Moments in TV and Film that Would Never Fly Today.
A look back on entertainment from recent decades.
For those of us born in the 80s, 90s, or early 00’s, we remember a different time in film and media as far as societal standards. It is great to reflect on memories, but what of those experiences would never live-in modern society? Whether justified or not, many of our memories would be immediately canceled or generally shunned if they appeared today. Does this mean the media we grew up with was wrong ? Or that it is only wrong today ? However, we handle this mixture of generational standards, it is interesting and as to how much we have changed.
Here are a variety television and film moments that would likely not be well received.
“How Could You Be A Man? You’re So Beautiful!”
In the late 90s Ally Mcbeal was THE show to watch. The spunky lawyer comedy followed the lead character as she searched for love and pondered feminist-based issues. In season 4 a new lawyer to Ally’s firm, Mark Albert, begins dating a woman who is a client of the firm. Mark comes to find out that she’s a biological male. The subject matter becomes a popular punchline for several episodes following the discovery. This is of course including the character John Cage yelling it loudly to the Mark Albert that “she has a penis!”. John Cage did this in an attempt to jolt Mark into dumping “it” as he referred to her.
Fresh Prince On Interracial Dating.
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is known largely for propelling the acting career of one Will Smith. In season 2 the character Aunt Janice is coming home with a new boyfriend. Initially the family assumes he is a Black guy of course. They are shocked to find her new boyfriend is White.
The Canceling of Ellen.
Ellen DeGeneres is a popular well known comedian who began her career in the mist of controversy. On an episode during the 4th season of the show Ellen in 1997, she came out as a lesbian. The episode itself received high ratings. She also went on the Oprah Winfrey Show and discussed her sexuality. Following these events, her highly rated show dropped significantly in viewers and was subsequently canceled. Of course she bounced back years later with her talk show and other acting credits. She is now celebrated for who she is and has remained relevant to pop culture.
Various Friends Episodes…
Friends is typically considered a classic comedy of the 90’s. The show spawned the careers of six unknown actors at the time, especially that of Jennifer Aniston. However, even friends had storylines that would unlikely air today. In one episode the character Joey buys a purse. He raves on about how neat it is and that he loves having a bag to carry. Of course the other characters make fun of him and imply that its feminine to carry this type of bag. In another episode, the three leading male characters use a facial product to shrink their pores. The character of Monica walks in stares at them in awe and says “see you girls later!” as the audience laughs.
The character of Chandler is often accused of being less masculine than the other males and as a result implying that he may secretly be gay. Even chandlers father is a drag queen in Las Vegas, again indicating that chandler comes from different stock than the other guys.
Ross and Rachel almost hire a male nanny but Ross backs out because he feels its weird. Ross probes the nanny to admit that he has got to be gay or atleast bisexual. It turns out the nanny was straight and had a girlfriend. They don’t hire him but later they hire a female nanny who actually is a lesbian. Ross and everyone appear to be okay with this.
Seinfeld vs Iman.
Jerry Seinfeld is of course a very popular stand-up comedian who had a successful show in the 90s. The show has nearly a cult following of viewers and is typically regarded as a classic. However, Jerry himself has made some comments that would likely not be allowed in the media today. On one episode of Saturday Night Live, Jerry approached David Bowie. They began throwing jokes back and forth at each other for the audience’s amusement. Jerry says to David “So your wife is black huh ?”. Referring of course to supermodel Iman who he was married to. Bowie replies “yes” and Seinfeld says “oh well you’re British”. Implying that David is different for being with Iman, so we need a way to explain it.
Oh You’re Gay !
Jennifer Lopez has maintained her career for several decades to include dancing, acting and eventually singing. She was recently nominated for her first academy award for Hustlers. But in her early post-Selena days she did a slew of films, such as The Wedding Planner. In the film she plays Mary ,a lonely wedding planner who of course falls in love with the groom of the bride she’s planning a wedding for. Towards the end of the movie when she gets the guy, (because she’s J.Lo and why not leave his fiancé for her ?), she accuses him jokingly of being gay because he is a good ballroom dancer.
What do you think of this list ? Would any of these scenes make it on television today ? Why or Why not ? Thank you for reading.
