging Mad men right now in AMC streaming and the episode with blackface was kept. There was a warning message with an explanation of why it was being kept.
Watching A League of their Own…as I type. Wow, that would never fly today.
I love that movie, but haven’t seen it in years. Can you give a couple specifics?
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The clearly misogynistic recruiter and his rude/sarcastic statements toward the recruits. Tom Hanks and his very sexist statements. The discussion surrounding the ‘non pretty’ girl. Just to name a few.
Prime has an updated version of League–a series from 2022. What a difference!
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It’s a period piece. Depicting that was part of the point, just like Mad Men was intentionally showing but not condoning the sexism and mysogeny in the work place in the '60’s.
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It’s hard to fathom some films (and books) being made today, especially those portraying a different time period (Mad Men, A League of Their Own to name 2) - my grandmother wrote a book (memoir), a time capsule of the 30s. My cousins and I were horrified at some of the language she used in it, and called her on it. She explained that (believe it or not) “that’s how people spoke and felt then” and to her it felt disingenuous to use language other than how it was then in a memoir. In her forward she even mentions it “…was incensed by my use of politically incorrect allusions. Sorry, xxx, and anyone else I may offend - that’s the way we thought and spoke in the thirties. In order to keep my memoir true the time, I used the exact words and phrases that were accepted in my part of the world…”
In film, books and other art, it’s important that we not “censor” too much lest we lose that aspect of historical relevance.
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I agree. Sometimes I think that we should cringe at past practices, appreciate that some things have improved.
Now you could talk me into a trend for movies/tv to have less on screen sex and violence.
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I have to disagree. A big point of the movie is the depiction of misogyny, and sometimes overcoming it. Ahead of it’s time actually. It not only shows bad behavior, but calls it out.
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I just watched it for the first time. I disagree that it could not be made today. I have not seen the recent TV series for comparison, so I don’t know how those issues were depicted. But those feelings were representative of the times
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It’s like saying Roots could never be made today due to its pervasive theme of slavery. That’s the exact point of it all–we cannot pretend something bad didn’t exist just because it insults our modern sensibilities.
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I think what’s important is the stance the movie takes. If it is showing bad behavior, but calling out why it’s wrong, that’s one thing. If it’s showing bad behavior, or attitudes we now would eschew, and is fine with them, then that’s problematical.
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Perhaps a spy in our midst?
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