Are all films <5 years problematic in some way

[anon666]

I guess it might be a sign of rapid progress, but recently I've watched:

Pretty Woman
Dirty Dancing
Bend it like Beckham

All of which have a girl/woman falling for an authority figure. It really looks creepy to a modern eye. Or does it? Am I being too Gen Z about the whole thing?

Better not watch Daddy Long Legs or Gigi then. Both thought of as very romantic in their time but probably criminal now.

If I want make-believe, I watch Lord of the Rings or Deadpool or Kill Bill or something else like that where there's no way it could ever be real because there's no such thing as elves or regenerating superheroes and Beatrix Kiddo would never be able to kill all those people and get away with it.

I watched Trainspotting because it ends badly, even fatally, for several characters. Same with Get Carter, Brief Encounter, Apocalypse Now, other classic films I like. Yes, Brief Encounter ends badly, she ends up suicidal and heartbroken because she cheated and fell for the OM. "Happily ever after" in a realistic setting makes me feel sick because I now know that it's selling a lie.

(I'd love see any of you try to claim that Gen Z snowflakes would approve of Get Carter or Apocalypse Now.)

I find any movie that has unnecessary female only nude (no nude male) scenes problematic. Unfortunately most movies fit into this category 😕

STOP IT.
SERIOUSLY.

Have you seen Midsommar?

Yes, but I don't remember it really. I only say that re female nude scenes as I find it odd it's always females that are nude, and almost never the males which is just sexist and obviously for a man's entertainment

That article was glorious, and I've realised I'm an intellectual trainspotter (and probably really annoying to talk to about films and books 😂)

Men never worry that their nude scenes are purely for titillation rather than being artistically necessary.

TVTropes is a godsend for me. For the first time, I could identify and name patterns in storytelling media and start making sense of it.

It's like having a manual for understanding neurotypical stories.

I'm way older than Gen Z but I hear you @anon666

Pretty Woman was always a bit odd because of the whole happy hooker message.
Dirty Dancing is fine because it's a period film.

You've Got Mail - every time I watch it I think 'you're a lying stalker, Hanks character'. That whole thing of male --> female pursuit looks now.

It's not a new thing either, look at how Gone With the Wind fell out of favour, that has long been subject to this type of questioning.

Agree with a pp about female nudity.

I watch loads of old films, but of course I notice the bits that don't sound like now.

I found a lot of films gratingly sexist back when I first watched them. Pretty Women was critiqued decades ago.

Pretty Woman is the fantasy, and if you weren't aware of Holbeck and human trafficking, you'd mistake it for reality.

We took preteen DD to see James Bond no time to die she said yuck why is the lady with someone old enough to be her dad. I remember the entrapment film with Sean connery and Catherine zita jones as a child it made me feel sick. The age gap yuck 🤮

Ah yes, artistic necessity, that old chestnut 😄

I’m the opposite. I physically can’t watch any film made in the last 5 years (more like 10 years, if I’m honest). It’s either a rip-off of an older film which is better or it’s just preachy nonsense.

Pretty Woman always confused me. How did she "win" by getting a guy who was into prostitutes?

Half the issue with dirty dancing is the cast tbh. All the cast are too old and it makes it really hard to tell how old most of the characters are actually supposed to be.

Johnny is supposed to be a few years older than everyone else, that’s one of the reasons no-one approves, but he’s not supposed to be as old as Patrick swayze and Patrick swayze doesn’t get away with playing someone in his twenties.

They should have aged the characters up, they could have done the same story with baby just having finished college instead of school and it would be the right kind of problematic that it’s going for.

May be those films were made purely as entertainment. I never encountered younger women going out with older man as a results of these films. On the other hand films these days are mostly meant to be pushing an agenda.

Pretty Woman is another working of the Pygmalion story (man makes his ideal woman) which is yuck before you even get to the prostitution. See also Weird Science, My Fair Lady.

I loved Ferris Bueller but rewatching there was all sorts of cringe in there (not least “so that’s how they do things in their family” - awful!)

Bend it like Beckham I still love. OK yes alright, Joe is older. But it’s the exception that proves the rule. I accept this statement is without logic.

Yes you are so right about Pretty Women. Agree about Joe too, he was incredibly hot (and not too much older)

Well I give you Mr Knightly......

There are certain films that I used to love that haven’t aged well, I think the key is not to watch them again. I can see how teenagers would find them difficult viewing as they go against everything they are taught is appropriate about relationships yet are seen to be a ‘happy ending’.

However I do think it is possible to enjoy films just as works of fiction without seeing them as a standard to set your life by. I think she age ratings are relevant here.

Not that it’s a film but I found the last series of Ted Lasso irritating in so much that I felt that each episode was trying to teach me something to the point where it became more of a focus than the actual plot and it was a bit patronising. Nude pictures on phones, how to deal with a colleague coming out etc, every week was a lesson not an entertainment show. That said, I bet that many viewers are teens and twenties so maybe it’s a good thing, it was just a bit much and a bit obvious for me.

Pretty Woman was always a shit show. It did JR no harm and she was so charming the bigger failures were cheerfully overlooked. I hated it when it came out.

Absolutely this!! 'Well it's great to recognise sexism young ladies, but don't mention it if it's regarding one of my favourite films!!!'

I adore Lord Patrick of Swayze,
(TM Pauline Calf 😁) and Dirty Dancing is one of my all time favourites, but watched it with my 14 yo and it made her feel uncomfortable.

I have brought her up to be quite the radfem, so when she said it was pretty gross and couldn't watch it, I had to respect that.

It will be interesting to see whether the new trends will see better representation or just better representation of noisier groups. Maybe the following generation will be very different. Artistic tolerance goes with debate. Hard to predict the direction on that one

For what its worth I always hated Pretty Woman and I'm a Gen Xer.

I can't wait to see what artistic gems Gen Z is going to come up with.....

Sam and Sam are non binary and use they/them pronouns. They are exactly the same age. They work in ethically sourced yoghurt and vegan socks. They never have sex unless both parties have agreed to it in writing. They spend their days staring at the wall worrying about climate change and living their truth.
ChatGPT is their only friend.
The End.