What are some old movies that you used to enjoy but now cringe when watching?

Play Misty For Me. I had remembered it as an early classic of the stalker genre. When I saw it again a few years ago, I was cringing throughout.

It’s not a movie, but Seinfeld is pretty gross on rewatching. The casual sexism, callous objectification and racial stereotyping really stand out.

The Neverending Story. When I was a kid I thought it was amazing, but on rewatching it’s totally disjointed and terribly acted.

So so many films from the 80s..

Not a movie, but I tried re-watching the series Dark Shadows. As a kid I thought it was the scariest thing ever! Watching it now, it isn’t scary, it isn’t good acting, and it wasn’t good production (you could sometimes see wires or mics hanging down at the top of the screen).

Recently? Live and Let Die. At the time I didn’t realize how racist the portrayal of the natives were.

Later Japanese monster movies (kaiju) like Gamera vs. ____. Fill in the blank with any of the monsters. Through adult eyes they are universally terrible.

Python (2000) scared the hell out of me as a kid. I used to have nightmare about the giant python coming to eat me up. The python looks laughably bad to my older self now.

An old annual favorite was Bing Crosby’s Holiday Inn. Lots of 1930’s racist tropes, celebrations of Lincoln’s birthday with blackface performances.

Almost every movie made in the 70s makes me cringe. There was one….don’t remember the name….but Clint Eastwood grabbed a woman against her will and dragged her to a barn and raped her. In the film she ended up liking it.

I remember appreciating The Good, The Bad and The Ugly when it first came out. I remember it as a good movie. I tried watching it a few weeks ago….I just don’t have the attention span for it!

@Dutchess_III That film was High Plains Drifter…the one where Clint dragged the woman into the barn. And that was sort of his role in the film…the avenging spirit. Giving back to the townsfolk exactly what they earned.

I recently had the opportunity to watch Blazing Saddles which was considered a classic & one of the funniest movies of its time. I remember watching it for the first time & laughing my ass off at the humor & so did my black friends. I was appalled at the now unfunny jokes that were considered hilarious back then!!!

Grease and Saturday Night Fever.

Not a movie, but in my late childhood and early teens I loved the Batman (Adam West) series. Gotham City had a lot of colourful characters and interesting places.

Today, the outfits look like halloween costumes, nothing is dark and foreboding enough, and the entire thing has the appeal of a children’s Kool-Aid commercial.

I can hear Robin saying, “Holy Jeepers, Batman! This is a job for Kool-Aid!”

Wow I have to completely disagree about Seinfeld. I think you may be thinking of the “Cigar Store Indian” episode when talking about the racist stereotyping, but that episode was actually a satire about people who racially stereotype. Also, not sure about the casual sexism? I think the show actually portrays women in a much better light than most of the men on the show. It almost seems like we watched a completely different show.

An old movie that makes me cringe on rewatch is Disney’s Peter Pan. Probably the most overtly racist sequence I’ve ever seen in a movie.

I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Last night. Cringed at the way he talked about a 15 year old girl and her “beaver.”

@Dutchess_III But that is part of a critical plot point. McMurphy had received a harsh prison sentence for a minor assault crime because he had committed statutory rape with a girl who would did not testify so as not to implicate herself and her willingness to participate.

It is much different from old movies with what were once acceptable racist tropes.

It really didn’t add to the plot. It could have just been left out…it was the relish he felt as he bragged about it that skeeved me out. And that was the kind of crap we girls were up against.

@rockfan – Jerry is constantly acting shallow about women’s looks, Man Hands and the Ugly Girl, come to mind. One episode had George rejecting women from a job with the New York Yankees because they were too beautiful and he wouldn’t be able to keep his eyes off them. They’re all a little too uncomfortable with the gays, it’s like they’re good with it, but you always have to mention it.. y’know? Foreigners always play up their unusual English for laughs. It’s just all so 90s. Not an awful show, I guess, but the characters themselves are a lot less likable than I remembered.

There’s an episode called “The Outing” and I love how it ridicules homophobia, while at the same time pokes fun at political correctness. There’s also a funny episode where Jerry is having lunch with a gay friend and is annoyed that the waiters doesn’t think that they’re together.

Also, I think you may be taking the show too seriously. We’re meant to laugh at the characters, the show itself isn’t condoning misogyny.

The Graduate. Ridiculous ending. I assume that was supposed to be artsy smartsy but I wasn’t impressed. Liked it when I first viewed it years ago, but today…meh. Great theme music though.

Not a movie, but a video game. Fluther.

@Yellowdog, then why keep at it if you find it so cringey?

@Nomore_lockout – You might be reading the ending of The Graduate as “love conquers all” or some other happily ever after bullshit. In reality, it’s not going to work out between them, and as they get on the bus and the excitement wears off, and what they have done sinks in, fade to black. Watch it again and focus on the actor’s faces.

Man. Watching the original The Longest Yard with Burt Reynolds.
He slapped the f*** out of his girlfriend and slammed her to the floor.