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34 Trivia Tidbits About Pop Culture That’s Aged Poorly

We mined for nostalgic gold, and this is what we sifted out

34 Trivia Tidbits About Pop Culture That’s Aged Poorly

August 07, 2024

Well, we have good news and bad news. The good news is that we’ve found a lot of nostalgic gold lately. The bad news is that if you want it, you’re in the wrong place. Don’t worry, though — finding this gold is as easy as searching for “nostalgia” on our site. You can head right over there after you’ve taken a look at these duds.

It’s like mom letting you have some ice cream if you finish all of your broccoli.

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34

In the '90s, we wore stupidly- 1991 1992 1999 1990 oversized jeans. 97 1998 1999 1996 1997 And if you've 1002 got 1001 $300, 1997 1995 you can buy them now. 1993 1997 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1999 NOW YOU KNOW: THE '90s CRACKED.COM — Source

33

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

32

... 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

31

... 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

30

The Cosby Show is hard to watch. صد JAISA The allegations against Cosby make all the heartfelt fathering feel insincere and sometimes disturbing, Eden Lili Tirl Bernard but especially because two of the women that have accused Cosby of sexual assault were on the show. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

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

28

GLORY won three Oscars in 1989, including Denzel Washington's first. It's the story of an all-black Civil War regiment, as seen through the eyes of... Matthew Broderick? Director Ed Zwick later made THE LAST SAMURAI with Tom Cruise and wrote the story for Matt Damon's THE GREAT WALL. Notice a pattern here? GRACKED.COM — Source

27

Woody Allen

MANHATIAN al 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

26

The winner of eight Oscars and four Golden Globes, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is just a series of fortunate coincidences mixed together with clichés and stereotypes. GRAGKED.COM — Source

25

DISNEY'S CLASSIC PETER PAN (1953) Not only did the What Made the Red Man Red song represent Native Americans as dumb dancing fools, but it actually included the words squaw, ugh, and how in the lyrics. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

In the comedy classic The Graduate Dustin Hoffman moves to a woman's town and follows her around until she's furious. It's supposed to be cute because stalking laws didn't exist in 1967. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM IN 1994, THERE WAS AN SNL SKETCH THAT KIND OF MADE LIGHT OF PEDOPHILIA. At least that's what some people alleged - Canteen Boy was about a scoutmasters coming on to a Boy Scout who's supposed to be an adult, but that wasn't made 100% clear, and controversy ensued. — Source

22

Fred Armisen

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM IN 2015, FRED ARMISEN DID AN SNL SKETCH MOCKING A LEGALLY BLIND POLITICIAN. The politician in question was NY governor David Paterson, and Armisen did things like hold a chart upside down-which drew a lot of outrage. — Source

21

Something Tells Me a Wider Apology Tour Is Coming One Day...

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM IN 2000, JIMMY FALLON WORE BLACKFACE TO IMPERSONATE CHRIS ROCK ON SNL. Не apologized in 2020, saying In 2000, while on SNL, I made a terrible decision to do an impersonation of Chris Rock while in blackface. There is no excuse for this. — Source

20

Friends

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

19

CRACKED COM BRATZ BABYZ SHOW YOU'RE NEVER TOO YOUNG TO BE A MINX. I These dolls went through the whole process of being conceived, designed, pitched, approved, manufactured, and distributed, and apparently no one along the line thought of saying, You know, maybe we really shouldn't sexualize babies. — Source

18

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

17

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

16

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

15

CRACKED 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

14

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

13

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

12

COPS The reality show is deeply unsettling when you realize it's just exploitative reality show copaganda. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

CHUCK BASS Chuck is an attempted rapist in the first episode of Gossip Girl, yet somehow becomes a romantic icon? CRACKED.COM — Source

10

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

9

SUPER TRENDY HAIRDOS (FROM ANY DECADE) JON BON JOYA www.n mak LOOK RIDICULOUS NOW GRACKED.COM — Source

8

Kid Me: This is the greatest show of all time!! Adult me: ....why did i watch this... CRACKED.COM — Source

7

GRAGKED COM Lost Tropes Extreme '90s anti-heroes. How badly has this aged? Just ask Rob Liefeld, who has become a joke for his radical characters with bloated muscles, childishly designed weapons, and, erm, suits full of pouches. Pouches are rad! — Source

6

Now the Post Office Is a Dream Job

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

5

Collectible Bubbles Beanie Babies CAN DARY I AND 8 BOOK 24 Help We once - - dein run own Aux to - on - In the late '90s and early 2000s, Beanie Babies were all the rage. People were willing to pay huge amounts, with some even going for six figures. But eventually, the market cooled off, leaving many people with a lot less than they had invested. CRACKED — Source

4

Oreo Barbie

CRACKED.COM OREO BARBIE DIDN'T LAST LONG ON THE SHELVES. Oreo Barbie, born in 1997 from a cross-promotional partnership between Mattel and Nabisco, came in both white and black versions. You can tell every person involved was white because nobody knew that MA Oreo is a derogatory OREO term in the African American community for a black person who is ORE white on the inside. — Source

3

GO TO THIRD BASE AND BEYOND, WITH THIS BUZZ LIGHTYEAR FUNTIME TUMBLER! NOP Committee - D BPA NC AN - - The version that's currently available for sale has the straw on the other side, but reviewers confirm that with a firm twist, you can enjoy Buzz as pictured. GRACKED.COM http://www.amazon com/Zak-Designs-Lightyear-Funtime-Tumbler/dp/B004B5B26G — Source

2

CRACKED.COM APRIL O'NEIL WILL SHOW YOU A GOOD TIME. Hey, do you remember that episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles where April was a streetwalker? Neither do we, but that didn't stop Playmates Toys from releasing this Ravishing Reporter action figure, complete with detachable skirt. — Source

1

THIS CANDY TREAT LETS YOU FRENCH-KISS JAR JAR BINKS. doo I CANDY JUS Binks ARE CORN WHO WARS STAR I - We're assuming it tastes like thinly-veiled racism. CRACKED.COM — Source

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