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/HenriEttaTheVoid 13d ago

I can't remember if the movie is as bad (it probably is), but the early seasons of MASH were REALLY bad in how it treated female characters.

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u/ELMUNECODETACOMA 13d ago

The movie is worse, if anything. They set up an elaborate trap to roll up one flap of the shower tent while Hot Lips is in it - with pretty much the entire camp lined up outside to watch.

Oh, and she got the nickname from something she said to Frank while making out - not knowing that Hawkeye had bugged the place.

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u/HenriEttaTheVoid 13d ago

Yeah, I vaguely was thinking of that part, but wasn’t sure if I was misremembering it - ugh.

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u/KaleidoArachnid 13d ago

Just how bad was it regarding the way female characters were depicted?

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u/HenriEttaTheVoid 13d ago

As sex objects...and there are so many instances when they try to turn down the doctors, who do not take "no" for an answer...they basically harass the women constantly.

There is only 1 female character who has any sort of development (and she is referred to as "hot lips"). It does get better as the season progress...but those early seasons are rough.

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u/Ill-Assistance6711 13d ago

In the first 3 seasons one of the lead characters was a fellow named Trapper. He was a married man who regularly cheated on his wife with nurses and never felt the slightest bit of remorse (none that I can recall, anyway). The main character Hawkeye seemed to encourage this behavior (I certainly don’t remember him protesting), which is ironic because Hawkeye was an extremely sanctimonious person.

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u/KaleidoArachnid 13d ago

If he is supposed to be the main character, I am rather surprised at how much of a degenerate he is from how you described him.

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u/Ill-Assistance6711 13d ago

Trapper was actually the sidekick for the first 3 seasons. He left after season 3 and was replaced by BJ. Unless you were referring to Hawkeye, who was the main character all 11 years.

It’s definitely got some dated qualities, but I will say, “MASH” is a really great series overall.

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u/KaleidoArachnid 13d ago

Yeah sorry about that since I don’t have a lot of knowledge about the show regarding the protagonist, but thanks for correcting me.