Some movies are so new and fresh that they manage to define an entire generation. They’re unique and offer something that you’ve never seen before. But sadly, as the world changes, so does the level in which these movies manage to stand up and make a mark.
Let’s take a look at a couple of iconic movies that aged really badly.
Superbad
This movie was borderline hilarious when it first came out, but given our current society most of the jokes in it have just become kind of cringeworthy. Also, this is bound to happen to a movie that’s mostly aimed at a younger adolescent audience. We do get older, and hopefully smarter, as the years go by.
The Breakfast Club
As iconic as this movie was, this mostly aged badly because its concept and characters have been copy-pasted so many times that unless you were a teenager at the time it came out, you’ve pretty much seen it a dozen times before. Bender’s behavior towards Claire borders a bit on harassment, but he is supposed to be the one least encumbered by a moral compass in this movie, so it’s not as cringeworthy as you’d think.
Rush Hour
The first hour or so of this movie is just Chris Tucker making fun of Asians and Asian culture, isn’t it? It’s still a fun movie, but they could’ve left out a couple of jokes. We get it, Jackie Chan is Asian. The follow-up movies do this a lot less though.
Fifty Shades of Grey
This movie has nothing much to do with BDSM but seems more like systematic sexual harassment and abuse.
I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry
Granted, an Adam Sandler and Kevin James movie was probably never meant for posterity, but this one aged especially bad because of all the tacked-on gay jokes. I like to think we’ve moved past this stereotypical view on homosexuality – at least if you don’t live in Hungary.
The Hangover
Like most comedy movies from that era, it does suffer a lot from the “let’s throw a racist joke in there” syndrome. And if all else fails, there’s also the box of sexist and homophobic jokes we can tap out of to fill up these 90 minutes with no storyline whatsoever.
Pretty Woman
Contrary to Richard Gere himself, this movie shows all kinds of signs of aging badly. It’s just not a very realistic movie, and as the taboos about the sex worker industry fade, so does the illusion that this movie tries to uphold.
