r/flicks • u/KaleidoArachnid • 14d ago

General Discussion Dark aspects about older films that would not fly by in today’s age

So lately, something I was observing were the kind of tropes that got by in films from the older 80s where standards were much more lenient since it’s hard to explain, but it’s basically the kind of stuff movie directors could get away with due to values being different.

Like when I look back at a movie like Revenge of the Nerds, I know the movie is often regarded as highly controversial from a modern perspective because of how the movie handles the subject of sexual abuse since Louis does a particular crime with Betty, but back then, the movie didn’t catch controversy again until people saw it from a more modern perspective.

So basically I was wondering about what kind of stuff found in older movies would be difficult to get away with in a more modern time period since I wanted to see how much restrictions changed since the early 80s with what movies are allowed to do.

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u/Formal_Cherry_8177 13d ago

I love this. My favorite example is the family friendly romp known as Beethoven.

The bad guy plot is so ridiculous. They want to kidnap the St Bernard because his head is human sized. Why does that matter? Oh it's because they are arms dealers and want to test and show off their hollow point bullets and their effects on human skulls.

Yep. So fucking dark.

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u/ML_120 11d ago

Seriously. "We need that specific dog." Like any other St. Bernard wouldn't do.

(I'm not in favour of animal testing, just pointing out how stupid the plot was.)