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36 Problematic Bits of Nostalgia That Will Elicit Some Serious Yeeshes

Can you believe these used to be deemed acceptable?

36 Problematic Bits of Nostalgia That Will Elicit Some Serious Yeeshes

October 03, 2024

Bob Dylan released the classic track “The Times They Are A-Changin’” back in 1964, and he was definitely on to something. The mid to late 1960s saw some serious changes indeed. But while the title of that song is definitely relevant today, we couldn’t find a single lyric about past pop-culture staples that holds up today.

Might be time for a rewrite, Bobby boy!

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36

CRACKED POUTING DOESN'T MAKE ROSS GELLER A NICE GUY. FRIENDS Seen as the ultimate nice guy, he's a jealous control freak who never supports Rachel's career. Не cheats (claiming they were on a break), lied about reading her letter, and lied about the annulment so Rachel would stay married to him (without her knowledge). — Source

35

GRACKED CARRIE BRADSHAW IS SELFISH AND SUPERFICIAL. SEX AND THE CITY As viewers matured, they realized that Carrie was materialistic, needy with toxic men (prioritizing them over her friends), and she never matured into a strong independent role model for young women. — Source

34

PRINCE OF PERSIA CRACKED.COM In 2010, Disney cast Jake Gyllenhaal as the Prince of Persia, and it didn't initially cause much controversy. Now seen as one of the decade's worst examples of whitewashing, Gyllenhaal has since stated, I learned a lot from that, and am now more thoughtful about the roles I pick. — Source

33

THE LONE RANGER BE CRACKED.COM Beloved Indigenous actor, Jay Silverheels popularized Tonto in TV's The Lone Ranger from 1949-1957. So they got it right in the 40s, but the 2013 Disney movie cast Johnny Depp (who claimed to be part Cherokee) as Tonto, in what Native Americans everywhere saw as brazen whitewashing. — Source

32

PAN CRACKED.COM With songs like What Makes The Red Man Red, Disney's Peter Pan did more than enough to offend Native Americans in 1953. Warner Bros kept that offensive tradition going by casting Rooney Mara as Native American character Tiger Lily in 2015's Pan. — Source

31

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

30

KEVIN COSTNER DANCES GRACKED.COM WITH WOIVES 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

29

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

28

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

27

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

26

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

25

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

24

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

23

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

22

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

21

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

20

CRACKED I'M TOO SEXY FOR MY CAT RIGHT SAID FRED BUDD PUK Never listen too closely to this song, which is really a bleak portrait of self-defeating narcissism, but this pet-owner relationship is even better left unexplored. — Source

19

... TELL US NOW. SHORT CIRCUIT David L. says, Loved that movie as a kid..buuuut Fisher Stevens in brownface... kinda cringy. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

... TELL US NOW. SHALLOW HAL Jennifer K. says, The whole movie is just so cringe now. The movie is about a superficial man who is given the ability to only see people's inner beauty, so he unknowingly falls for an overweight woman. Fat jokes galore. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

... 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

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... TELL US NOW. SILENCE OF THE LAMBS Diana Q. says, The anti-trans rant kinda kills what is otherwise a great movie. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

... TELL US NOW. SIXTEEN CANDLES Jeff H. says, When it isn't be horribly racist, it gets really rapey, playing up the 'we believe the drunk snobby girl deserves to get raped by someone she had already quite clearly rejected when she was sober' mindset. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

... 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

13

'Girl Meets World'

COMEDIES that shouldn't have been saved GIRL MEETS WORLD meets controversy Boogo The Matthews' story continues 14 years after Boy Meets World, but it failed to match the impact of the original, and actually alienated many teens with problematic takes on autism. CRACKED — Disney Channel
BuzzFeed News

12

Ace Ventura’s entire plot was one big trans joke.

CRACKED EINHORN IS FINKLE. FINKLE IS EINHORN. ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE Problematic, yes, but this isn't a righteous look how far we've come critique. Story-wise, the reveal of Einhorn's bulge tucked between her legs was shock value, leagues above the rest of the movie's tone. Was it really needed to tell a stolen dolphin story? — Slant Magazine / Mirror

11

Tilda Swinton

... TELL US NOW. TILDA SWINTON AS THE ANCIENT ONE Eric А. says hiring Swinton was the worst casting decision within MCU, adding, Let's not forget that problematic choice. CRACKED.COM

10

It's weird to see this in a middle school production...

THE MUSIC CRACKED.COM MAN The wholesome slice of nostalgia contains the comedic song The Sadder But Wiser Girl which is basically about being only interested in women who are not virgins. With lyrics like... I cheer, I rave I hope and I for the virtue pray for a I'm too late Hester to win to save one more A — Source: These 34 Filthy Jokes Are (Somehow) In Family Movies & Shows

9

Cringey lyrics from the '80s AC/DC Let Me Put My Love Into You Don't you struggle. Don' 't you fight. Don't you worry. 'Cause it's your turn tonight. If the title of the song wasn't cringey enough, they really doubled down with a good ol' take on consent in the '80s. CRACKED — Source

8

Cringey lyrics from the '80s Guns N' Roses One in a Million Racial and homophobic slurs that we'd care to not repeat. EXCLUSIVE - . - - N - DRUGA Sort frees shet of by WITH gong THE SHOCKII Serving - - - - GTO USED TO Elephant giv LOVE HER HE - - - One In A - - - - - - - - Controversial even at the time, many questioned why Slash (who is half black) played on a song where Axl drops the worst possible word that begins with an N. CRACKED — Source

7

“Brimful of Asha” by Cornershop

CRACKED EVERYBODY NEEDS A BOSOM FOR A PILLOW CORNERSHOP Bosom was a cringey term even 30 years ago. Just say you want some tiddies. — Rolling Stone

6

Cringey lyrics from the '80s DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince Parents Just Don't Understand And this girl's hand was steadily moving up my thigh. She had opened up three buttons on her shirt so far. I almost had a heart attack that day. Come to find out the girl was a twelve-year-old runaway. Will Smith was 20 when this was released, and even if the song was about his younger self, he picks up this girl while driving his car. Do we need to keep listing reasons this is problematic?! CRACKED — Source

5

“Girls” by Beastie Boys

Cringey lyrics from the '80s The Beastie Boys Girls I asked her out, she said 'No way.' I should of probably guessed her gay. If a girl isn't into you, she must be gay! Lyrics for the fragile ego of the rejected bro. And it's have, Beastie Boys. You should have probably guessed that she is gay. CRACKED — Def Jam Recordings
Scary Mommy

4

Matt Lauer in 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'

Cringey Cameos Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Matt Lauer In the show's pilot, the disgraced news personality interviews the gang, who up to that moment had been held captive by a creep, and utters the now infamous line: I'm always amazed at what women will do because they're afraid of being rude. CRACKED.COM — Source: Clip on YouTube

3

Cringey Cameos My Scene Goes Hollywood: The Movie Harvey Weinstein Seeing Weinstein act all cool and aloof while teenage girls swoon over him is the very definition of creepy. In fact, we could call it The Very Definition of Creepy: The Movie, which would make for a less clunky title. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

Cringey lyrics from the '80s Poison I Want Action I can't wait to get my hands on them. I won't give up until they give in. If I can't have her, I'll take her and make her. You're gonna make her, Bret Michaels? Well, no means no, Bret Michaels! We'd say this didn't age well, but it wasn't acceptable back then (or ever!). CRACKED — Source

1

Ugly Women

CRACKED.COM CO RU Lost Tropes Easter European women are ugly. Yikes, this is an obscure one - and also, yikes, look at this outdated, mysoginistic Cold War trope. It's probably sprinkled with fat suits for comedic value.

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