It’s shuddering to think about what makes the cut in Hollywood these days.
Inappropriate age gaps , inappropriate sexually explicit scenes, and so much more.
These are ideas that should have been left on the drawing board (or in the garbage can). And yet, they saw the light of film.
Here are 10+ inappropriate movie and TV moments that should have been cut.
1. *Shake It Up*
Demi Lovato’s early exit on Disneys Sonny With a Chance was to seek treatment at rehab for bulimia.
That’s why she was shaken up (no pun intended) by the line, “I could just eat you up, well if I ate,” in Disney’s Shake It Up . Eating disorders are not something to joke about!
2. *America’s Next Top Model*
A lot of inappropriate things somehow got the green light on this competition show.
This included a “race swap” photoshoot idea. Creative director Jay Manuel was infuriated by the idea, but no one listened to him when he objected to it.
He felt “uncomfortable” and afraid of the backlash over the controversial idea.
In the end, Tyra Banks took the reins for the most part.
The show didn’t end up receiving criticism over the incident until years after it was aired.
3. *Wedding Crashers*
Given the many rape and homophobic jokes, we’re surprised that this movie didn’t crash at the box office.
The opening scene shows a woman reaching for pills as the cheating husband replies, “That’s it. Go comatose for me, baby.”
4. *Sixteen Candles*
There was nothing okay with the character Jake passing off his drunk unconscious girlfriend to a nerdy guy.
“I got Caroline in the bedroom right now, passed out cold. I could violate her 10 different ways if I wanted to,” he says, easily demonstrating the movie’s lack of respect for women.
5. *A Christmas Story*
Fans felt less than merry over one racially insensitive scene in the classic holiday flick.
It was when the Asian waiters mispronounce “la la la” to “ra ra ra” while singing “Deck the Halls.” This prompted lots of laughter from the characters.
In good news, the 2017 adaption of *A Christmas Story Live!*, turned the racist spin into something delightful instead.
They had the Asian a cappella group, The Filharmonic, singing the perfect version.
They also had more diverse casting for the film!
6. *Seinfeld*
Peurto Ricans weren’t happy when they saw Kramer stomping on their flag as if it was on fire during an episode of Seinfield .
The moment will forever be flagged as an ultimate low point, with the National Puerto Rican Coalition saying they felt used as a “stage prop.”
7. *American Horror Story*
There have been a lot of controversial moments in the popular show, but there was one that truly crossed the line.
It was when the show’s creator Ryan Murphy used a rape scene as a metaphor for pain and addiction .
8. *The Aristocats*
Racist moments are littered throughout the song “Everybody Wants To Be A Cat.”
While all seems fun and jolly, one of the Siamese cat’s is shouting “fortune cookie always wrong” while using chopsticks as a way to play the piano.
9. *America’s Next Top Model* again
Lines were horrifically crossed when contestant Kayla Ferrel was cornered and guilted to kiss random men on the show.
She tried her hardest to opt-out by explaining an extremely personal and traumatic sexual assault incident when she was 11.
10. *Glee*
One moment in the show was extremely tone-deaf.
When Mercedez Jones asked the rest of the gang, “Could we maybe try something a little more… black?” Rachel responded with, “It’s glee club, not crunk club.”
This had viewers raising eyebrows at the comment.
11. *The Breakfast Club*
A perverted scene involving Bender should have landed the character in jail.
While under a table, he takes the opportunity to peek under Claire’s skirt. It’s even implied that he touches her inappropriately.
To this day, actress Molly Ringwald, who played Claire, has trouble with that scene.
The actress, who has admitted to being sexually assaulted by a director when she was 14, has said that she was only “vaguely aware” of how “inappropriate” John Hughes’ writing was in the movie at the time.
12. *Friends*
When the show shows Monica as her former larger self, she is constantly belittled and made the butt of the jokes. She’s even called a “30-year-old virgin” at one point.
It’s sad that the writers took this fat-shaming narrative.
13. *Sixteen Candles* again
John Hughes certainly got it wrong with this film.
In it, Asian actor, Gedde Watanabe, played the character named Long Duk Dong. As if that wasn’t insensitive enough, a gong sound went off every time he entered a scene.
14. *Revenge of the Nerds*
There’s a controversial scene that is going to be removed in Seth MacFarlane’s reboot.
It’s when Lewis has sex with Betty by wearing a mask and pretending to be her boyfriend. It’s referred to as “rape-by-deception.”
15. *That ’70s Show*
Fez may be one of our favorite characters, but it feels icky to know that his name was short for “foreign exchange student.”
This turned into a constant running gag with his friends making fun of his intelligence, accent, and potential deportation.
16. *Wedding Crashers* again
Any form of non-consensual sex is never okay — nor is making a joke about it.
But in the film, Vince Vaughn’s character is tied up and awoken to Isla Fisher sitting on top of him.
17. *M.A.S.H.*
M.A.S.H. is often regarded as being not only one of the best sitcoms but simply one of the best series ever produced.
That said, it is undoubtedly a product of its time. For instance, the only black character in the cast is nicknamed ‘ Spearchucker .’
18. *Grease*
I’ll never understand the global fascination with the song ” Summer Nights .” Sure, sung from Sandy’s perspective it might appear to be a song about misbegotten romance.
But the verse sung by Danny and the T-Birds is filled with misogynistic language and champions taking advantage of young girls.
19. *Love Actually*
This entire film is fairly problematic from start to finish, but referring to Natalie as “the chubby girl ” certainly is one of the stand-out moments.
As if that weren’t bad enough, the film goes on to describe her as having a “sizable arse” and “huge thighs.”
20. *The Big Bang Theory*
Sheldon’s social ineptness is often used as a ruse for race humor.
After Sheldon fears that he’s offended Cal-tech’s HR administrator, he decides to make up for his indiscretion by purchasing her a Roots DVD. When she rebuffs, surprised Sheldon asks “you’re Black , right?”
21. *Ace Ventura: Pet Detective*
The only thing worse than Ace forcefully outing Lt. Einhorn as transgender to her squad is the reaction it received from her co-workers.
All of a sudden, every single man who had ever been intimate with her begins forcefully throwing up.
22. *Dumbo*
The blatant racism throughout this film makes Dumbo nearly unwatchable. The ” Song Of The Roustabouts ” is a hate-fueled insult song devised to degrade and demean Black people.
The actual lyrics are “we work all day, we work all night, we never learned to read or write.”
As if that weren’t bad enough, one of the characters is actually name Jim Crow.
This is in reference to the outdated Jim Crow laws of the United States.
Beginning in 1865, segregation was put in place thus subjugating Black Americans to the status of second-class citizens.
23. *Miss Congeniality*
It should go without saying that jokes about eating disorders and body dysmorphia aren’t laughing matters — especially when you’re making a film about the pageant circuit.
When Gracie Lou is chastised for bringing the girls pizza and beer, she tells them not to worry because they’re all going to throw it all up later, anyway.
24. *Rocky*
After Adrian tells Rocky that she doesn’t feel comfortable alone in his apartment, she turns to leave but is blocked by the bulking boxer.
He then begins kissing her and after a while, she slowly and reprehensibly returns his affections. This feels incredibly rapey by today’s standards.
25. *Overboard*
The entire premise of Overboard is beyond inappropriate.
The whole movie basically boils down to the story about a selfish deadbeat dad who kidnaps an heiress suffering from memory loss in order to convince her that she’s his wife. Gross.
26. *All In The Family*
It’s difficult looking back on classic sitcoms and TV shows with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. Very few hold up to such scrutiny, especially shows like All in the Family .
The racial slurs that come out of Archie Bunker ‘s mouth at any given moment will floor you.
27. *The Office*
You’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger fan of The Office than me. But at the same time, I’m the first to admit that the early seasons relied very heavily on race humor.
” Diversity Day ” in season 1 is the perfect example of what I’m talking about.
28. *Friends*…again.
Friends provides a lot of fodder as far as inappropriate content is concerned.
But when I try to think of the most egregious act committed on the show by any one character, Ross’s attempt at incest with his cousin ranks high.
29. *How I Met Your Mother*
For some reason, audiences were happy to give Neil Patrick Harris a pass playing arguably the most pig-headed, chauvinistic character to ever appear on the small screen.
Barney’s ” Bro-Code ” is really a collection of elaborate ways to fool women into having sex with him.
30. *The Jungle Book*
This pains me because I absolutely adored this movie as a kid. Now, seeing it through the eyes of an adult, the racist undertones are just too hard to ignore.
King Louie’s ” I Wanna Be Like You ” song is a racial travesty.
31. *Sex And The City*
Do you remember when Carrie was describing her engagement ring to Miranda? She said it was appalling because the band had “ghetto gold.”
What in the world is ” ghetto gold ,” Carrie? Can you explain it to us, please?
