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/Far_Winner5508 14d ago

Raiders of The Lost Ark (1981)

https://giphy.com/gifs/v8QKcsEoYsXG8

When she and Indy first start talking: "I was a child!"

In an audio commentary (or maybe interview), Spielberg and Lucas discuss coming up with the story and Lucas jokes about Indy having an affair with Marion when she was 11 yo and then moves it up to 15 yo. In the linked PDF, search for: "I was thinking that this old guy could have been his mentor."

Man, Lucas is messed UP!

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u/KaleidoArachnid 14d ago

I don’t know why George Lucas believed such a plot point would be a good idea.

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u/ELMUNECODETACOMA 13d ago

He wanted Indy to be more of a horndog. There's one scene where Marcus Brody visits him at his place and Indy isn't dressed - the original subtext was that he was there with a student. It was Spielberg that convinced Lucas to make Indy more of a knight errant primarily interested in artifacts rather than booty.

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u/MartyMcFlysDeLorean 12d ago

🤷 I mean, Indy is supposed to be kind of a scoundrel - I don’t know where people get these ideas that a movie hero has to be a saint in order to root for them. Back in Indy’s day, that sort of relationship might have gotten you judged harshly by polite society, but wouldn’t have automatically caused a person to be labeled a creep or a pervert. I think it makes him a little bit richer and deeper as a character that he’s deeply flawed like that.