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35 Pop-Culture Moments That Have Aged Like a Soft Cheese

Thankfully, not all trends are cyclical

35 Pop-Culture Moments That Have Aged Like a Soft Cheese

December 13, 2024

We don’t mind that decades-old music and fashion come back around. Sure, it makes us feel old when trends in our formative years are referred to as “retro,” but it’s nice to get a little dose of nostalgia from time to time.

We do mind it, however, when those little nostalgia doses hit us like a pimply, dyed black emo swoop of a yearbook pic. Today we learned that nostalgia needs to be meticulously cherry-picked, and that some pop-culture moments and trends should never come back around.

35

Sarah Silverman

CRACKED SARAH SILVERMAN is horrified that she did blackface. About her show's 2007 episode: I don't stand by the blackface sketch. I'm horrified by it, and I can't erase it. I can only be changed by it and move on. That was such liberal-bubble stuff, where I actually thought it was dealing with racism by using racism... All I can say is that I'm not that person anymore. — Source

34

Silence of the Lambs

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

33

Ghostbusters

CRACKED GHOSTLY ORAL GHOSTBUSTERS Because '80s kids were swimming in Ghostbusters merch, it's easy to forget the really off putting moment where Ray (Dan Aykroyd) received fellatio from a ghost. What do you even call an inter-spiritual sex act? — Source

32

The Cosby Show

CLIFF HUXTABLE With Bill Cosby's sexual assault cases, it's hard to be charmed by the purity of The Cosby Show anymore. CRACKED.COM

31

Revenge of the Nerds

... 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

30

Snape

SEVERUS SNAPE Alan Rickman was great, but the character's redemptive incel arc? Not SO much. CRACKED.COM

29

The Matrix

... TELL US NOW. THE MATRIX Rodorick В. says the movie doesn't quite make sense anymore in a society without landlines or payphones. CRACKED.COM

28

Snow Lyrics

CRACKED PURE BLACK PEOPLE, MAN, THAT'S ALL I MAN KNOW SNOW Dear white dudes: 1) Never say this under any circumstance. 2) Definitely not right before admitting you come from Toronto. — Source

27

Skydancers

Skydancers were recalled in 2000. 8.9 million were recalled after about 150 reports of injuries, from eye injuries to facial lacerations to a broken rib. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

Marky Mark

CRACKED BLACK, WHITE, RED, BROWN, FEEL THE VIBRATION MARKY MARK AND THE FUNKY BUNCH EYYORK The I don't see color vibe is bad enough, but there's a key color missing there, and if you know Wahlberg's history, it's... glaring. — Source

25

Pepe Le Pew

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

24

AC/DC

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

23

American Beauty

... 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

22

Soul Man

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

21

Will Smith

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

20

Power Rangers

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

19

Friends

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

18

Lady and the Tramp

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

17

How I Met Your Mother

35 Pop-Culture Moments That Have Aged Like a Soft Cheese

16

Betty Boop

CRACKED.GOM BETTY BOOP Growing up, I loved Betty Воор. On rewatch, I realized I just thought she was hot. (Should have been obvious, right?) The cartoons are almost unwatchable and certainly don't hold up to today's social standards.

15

Fantasia

Fantasia 1940 CRACKED COM Disney thankfuly deleted scenes with two mind-bogglingly racist caricatures, Otika and Sunflower, who exist only to serve th — Source: The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Films

14

Harry Potter

Harry Potter's 'Cho Chang actress' was told to deny the racist abuse she endured. When Katie Leung broached the hate-fueled racist attacks to her publicist, she says they seemingly shrugged it off, instructing her to deny the abuse. I remember them saying to me, ، If you get asked that, just say it's not true, CRACKED.COM say it's not happening. — Source: Harry Potter' Actress Katie Leung Says Her Publicist Told Her To Her Deny Online Racist Attacks After Being Cast as Cho Chang

13

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The scriptwriter wanted to change Oogie BOOgie because she thought he was a racist caricature. Oogie Boogie had ugly, dangerous, racist connotations — Source: SlashFilm

12

Seinfeld

KRAMER'S RACIST JOKE. SEINFELD VER CARRIES $5 00 CHANGE CRACKED Years before Michael Richards' extremely racist rant on stage, his scene in the episode The Cigar Store Indian has him loudly and proudly mock a native american call. — YouTube / NY Post

11

Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! controversies STOKING THE RUSSIA/UKRAINE CONFLICT. Jeopardy! raised eyebrows with a Double Jeopardy question about Russia and Ukraine, which was recorded in January but aired during the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Jeopardy! acknowledged the difference between recording and broadcast dates, but the question was still seen as potentially insensitive. CRACKED — Sasa Dzambic Photography/Shutterstock
Giant Freakin Robot

10

Sixteen Candles

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

9

Cruising

CRACKED During a brutal murder scene in William Friedkin's Cruising, frames from a gay porn film are seen - seemingly equating gay sex with violence and doing the film no favors in the eyes of those who saw it as irredeemably homophobic. — Source

8

Charlie Sheen

CRACKED Selma Blair (like many) couldn't handle Charlie Sheen. She questioned his professionalism and told producers he was a menace to work with, so Sheen fired her himself via text. ANGER MANAGEMENT — Cheatsheet / IMDB

7

Serie A

Italian soccer fought racism with... more racism NO TO RACISM SERIE A CRACKEDCO To try to discourage racist taunts and headlines against Black soccer players, Serie A commissioned an incredly insensitive campaign to show that we're all monkeys. — Read More: 5 “Huh” Ad Campaigns

6

Arabian Nights

Arabian Nights had to remove depictions of dancers with exposed bellies The 1942 film was forced to remove parts of the movie with revealing costumes, the least offensive part of the culturally insensitive film by today's standards. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Atlantic

5

Stumptown

CRACKED Mark Webber wasn't handsome enough. After the pilot, he was replaced by Jake Johnson. Не said, Look, I'm a straight white male, so I know my journey has been way less painful in this warped industry, but I'm being recast in a network television show because I'm not 'handsome enough.' STUMPTOWN — Buzzfeed / Redbull

4

The Ridiculous 6

35 Pop-Culture Moments That Have Aged Like a Soft Cheese — Source: Washington Post

3

Superman

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's SUPERMAN RAKY ON CRACKED.COM A 1975 TV adaption of the failed stage musical nixed villainous Chinese acrobats because they were culturally insensitive. They were replaced with Italian mobsters. — Source

2

Three’s Company

CRACKED Suzanne Somers lost her gender equality battle. She was only being paid $30,000 per episode to John Ritter's $150,000. They only gave her $5,000 more, so she missed tapings in protest, and was replaced with her character's cousin Cindy Snow for 3 seasons. THREE'S COMPANY — Insider / Biography

1

Intel

Intel CRACKED.COM Intel promised to maximize the power of your employees with this portrait of a modern-day plantation owner. They tried to pull the ad, which they admitted was insensitive and insulting, but one publication squeaked it out by accident. — Source: 14 Accidentally Offensive Modern Advertisements

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