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34 Trivia Tidbits About Pop Culture That Has Aged Poorly

Cue the (warranted) Gen Z judgments

34 Trivia Tidbits About Pop Culture That Has Aged Poorly

May 20, 2024

When discussing questionable decisions of the past, you probably hear “different times” quite a lot. And, while compiling this list, we realized that “different times” is just a huge cop-out. Own up to it, you wildly offensive little devils. Say it loud and not-so-proud: “I did an entire movie in blackface, and I thought it was hilarious.”

Maybe it’ll inspire these other poorly aged beauts to follow suit.

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... TELL US NOW. REVENGE OF THE NERDS Merrit В. says, Lewis flat-out rapes Betty, and I was in my 30s when I suddenly processed that. CRACKED.COM — Source

33

... TELL US NOW. AMERICAN BEAUTY The award-winning movie stars Kevin Spacey pining after an underage person. Nina J. says it definitely doesn't hold up because it feels like, especially when you watched it as an underage girl, that those creepy guys are cool and if they assault you, you're going to be guilty. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

LONG DUK DONG Sixteen Candles is a rough nowadays, but nothing is quite as insufferable as the racist stereotypes the character emobodied. CRACKED.COM — Source

31

SI AND AM The Lady and the Tramp antagonists rely on heavy Asian stereotypes to taunt Lady and cause havoc. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

POWER RANGERS Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was a lesson in racial stereotypes, starting with the Rangers' color choices. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Pepe Le Pew

PEPÉ LE PEW The cartoon skunk stalks and sexually assaults Penelope Pussycat, in a weird French stereotype. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

FLASHBACK MONICA Almost any character wearing a fat suit for the laughs is just cringey. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

CRACKED JAKE RYAN OFFERS HIS PASSED OUT GIRLFRIEND UP AS A PLAY THING. SIXTEEN CANDLES He's played up as the perfect high school good guy, but why, because he likes the nerdy girl? His infatuation becomes outright stalking, and he hands his drunk, passed out girlfriend to the perverted Anthony Michael Hall saying, Do whatever you want. — Source

26

GRACKED THE DEPLORABLE PRIME MINISTER. LOVE ACTUALLY Hugh Grant as The Prime Minister is essentially Tony Blair with a Bill Clinton libido. Grant might be lovable in '90s rom-coms, but he abuses his power to sleep with a young aide. Relentless, he and his security guards even crash her family Christmas. — Source

25

SETH'S CRACKED ENTIRE PLOT IS DATE RAPE. SUPERBAD His master plan is to get Emma Stone's character drunk enough to sleep with him. When he discovers she doesn't drink, he whines, gets grabby, and vomits on her. Worse, he seems to be practicing for a string of similar assaults in college. — Source

24

CRACKED DIRTY HARRY NEEDS A BODYCAM TO KEEP HIM IN CHECK. DIRTY HARRY In one of Clint Eastwood's most iconic films, this rogue cop is supposed to follow a strict code of conduct, but he violates civil rights, abuses prisoners, and kills at will. He's portrayed as good, but he's a menace to society. — Source

23

In the '90s, we wore stupidly- 1991 1992 1999 1990 oversized jeans. 97 1998 1999 1996 1997 1002 And if you've got 1901 $300, 1997 1995 you can buy them now. 1993 1997 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1999 NOW YOU KNOW: THE '90s CRACKED.COM — Source

22

CRACKED.COM HIGH WATTAGE CAR AUDIO SYSTEM THE DISTRACT YOU FROM THE OTHER DRIVERS, CONTRIBUTE TO HEARING LOSS, MAKE CAR PARTS BUZZ, AND NO ROOM TO TRANSPORT ANYTHING ELSE SOUND SYSTEM. — Source

21

SUPER TRENDY HAIRDOS (FROM ANY DECADE) JON BON JOVA www.fr mark LOOK RIDICULOUS NOW GRACKED.COM — Source

20

Bacteria-ridden, knotted string you never take off because 'friendship'. And their slightly Make Your Own SCOOBIES YOUR more hygenic Secobul LEGION UNITED KAnnen plastic counterparts. The GRACKED.COM — Source

19

Nu METAL The perfect genre of music for any rebellious teen. Listening now, you feel like a brat with bad taste. MUSKA CRACKED.COM CIRCAFOUTWEAR — Source

18

WEARING A BANDANA UNDER YOUR HAIR CANCELS OUT THE WHOLE POINT OF WEARING A BANDANA. I GUESS NOBODY TOLD THE HAIR METAL BANDS. (OR ME IN GRADE EIGHT.) CRACKED.COM — Source

17

Lost Tropes Funny suicide Suicide (by gun, train, etc.) was used as comedy in old cartoons. But suicide is serious business (unless you're Hitler in the bunker, in which case cue the Benny Hill music and fart sounds) CRACKED.COM — Source

16

CRACKED.COM Lost Tropes Going postal After a series of incidents during the '80s, '90s comedy was full of mailmen just losing it and shooting up people. You know, before shootings got a bit too real for laughs. — Source

15

CRACKED.COM EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY ALARM WILL ND STAIR Lost Tropes New father's cigars Nothing says healthy environment like smoking around newborns! We haven't seen Knocked Up in ages, but if they didn't parody this trope but with joints, that's a total missed chance right there. — Source

14

Sports Cards

Collectible Bubbles B JO I terps 00 topes a A Sports cards - The worth of a lot of collectibles from the '80s and '90s, like sports cards, has gone way down since it was at its highest in the early '90s. So much for pop culture ephemera as investment vehicles. CRACKED

13

Collectible Bubbles Lunch boxes Back in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, metal lunch boxes were really popular, and people would pay a lot for them. But then in the 1980s, plastic lunch boxes came out, and the value of metal lunch boxes dropped dramatically. CRACKED — Source

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Comic Books

Collectible Bubbles NINE '90s comics Back in the '90s, X-Men #1, Superman #75, and Avengers #200 were wildly popular. Nowadays they're not worth much, because they were made in massive quantities and are pretty easy to get. CRACKED

11

Collectible Bubbles Elvis memorabilia Elvis collectibles that were once highly sought after, like records, have become much less valuable. A lot of his superfans and collectors have passed away, leaving a glut of items on the market. CRACKED — Source

10

ELEVEN BEST PICTURE ACADEMY IN 1960. AWARDS Hugh Griffith won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1960. for playing rich Arab stereotype and doing blackface. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Dances with Wolves

KEVIN COSTNER DANCES GRACKED.COM WITH WOLVES This movie set the bar for White Savior tropes in Hollywood. It won Best Picture over Goodfellas. WINNER OF SEVEN ACADEMY AWARDS INCLUDING BEST PICTURE 1990 OAM.P.A.S. — Source

8

MANHATTAN d A won the BAFTA Award for best film in 1980. SH MERUAL - - - In retrospect, it's unseemly to praise Woody Allen for making a film about his romance with a teenage girl. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

CRACKED YOUR ENTIRE PLOT CAN'T INVOLVE RIGID GENDER NORMS. MR. MOM A laid-off man becomes a stay-at-home dad while his wife returns to work. Jokes about a man changing diapers and ironing shirts couldn't be seen as ridiculous today. Don't worry, in the happy ending, he returns to work and his wife gets back to the homestead. — Source

6

CRACKED YOUR ENTIRE PLOT CAN'T BE ONE BIG TRANS JOKE ANYMORE. ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE The Einhorn is Finkle, Finkle is Einhorn plot has one big reveal of Einhorn's bulge tucked between her legs. This would never be played up as a joke today, and we wonder why it was even needed to tell a stolen dolphin story. — Source

5

CRACKED YOU CAN'T MAKE $100 MILLION ROM-COMS ANYMORE. In the 2000s, movies like As Good as It Gets and Spanglish were made for over $80 million. 2010's How Do You Know cost $120 million, but studios today are much more risk-averse, with recent rom-coms costing between $10 - $30 million. — Source

4

CRACKED YOU CAN'T MAKE DARK, DISTURBING MOVIES FOR KIDS ANYMORE. In the '80s, we had The Dark Crystal, The NeverEnding Story, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, and Gremlins before everything brightened up in the '90s. Back then, a ghost gave Ray oral in Ghostbusters and Batman was made by Tim Burton. — Source

3

CRACKED BLACK FACE CAN'T BE YOUR ENTIRE PLOT ANYMORE. SOUL MAN In the 1986 movie, a spoiled white kid pretends to be black to nab a Harvard scholarship exclusive to black students. It does raise awareness of prejudice and racism, but all the blackface made it wildly offensive, even for 1986 standards. — Source

2

CRACKED YOU CAN'T KILL EXTRAS ANYMORE. FITZCARRALDO In Werner Herzog's 1982 film, several indigenous extras were injured or even killed. A Peruvian logger was bit by a venomous snake on set and had to cut off his own foot with a chainsaw to stop the poison from spreading. — Source

1

CRACKED YOUR VILLAIN'S PLOT CAN'T BE EASILY THWARTED BY GOOGLE. TOMORROW NEVER DIES ILL BACK ST This Bond villain is a media mogul who plans to manipulate the news to incite war between China and the UK. Today, social media and a quick googling of countless news sources would label this fake news within a few minutes. — Source

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