Films that would have a different angle now... eg, Devil Wears Prada.

[CantFindTheBeat]

I've been watching some old skool^ movies with my^ niece this week.

She's 17 and hasn't seen Devil Wears Prada, so that was on our list.

I'd forgotten how much Ann Hathaway's character's boyfriend and friends vilified her for being ambitious in her job and i think I might have felt sorry for her boyfriend when i first watched it 20(?) years ago.

I don't think the storyline would be the same now^, and this time round, I definitely was more in the 'tell him to jog on' camp.

We also watched Pretty Woman, which was even older. Funnily enough, i thought it stood the test of time much better even though 'man hires prostitute and falls in love' would be totally cringy. Julia Roberts
Character was still 100% her own woman, despite the difference in wealth.

Any other movies we should add to our list? Any previous corkers that need to get in the bin?^

Love Erin Brockovich! Love how strong her character is.

The Devil Wears Prada, I’m like other posters, that she changed who she was and that’s why her boyfriend got fed up with her.

Love The Notebook😊 and About Time

Definitely Grease. She ends up smoking at the end just to impress a man.

I know what you mean about Devil Wears, I remember when I first watched it, I got bad vibes from her support network characters who weren't behind her. But in a way, that makes it true to real life. She wasn't just in any job, she specifically pursued a job she wasn't initially fully into, because there was something about the role that intruiged her and made her learn new things. How many of us really know exactly what we want to do when we start out? How many find that you can learn a lot even by doing a job that isn't for you? And it's an interesting experience for her. The characters who withdraw their support of her aren't dissimilar to people in real relationships/friendships. How they act might not be perfect but no people are perfect. I agree that there are instances in movies where the characters become concretely repugnant, with racism or misogyny etc, but in this movie I only see realistic representations of how people behave and how she navigates an interesting but difficult experience.

As this YouTube says, it "aged like an avocado"

Tbf I think the same can probably said of most romcoms

I watched DWP a couple of weeks ago & still really enjoyed it! I don't read too deeply into these types of films but for me it's about Andy growing and finding herself. Yes she changed to fit the mould but isn't that all part of the learning journey when you are young? I'm sure we've all done it.

And Romeo and Juliet could all have been resolved without bloodshed if there had been a decent postal service.

You’ve got mail is still a classic but Tom being the creepy stalker is quite off.

… and taking her to his boat anchored waaay offshore to do the deed. Creepy.

The likes of bridget Jones and clueless don't age that badly because Jane Austen has stood the test of time.

Overboard!
I remember thinking it was a bit off at the time. Bloke and his son find a woman who has fallen off a luxury yacht and lost her memory. They trick her into thinking she is their wife and mother, as I recall.

And yes to Breakfast Club. Don’t be a goth, be all normal like the other kids and you’ll be happy.

I watched Footloose again recently. I never noticed it years ago, but the part where all the girls were sat being asked to dance by a boy was quite sad imo.

It’s very clear in the original book of Bridget Jones’s Diary that her being on a constant diet is part of the satire, about social pressure. There’s a conversation she says she ought to eat under 1000 calories a day or something. Her friend says “Don’t you need more than that just to stay alive?” and she realises that she’s come to think that we only consume any food at all because we’re weak-willed.

Also she gets down to her ‘target weight’ at one point and all her friends ask if she’s ill.

It doesn’t sound funny when I write it down like that, but it’s still a really funny book!

Just had a really depressing thought - the bit in Dirty Dancing where Penny almost died from a botched abortion is now again a realistic current plot line in today’s United States.

Saturday night fever

What pisses me off is that she allegedly put on weight to play her!! * *

Renee reportedly gained 30 pounds for her role as Bridget Jones. Jonathan Van Meter from Vulture recalled interviewing the actress when she was preparing for the role. He claimed: "Her assistant kept bringing her little bowls of food every half-hour - potato chips mostly, but also doughnuts."

My only problem with ADWP is that we are all supposed to believe that Anne Hathaway is so plain and frumpy that the other staff are actually sneering at her.

I think Buffy would be a good watch. Trying to get DD (13) to watch the whole series with me but she's not interested.

Ghost would be a good one?

I miss the days when Patrick Swayze was in every single film.

Sixteen candles.

Unconscious girl fair game for sexual assault

I'm confused about why a couple of people have said Hidden Figures? It's based on actual events so can't have a different angle?

The worst one I can think of is Flashdance.

I remembered and loved the final choreography for the audition scene, and vaguely remembered the story line of a gritty blue collar girl working two jobs who shows up the posh girls and becomes a dancer, but then watching it again … yikes!

Storyline: construction company owner in his mid-30s goes to a strip club, watches a 19-year old girl dance, likes what he sees, finds out she works for his construction copmany, asks her out, threatens “jokingly” to fire her when she initially says no, later follows her home at night in his Porsche while she rides her bicycle, and thereby gets himself invited inside in both senses of the word… crikey! Couldn’t she at least have sprayed Mace in his face first and gotten him to apologise for following her?

Not to mention some of the camera angles. Great music, some amazing moves, but wrong clothes and wrong camera angles.

It would be fair to say that this is not actually about a film aging badly, because the film was a total cringefest even when it came out, but then at the time it was pitched as a romcom of sorts and she was pitched as being badass for working as a welder … but with hindsight that was nowhere near being enough to save it.

Mrs Doubtfire, absolutely.

Abusive ex husbands manipulates ex wife through au pair vetting by pretending to be bad candidates then dresses as an elderly woman to interfere in her new live life and be around kids when she wanted time away from him.

Of course in 2023 he could just identify as a 65 year old Scottish woman and everyone would call him brave.

@YankeeDad The camera angles on the dance scenes for Flashdance are mostly long shots as the dancing was famously done by a man ,not the female star. Not sure what you mean by "wrong clothes" :-)

Big is one of the creepiest films. He’s meant to be 13/14 and then has a love story with a fully grown woman. I can’t imagine them ever remaking that now!

Sorry I missed this when I posted just now!

I don’t really feel any “horror” or performative “shock” at movies that were made thirty/forty years ago and were of their time. I’m able understand that societies/cultural norms develop and change and what was once acceptable, no longer is. Also a very useful starting point to discuss those ideas when watching with children/teens. Honestly bored to tears with this kind of presentism and moralising.

Except for Drop Dead Fred where Rick Mayall’s character kisses Phoebe Cates after having been her imaginary friend since she was a baby. That was as grim then as now and everyone knew it even if they pretended not to.

And don’t even get me started on the sometimes sly but often overt social justice sermonising to be found in pretty much every new series or movie being released. Unbearable and even my teens think so. Jars you right out of the narrative and most times I just switch off.