A cavalcade of cretins: racist & generally deplorable SHites

Last night I watched the first hour of the 1984 John Hughes movie, Sixteen Candles with my thirteen year old daughter.

I was surprised at how dated and unpolitically correct so much of the material was. We spent a lot of the time cringing at what was going on.

Here's what I thought was dubious at best, offensive at worst.

*Homophobic language with the use of the word "fag" as an insult.

*Prolonged ridiculing of a Chinese character, called Long Duk Dong. The audience was invited to laugh at his bad English and when he came onscreen there was a stereotypical Chinese music cue.

*A scene in which a grandmother feels her grand daughter's breasts.

*Comedy derived from a character wearing a neck brace.

*A plot line in which the "hunk" (who I am sure is meant to be sympathetic) offers his inebriated girlfriend to the "geek", telling him he can do whatever he wants with her.

I know that films date over time. I could accept the first four of these as a reflection of the time, but the last one is dreadful, and surely was even back in 1984.

I was disappointed by how off colour this film was. Maybe I did it a disservice by not watching the full thing?

I was disappointed, as I really have fond memories of Pretty in Pink and Breakfast Club. I am sure the humour in these two films is more intelligent.

I wonder how John Hughes felt about this film when he looked back.

I don't intend this thread to be a John Hughes bashing one. He was a good filmmaker and I am sure a good person.

Any thoughts?

Oddly, everything listed as offensive, on this list, reminds me of what it was like to be a teen in the 80s.

Pretty much there was no such thing as political correctness back in those days, if you dished it out you had to be prepared to get it back. I guess people in general were a lot rougher around the edges back then. Some kids today aren't model citizens either, their type of bullying is different and probably worse (cellphones).

Happy days they were...

The best advice I can offer to the OP is to never watch or read anything from the past.

Nothing from any past was done for your approval.

I like Tarzan movies and The Little Rascals.

James Bond was a womanizer.

So was Captain Kirk, so be sure to avoid ST: TOS.

And afterward, avoid All In The Family, The Jefferson's, Sanford And Son, also Chico And The Man.

Then there was the 1968 Broadway play Hair. While you can't revisit that, you can certainly buy either the Origional Broadway Cast Album or the Revival Cast double album.

You could start a new thread full of rants about the not hidden and complete disregard for any PC.

How about SNL humor, just say no...

Mel Brooks movies, absolutely NOT.

And then there's South Park, no PC ever.

And then here, try using China + Virus, see how you will upset the thread nannies.

Fortunately, I was blessed with not having a single PC bone in my body.

If I say something that should happen to offend the nannies of the world, I couldn't care less.

I don't choose to lead my life walking around on eggshells, being concerned about how some group or individuals feel is or is not PC.

And long before Long Duck Dong, there was Mickey Roonie in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Talk about a truly funny performance, this was an all time classic.

And while we are at it, maybe we should encourage book banning?

I always welcome a good ethnic joke, grew up with them, I did.

And how about movie directors that make movies concerning controversial subjects?

Ever here of this guy?

From Wikipedia:

"David Wark "D. W." Griffith was an American film director. Widely considered as the most important filmmaker of his generation...

...with Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks he founded United Artists, enabling them to control their own interests, rather than depending on commercial studios. Griffith was also a founder member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences."

The Academy used to honor notable movie directors with a special achievement award in his name.

That is, until it became not PC to do do.

But, in a PC world, it is much easier to censor free expression and rewrite history. Such is progress...

Best we start with a stupid teenage movie. A good bit of constructive editing might work?

Some remember John and his movies like this...

"Most of Hughes's work is set in the Chicago metropolitan area. He is best known for his coming-of-age teen comedy films which often combined magic realism with honest depictions of suburban teenage life. Many of his most enduring characters from these years were written for Molly Ringwald, who was Hughes' muse."

It's a (36-year old) movie. Not a big deal.

yep. I grew up in the 80s as well. those were not "woke" times. fortunately, things are (slowly) changing.

(to Gottenbold)

So you turned a film off before it ended, but still felt the need to whine about it online? Interesting...

Yeah, and I mean this with all due respect and courtesy... get a life and stop being so hyper-oversensitive... it's a comedy, a farce, a pastiche, a parody, not real.... capiche?


(To Kevin j)

For the worse (in my opinion)... a certain segment of society is determined to be offended at practically everything and it's effect on society at large is censorious at best and downright fascistic at worst... people's careers, livelihoods, and reputations are being destroyed by a bunch of bottom-feeding, basement-dwelling, narcissistic little millennial snowflakes whose brainwashed minds hold more righteous anger over perceived wrongs than actual common sense... that way lies absolute tyranny and certainly shows the kind of world the current young generation have in store for the rest of us once they come of age and get in power.

mpayan, Denim Chicken, showtaper and 16 others like this

give me a break. the OP specifically listed things that they found offensive, and most of them were examples of things that are in fact offensive. guess what? Asian sterotypes and homophobic comments were wrong in the 1980s too! some of us actually knew that in the 1980s (#bornwoke)

I could only "like" this. I couldn't find the F-yeah button.

If un-PC dialog or characters are your big takeaway from this movie then maybe you shouldn't watch movies.

Seriously, even by the point of the movie where you bailed Dong has already overcome being an outsider and has a girlfriend and is fitting in with the American teens. The "dork" as "king of the dip$#!ts" shows some grit standing up to the jock when he tells him he'll kick his ass or get someone bigger to do it for him. All these "un-PC" characters, and their lack of concern over their social status, are also there to reinforce for the audience Sam's low self image.

There's a lot of good in this movie that you missed out on because of your wokeness.

Okay, I should have watched the whole movie. I am a fascistic, woke, snowflake.

I remember mentioning this film to one of my art professors and the first thing he commented on was its racism.
The 80's were a much different time. Filmmakers got away with a lot of things that would never fly today.

A college art professor's first comment was about racism? How shocking. :rolleyes:

Yawn. Nothing more boring than the "nyah nyah boo boo" finger wagging attitude of scolds pointing out all the things in older movies that they find unacceptable now. Stick to modern movies and stay in your safe space.

I love Sixteen Candles unreservedly.

Never saw such a rude bunch of respondents to a thread in here, defending some of the most insensitive points in a film that a person started a thread on because he not only found it disturbing, but found the context of the times and the popularity of the director disturbing.

When I see, "get a life" and "lighten up" and other chest-puffing verbiage used to defend examples of bad behavior spoken of in earnest and concern, it reminds me of the effects of exposing young, impressionable people to such bad behavior in the context of "lighthearted entertainment": it just turns bullies into older bullies. I see a line between immature peer behavior and grown-up troglodytes without empathy or even growth. There are indeed some comments here about putting the whole storyline into broader context, that are somewhat insightful. But still, the overall arrogance toward a person who comes away with a more enlightened viewpoint having seen the film in the 21st-Century context, shines right through: "I liked it when I was younger, so shut up shut up SHUT UPPP!"

I find that sad. And I find the defense of the indefensible sad.

Dlokazip:
Actually, that's not the correct term.

"Pedophilia" is an attraction to children who have not yet entered puberty.

The more accurate term for what was depicted in Animal House would be either "hebephilia" (attraction to early adolescents) or "ephebophilia" (attraction to late adolescents). Given the vague and fictional status of Faber College, it's entirely possible that the Pinto-Clorette relationship was completely legal, even by today's laws.

eric777, dlokazip and Dudley Morris like this.