37 Iconic Movies That Aged As Poorly As Unrefrigerated Cottage Cheese
We've asked the members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us what older, popular movies are actually very problematic. Here are their most eye-opening responses:
Note: Some submissions include topics of sexual assault.
1.Horrible Bosses (2011)
"Dale's boss's main character trait was that she sexually harassed Dale at work all the time, and every time he vented his friends joked about it and said he should just sleep with her because she was an attractive woman."
2.Wedding Crashers (2005)
"Vince Vaughn's character was woken up in the middle of the night, tied to the bed, and then raped by Isla Fisher's character for comedic purposes. The fact that a woman forcing a man to have sex with her under duress is used as a comedy trope in this film is unacceptable. It's so problematic."
3.Sixteen Candles (1984)
"It has aged terribly. The dream boy, Jake Ryan, talks about the ways he can take advantage of his girlfriend. Also, Ted repeatedly climbs on top of Samantha despite her protests, and it’s depicted as funny and innocent because he’s a little nerd. There's also the racism, sexism, and LGBTQ slurs that riddle the rest of the film."
"Long Duk Dong is an incredibly racist caricature that seemed to add nothing to the film apart from making a cheap and unfunny joke about Asian stereotypes. Then there was obviously the part where it's alluded to that Ted had raped an intoxicated Caroline. How this film became a cult classic is beyond me. It's not a product of its time — it's lazy and irresponsible writing."
4.Never Been Kissed (1999)
"Sam had a thing for Josie even though he was her fucking teacher! Even though she was an adult pretending to be a student, he didn't know she wasn't underage! It's disgusting and rivals even Ezra and Aria from Pretty Little Liars!"
5.Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)
"It was so inappropriate how Jessica sent the preteen she babysat for nude pictures as a graduation gift."
6.The Notebook (2004)
"Noah threatened to kill himself when Allie initially rejected him."
7.10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
"There was a scene where Kat flashed her teacher to get Patrick out of detention, and the teacher stared a little too long at her chest."
8.Superbad (2007)
"Did I cry-laugh when it came out? Yes. Did I quote it to death in high school? Yes. Did I rewatch it recently and spend most of the time with my hand over my mouth in horror at how much the world has changed? BIG YES. So many things wrong with that film and its 'humor.'"
9.The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
"When Christian Thompson took advantage of an inebriated Andy and refused to take no for an answer several times. She said no several times, but he continued to try to kiss her anyway. Then she said she's had too much to drink, but he kept going until she felt like she had no other choice. The whole thing is far beyond not OK. It made me scream at the TV when I saw it."
10.Miss Congeniality (2000)
"There was a scene where the pageant contestants contemplated eating pizza, and Detective Hart justified it with an eating disorder joke."
11.She's All That (1999)
"I used to love the movie when I was in middle school, but it's super degrading and sexist toward women. The whole makeover trope is so played out and misogynistic. It basically told young girls that they need to change everything about themselves in order to land a man. There's also a scene where a man tries to assault a woman, and it's played off like a joke. I haven't been able to watch it again since I was in college."
12.I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007)
"I couldn’t get through it."
13.Shallow Hal (2001)
"It came out in 2001 and I watched it recently, and the first thought that came to mind was, 'This did not age well.'”
14.Overboard (1987)
"The entire plot revolved around Dean abducting Joanna after she got amnesia, and he tricked her into thinking they were married."
15.The Breakfast Club (1985)
"I totally get that it’s nostalgic to so many '80s kids, but I didn’t see it until I was an adult and was honestly kind of horrified. Bender straight-up sexually harasses Claire — verbally and physically — and the movie treats this as just a bump in the road toward some sort of catharsis."
16.Pretty Woman (1990)
"Edward hires a sex worker then just changes her into a housewife. It’s just weird to me."
"This movie does not come close to representing the reality of the sex work industry. In fact, much was taken out of the script that would have come way closer to being an accurate representation."
17.Soapdish (1991)
"Rose outed Montana as a trans person in front of millions of people on TV, and then David started gagging because he was so disgusted that he hooked up with her. Outing someone is never appropriate, and also the way everyone reacted to Montana being trans was so terrible."
18.Rush Hour (1998)
"Carter made so many racist remarks toward Lee throughout the films."
19.Cruel Intentions (1999)
"It was just so creepy to watch a stepbrother and stepsister betting on if he could get the new girl to give him her virginity, and if he won, his stepsister would let him sleep with her."
20.Big Daddy (1999)
"It was my favorite Adam Sandler movie, but looking back, it was all awful. They all hung out at Hooters but judged the women who worked there, stereotyped the homeless as people who made bad choices, made fun of people with disabilities, and all the women were one-dimensional."
21.Love Actually (2003)
"I can't bring myself to watch the movie because I've read about the blatant anti-fat bias littered throughout the movie. I have a lot of self-image issues, and movies like these certainly don't help. I don't get why so many people loved this movie, when I'm just scratching the surface of its many problems."
22.Sex and the City 2 (2010)
"It was majorly problematic from the start. I don’t understand how it ever got made."
23.Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
"That movie and all its sequels are super-toxic portrayals of a BDSM relationship. Not only does it make people who practice BDSM look like complete freaks, but it also made it seem OK to ignore safe words."
24.Peter Pan (1953)
"That scene around the campfire where they're all singing 'What Made the Red Man Red,' and all of the Native Americans are portrayed with extremely offensive stereotypes. It just disgusts me."
25.Ghostbusters (1984)
"I rewatched it with my daughter recently and did not realize in my childhood just how creepy Bill Murray’s character is with Sigourney Weaver."
26.Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
"It is so misogynistic and anti-trans. And it also makes me wonder how all the animals were treated during filming."
27.Top Gun (2022)
"Tom Cruise's character literally followed Charlie into the women's bathroom to try to make a move on her."
28.Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
"It's considered more of a cult classic, but the r-word was sprinkled pretty liberally in there."
29.Saturday Night Fever (1977)
"The main characters are the textbook definition of toxic masculinity, and homophobia and misogyny are rampantly used against female and queer characters to make the main characters seem tough."
30.Groundhog Day (1993)
"It used to be funny, but then I watched it again recently and realized it was just Phil Connors sexually harassing women because he could get away with it. He was portrayed as lovable and got the happy ending despite the constant groping and manipulation of Rita Hanson. This film would never get made today."
31.The Hangover (2009)
"Racist, sexist, homophobic, and on and on."
32.Revenge of the Nerds (1984)
"The women are objects that the 'heroes' commit sex crimes against to get back at the jocks they 'belong' to."
33.Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
"There is a scene with blackface, which is BAD."
34.Grease (1978)
"I never understood why people think it’s still relevant. 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!"
35.Animal House (1978)
"I don't even know where to start. There was statutory rape, a 13-year-old girl getting drunk and passing out at a frat party, men spying on women getting changed and from beneath bleachers to see up their skirts, a college professor sleeping with students, mild-to-moderate racism, mild-to-moderate homophobia, and so much more."
36.The Waterboy (1998)
"Think about it. Bobby seems to have some sort of disability and is emotionally manipulated by his teammates to play football, all while constantly belittling him as he’s taking college classes. There's also so much use of the r-word and so many jokes at Bobby’s expense."
37.And lastly, Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
"The horribly stereotypical Asian character played by a white man. I went to watch it for the first time and couldn't get through it."
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
