Better watch them while you can!
Ahhhh, movies. They're not only an escape, but a reflection of the day. Several movies that were popular when they were released haven't stood the test of time, and Redditors took to the message boards eager to point that out. During the '80s and '90s particularly, Hollywood pushed the envelope – testing social boundaries of acceptability and humor.
Before the 1999 coming-of-age hit 'American Pie'and Sacha Baron Cohen's 'Borat', there were age-old classics like 'Porky's' setting the precedent for inappropriate toilet and sexual humor that Reddit users want nothing to do with now. Let's take a look at the 10 movies Redditors say are a no-go in today's world.
In 'Revenge of the Nerds', a group of outcasts joins together to form their own fraternity at the fictitious Adams College. Bullied by Stan Gable (Ted McGinley) of the Alpha Betas fraternity, childhood friends Lewis (Robert Carradine) and Gilbert (Anthony Edwards) round up fellow nerds Booger (Curtis Armstrong) and Lamar (Larry B. Scott) to exact revenge on their tormentors in this 1980s franchise hit.
RELATED: Seth McFarlane to Reboot 'Revenge of the Nerds', But Is That Idea Tired or Inspired?
"At least Animal House tells you that rape is bad, unlike Revenge of the Nerds where a protagonist rapes a girl and it's presented as a joke," a now-deleted user wrote. "Belushi just goes up the ladder, peeps then falls off the ladder, it's not like the Vader-rape where it's portrayed as a great nerd victory and the girl loves it cos of his amazing nerd sexual powers," Redditor OktoberSunset adds.
Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall star in this John Hughes classic about a teen girl's angst over her upcoming Sweet Sixteen. High schoolers Samantha and Ted navigate the usual teenage issues including popularity (or lack thereof), high school crushes, and overbearing parents.
What should be a typical teen rom-com is tarnished by what Redditor traxxusVT says is "drunk/date rape." Referring to the scene where Samantha's crush Jake (Michael Schoeffling) sets Ted up to have sex with Jake's drunken girlfriend. In the aftermath of #MeToo, there's no way 'Sixteen Candles' would be made today.
In American Pie a group of Midwestern teens pledge to lose their virginity before heading off to college in this late '90s comedy. Jason Biggs plays the lead protagonist James Levenstein, whose social awkwardness is only complicated by his over-enthusiastic father played by Eugene Levy.
RELATED: New 'American Pie' Movie Coming from Insecure's Sujeta Day
Teenage hijinx are not unusual in '90s movies, but the actions of the movie's characters provide more than enough cringe moments. "Secretly recording a high school chic masturbate seems kinda inappropriate," Redditor MetamorphicAI wrote. But for user a_rainbow_serpent, the oversexed mom of Stifler rubbed them the wrong way "Stifler’s mom is a pedophile."
This parody about a fictitious airline crew had an all-star cast. Spawning multiple sequels, 'Airplane!' stars Julie Hagerty as stewardess Elaine Dickinson, Robert Hayes as pilot Ted Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen of Naked Gun fame as Dr. Rumack, and guest-starring basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as Roger Murdock.
RELATED: This One 'Airplane!' Joke That Still Haunts My Brains, Even 40 Years After Its Release
Sexism and racism are a running theme in Airplane, "Oh stewardess, I speak jive," Redditor dudelikeshismusic wrote. When one user asked why the movie wouldn't fly today (pun intended), "Jokes at the airport tend to get you tased now," meltingdiamond replied.
White law school hopeful Mark Watson gets the idea to pretend to be a Black man to get a scholarship to Harvard by tanning his skin with pills to get acceptance. Once there, the privileged son of wealthy parents gets a lesson in racism 101. Though the movie was intended to open the eyes of non-people of color, there's no way it would be acceptable today.
"Even though he could make himself look black, but he could never know what it’s like to be a victim of racism because he could stop looking black whenever he wanted," Redditor akajisiu wrote.
Created by the minds behind 'South Park', 'Team America: World Police' is an animated/puppet comedy about an elite paramilitary force that mixes satire and real-world events as the team tries to stop the machinations of North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Un.
RELATED: 10 Best Animated Movies of All Time, According to the AFI
"I couldn't see Paramount Pictures releasing a film this controversial after the whole US and North Korea scenario," Reddit user FrenchSushi wrote. The movie managed to get legendary stars like Sean Penn, Matt Damon, and Susan Sarandon on board. But nearly two decades later, 'Team America: World Police would remain on the shelf.
Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden and Edward Norton as the movie's Narrator star in this dark drama about a bored salesman who embarks on a journey into the world of a bare-knuckle MMA-style fight club.
"Fight Club would basically be impossible post 9/11, Redditor redbyrlsays regarding Project Mayhem's plot to blow up the Narrator's building. Domestic terrorism is a touchy subject these days, and a protagonist that is also a terrorist would be a hard sell in today's world.
The 1970s were the heyday for so-called spaghetti westerns, and the nearly 50-year-old classic 'Blazing Saddles' is considered one of the best. Starring Gene Wilder as Jim, and Cleavon Little as Bart – a small western town's first Black sheriff – the humor that made this an all-time classic popular would get the red light if pitched today.
"Most of the laughs in Blazing Saddles come at the expense of hillbilly white folks moreso than mocking black stereotypes," according to user bradamantium92. Maybe it wouldn't get made out of fear of offending white folks."
Sacha Baron Cohen is known for his over the top characters and politically incorrect humor, so when Borat hit theaters, it wasn't so shocking to those familiar with Cohen's work. In Borat the director plays a Kazakh journalist who leaves his small Kazakhstan village to document American life.
"Borat probably wouldn't be made today, mostly due to the controversy," Redditor valkyria_knight881 commented. The stereotypical portrayal of a foreign visitor to the United States may have seemed funny in the early 2000s, but in 2023 it would wind up in a script readers bin.
Set in the 1950s, the sex filled '80s comedy Porky's is in line with the type of humor indicative of the '80s. A group of Florida teenage boys wanting to lose their virginity, head to a strip club of the same name with that exact goal in mind.
One scene in particular, when three of the movie's main characters Pee Wee (Dan Monahan), Billy (Mark Herrier), and Tommy (Wyatt Knight) has Reddit user sgtedrock saying "We thought it was all hilarious as teenagers, plus boobies. Now it’s like, “Oh hey… pretty sure that’s a sex crime."
NEXT: The Best High School Movies from the '80s.

source