5 Old Movies That Couldn’t Have Avoided Cancel Culture Now

Times change and so does the cinema industry which, probably like no one else, has to keep up with social norms in order to stay away from major problems.

With all the diversity of genres and themes to talk about, modern movies are also as inclusive as ever when it comes to navigating through controversial matters and showing respect to all social groups; some old flicks, however, were way bolder than that.

It might be shocking to see something like this on the screen these days and not wonder how this wasn’t a subject of cancel culture after all, but these movies are still everyone’s favorites, despite all the audacity they had back in the day.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007)

Many of Adam Sandler ’s movies were quite close to walking through the red line, but I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry would probably be the first to go under fire.

Also starring Kevin James, the movie follows two firefighters and best buddies who come up with a risky plan to pretend to be a gay couple so that one of their children would be entitled to a healthcare plan; things get way more complicated when someone decides to find out whether the whole love story is true or not.

Delving into the LGBTQ+ theme, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry serves to revive some of the fiercest stereotypes about gays and would definitely be panned had it been released now.

Manhattan (1979)

Starring and directed by Woody Allen, Manhattan is regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made, yet it doesn’t really impede modern viewers to have mixed feelings about it.

The film’s plot centres on Allen’s Isaac Davis, a twice-divorced 42-year-old comedy writer dating a 17-year-old girl, but ultimately falling in love with his best friend’s mistress.

Even without bringing up the issues and scandals that still surround Woody Allen’s name and legacy, Manhattan’s premise is quite enough to debunk all the doubts that the movie wouldn’t be cancelled in the modern days.

Borat (2006)

Despite its audaciously bold representation of Americans and use of the most vicious stereotypes, Borat starring Sacha Baron Coen stood the test of time and even got a 2020 sequel which proved the mockumentary’s exceptional status.

Now a cult classic, Borat was conceived as a social criticism which not many might have grasped, considering the movie and its sequel’s misogynistic and racist jokes, as well as some controversial mentions about the religion.

With that in mind, it would be especially hard to understand Borat’s satire right now, so the movie wouldn’t survive if it had been initially released sometime in the 2020s.

Rain Man (1988)

Starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, Rain Man had a stunning success back in 1988, grossing $354 million in the box office and ultimately winning four Academy Awards, including for Best Picture.

However, this isn’t something to have saved the movie when remembered that its portrayal of autism aged quite poorly.

Rain Man follows Tom Cruise’s Charlie Babbitt finding out his father has died, but left everything he had (including his multimillion-dollar estate) to his other son Raymond, an autistic savant who Charlie didn’t even know existed.

Home Alone ( 1990)

The Macaulay Culkin-led Christmas comedy is still everyone’s favorite decades later, though modern audiences might be concerned about the movie’s premise during their first watch.

The film follows Culkin’s 8-year-old Kevin McCallister whose wish about not having a family at all comes true when he wakes up in an empty house; as it turns out, his parents forgot to take him with them to Paris after punishing him and making him sleep in the attic.

Home Alone was never really considered a doubtful social message, though the idea of both parents leaving their young son alone in a huge house (which would later on be attacked by burglars) doesn’t sit right with modern society anyway.