Films you see differently as an adult...

[LoveShitJokes]

I presume this has been done before but fuck it, it's Saturday night and I'm bored. So I'll start...

Mrs Doubtfire. As a child I saw Miranda as a boring, stuck up cow. As an adult I see her as a successful, independent woman exasperated with her man child husband who gives me The Ultimate Ick. And then some. I'm gobsmacked she ever married him. Stuart was a capable, equal partner not the villain I once thought him to be. Anyone else?

When it comes to humour - anything goes. Acceptable then is acceptable now and vice versa.

A (black) worker in a diner wouldn't become a Mayor now.

I had the misfortune to see the first part of this film late one night on TV as a teenager, thought it was gross then, and see that it has now changed its title to ‘Lola’ as it was originally titled ‘Twinky’ 😱 In plain sight and all that.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_(1969_film)

There's rarely been such a picture of grim hopelessness in British Cinema as Rita, Sue and Bob too. Even at the time it was profoundly depressing aside from some brilliantly funny moments. The racism was probably accurate to that era in those kinds of surroundings, but strikes uncomfortably on modern ears.

It's a good point that we are looking at things as aging badly, but they were accurate representations of the times. I was a similar age to Rita and Sue, growing up on a Northern council estate, and yes, it was how we spoke. Yes, there were integration issues living alongside Pakistani/Bangladeshi communities and that came from both sides, yes it was a goal for many girls to pull an older man with a car.
Yes, we know better now, but we can't pretend this wasn't the reality for many growing up in those times.

Why would John Travolta have to defend SNF? He didn't do any of those things, the character he was playing did. It was a gritty drama set in Brooklyn in the 1970s.

As a kid I loved Weird Science. But viewed as an adult it’s incredibly problematic. A woman in her mid 20s showering with 15 year old boys (the actors were aged 16-17) and talking about sexual things with them. It’s not until you rewatch it as an adult that you realise how very young they were! Homophobia presented as a joke, with some shocking use of homophobic insults. Objectification of women. It makes for uncomfortable viewing.

I don't remember any rape.

The Little Princess. Loved it as a child. Thought the father character was wonderful
Rewatched it recently and found the father daughter relationship problematic to say the least. Made me feel very uncomfortable.

I thought the point of Mrs Doubtfire was that Daniel starts out as a manchild, but he finds a role and in the process grows up a bit.

I mentioned above, there were two versions of SNF, I don't remember a rape either. The second version was a PG, so I imagine there wouldn't have been a rape in that version.

The fathers hadn't put themselves out of work!

I thought I was pretty forward-thinking and aware, but perhaps I'm not, or perhaps we are taking things to extremes.

I agree that Grease has many issues in it that need addressing but, to my mind anyway, it's a very enjoyable film. It is probably a film that parents should watch with children or discuss after they have watched it, and ask for their views on Rizzo's song, the final scene where Sandy changes, etc. Isn't it better to talk about these sorts of issues and make young people think, rather than just close everything down?

And Big, it's a fantasy.

I do agree about Pretty Woman, glamorising what, for many women, is not a pleasant way to live their lives and one which has sometimes, through a variety of circumstances, been forced upon them.

If we look at many films, there are probably elements that are problematic - especially with the passing of time.

The main problem with Saturday Night Fever is people watching it only knowing the dance scenes and expecting it to be another Grease-like light hearted musical romp. It isn't. I'm not sure what rating it got when it came out as it pre-dated the 15 and 18 ratings but it certainly wasn't the equivalent of PG.

I'm pretty sure that glamorising sex work was an objection made about Pretty Woman when was first released.

I don’t believe SNF was a PG. Gremlins wasn’t even a PG.
I read an article about SNF saying even the song titles are misogynistic we are just so used to it we don’t even notice. It gave the example of More Then A Woman. Who is more than a woman? A man? Who else can it be. And there you have it in a nutshell. You are so good, you must be more than a shitty woman.
And I always liked the Bee Gees too.

Muriel's wedding...thought it was a bit of a comedy when it first came out....only now, as an older person do I see it for the very sad story it is 😪

Loved Blott on the Landscape and Porter House Blue as well.

About Rita, Sue and Bob too. I didn't see that film until a year ago so what I say next is perhaps off topic, but what struck me most was the portrayal of Bob's wife. She's an unpleasant character, frigid, passive-aggressive and catty. So of course it's totally OK that Bob fools around with the babysitters.

Greece had me so confused and conflicted as a teen. I loved the film but I was very much an uncool Sandy type character and as a 12 year old wondered when I would feel ready to transform Sandy-Style. By 16 I realised I couldn’t and didn’t want to, but just felt shit about it.

Btw the rape scene was the gang rape of Annette in the car. Tony is in the car along with all his friends and Annette is begging for them to stop. She has said that after that scene was shot non of the other actors could look her in the eye. It was grim. I didn’t see this version until I was an adult and it was shown on terrestrial TV.

Regarding Rita, Sue & Bob, when I was about 13 a girl in my year was seeing the DJ who rang the local weekly kids disco. He was a man in his 20s. I remembering thinking it was kind of odd but nobody did anything about it. She was very young looking as well and this guy absolutely knew she was a child as everyone who went to the disco was still at school, they could only serve pop so it was clear.
This man then went on to run a club for children, think scouts or judo.

I think you're wrong about both FTM and Mrs Doubtfire.

It's true that we're invited to feel sorry for the fathers. But we're not invited to think they should carry on being useless. In MD the father grows up a bit and finds a role where he is useful but also himself, and he accepts what's happened.

In TFM all the men involved are in a crisis because they've become useless by being long term unemployed. The point of the film is getting themselves back on their feet by finding some self-respect.

It's pretty jaundiced to think that either film says men should be allowed to be useless. They simply don't.

Saturday Night Fever was an x - for over 18-year-olds. PG rating did not exist then.

Nooo!

Say Anything (directed by Cameron Crowe) is a lovely film, Lloyd Dobler is adorable and has genuine feelings for Diane Court, he would totally get away with the questionable boombox thing!

I don't quite get your thinking here.

I get that as a kid some of this might not seem so obvious, but it was a significant part of the plot that Danny treats her poorly because he is scared of being judged by his friends. His solution, in the end, is to try to make something of himself on the sports field and he comes to the last day of school with his letter sweater and tells them he's doing it because of Sandy.

She has a journey herself in terms of what she thinks is really important - what does it mean to be true to herself - the conversation she has with Rizzo is significant there, I think.

Rizzo is maybe the most interesting - she's all bluff and afraid to show vulnerability, but also has a hatred of falseness and a commitment to honestly that seems to contradict the show she puts on. You end up wondering what happened in her life to make her hate fake people so much, and also feel like she needs to hide her sensitivity.

I sometimes get the impression that as soon as a film like Grease, or Dirty Dancing, adds a bit of moral complexity, people decide it's somehow "bad".