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Things that would never "fly" today

As I pointed out, though, controversial movies are still being made. Django Unchained was a clear hit. "Pointed comedy that points out issues that make us uncomfortable"? Check out the new Borat movie, it's plenty transgressive. And Amazon says tens of millions watched it opening weekend.

I'll point out that Django was with a considerable involvement of black actors and producers, which made the movie "bona fide" politically.

Borat is safe enough because the Khazakstan lobby in Washington isn't notably strong. :D

Face it, this is a nuanced deal. Who you are, who blesses the project and how you create a movie makes a big difference in what you can get away with.
 
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When I was a kid in the early 80s, the karate/ninja movie craze was in full swing. Many of my friends had throwing stars, nunchucks, and knives. There was a store in our local mall that sold karate gear in addition to other things that would definitely be considered weapons. And they didn't care how old you were if you wanted to buy something.

My parents wouldn't let me have any of it, but I do remember eventually getting a pair of nunchucks with rubber padding on the outside of the sticks. And a friend of mine gave me a throwing star, but I had to keep it hidden.
I went out as a ninja for Halloween when I was around ten, with one of those “real but unsharpened” samurai swords on my back. I had the sense not to draw it or be silly with it in any way but I can only imagine the reaction such an item would likely elicit today.
 
I went to a Catholic school grades 1 - 8, (this was in the 70s) and one of the nun teachers in my 2nd grade class whacked my left hand with a yardstick while I was writing an assignment. She told me that it was "wrong" to write left handed and made me use my right hand.

I didn't say anything but I was very confused because I'd been writing left handed since before kindergarten and no one had ever told me anything like that.

That night I told my parents about it and i remember they both looked very surprised. They told me not to worry about it because they were going to talk with someone in the school the next day.

My mother went in to the school in the morning and had a short meeting with someone in the main office. Then she told me that I should just pretend it didn't happen and just keep writing left handed in class. She said my teacher won't try to change it. Sure enough, it was never mentioned by anyone again.

I understand that it used to be common for teachers of all kinds to force kids to write right handed. I'm not sure when that went away, but that nun from my 2nd grade was really old.
 
I'll point out that Django was with a considerable involvement of black actors and producers, which made the movie "bona fide" politically.

Borat is safe enough because the Khazakstan lobby in Washington isn't notably strong. :D

Face it, this is a nuanced deal. Who you are, who blesses the project and how you create a movie makes a big difference in what you can get away with.
I'm starting to wonder what would satisfy those who seem to be nostalgic specifically for what occurred in Blazing Saddles. That movie was made in reaction to certain events that had happened in the preceding years--the end of Westerns as a dominant genre and things we can't talk about. We aren't in that place anymore, so the exact same thing wouldn't resonate with audiences in the same way.

Yes, this is a nuanced deal, and it was back in the '70s, too. The desire for controversial movies has not changed as much as many in this thread seem to think it has, IMO.

As for Borat, it involves more than satire of Kazakhstan.
 
1) Going to the cane fields (I grew up in Hawaii) and practicing target shooting with .22 rifles.
2) Playing with mercury balls (I used to squeeze it out of dead mercury batteries). (my friends would say "that explains a lot" :D)
2a) Our parents would put mercurochrome on our cuts:
Link Removed
3) My friend and I got a spent roman candle and filled it with firecracker powder and a fuse and lit it. We ran like hell and it went boom! Left a foot deep hole in the ground. At New Year's long ago any kind of fireworks was sold.
4) In the summer, leaving the house in the morning and coming back for dinner
5) My microscope kit had chemicals like formaldehyde to preserve specimens
6) We attended Japanese language school on the weekends. Teachers would whack your hand with rulers and throw erasers at your head.
7) In grade school, teachers had paddles on the wall with notches cut in them (number of good whackings?)
 
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I went to a Catholic school grades 1 - 8, (this was in the 70s) and one of the nun teachers in my 2nd grade class whacked my left hand with a yardstick while I was writing an assignment. She told me that it was "wrong" to write left handed and made me use my right hand.

I didn't say anything but I was very confused because I'd been writing left handed since before kindergarten and no one had ever told me anything like that.

That night I told my parents about it and i remember they both looked very surprised. They told me not to worry about it because they were going to talk with someone in the school the next day.

My mother went in to the school in the morning and had a short meeting with someone in the main office. Then she told me that I should just pretend it didn't happen and just keep writing left handed in class. She said my teacher won't try to change it. Sure enough, it was never mentioned by anyone again.

I understand that it used to be common for teachers of all kinds to force kids to write right handed. I'm not sure when that went away, but that nun from my 2nd grade was really old.
My second grade teacher was showing a student how to improve his penmanship and said, "Do it just like this." The kid wrote a little, showed it to her, and said, "It's the best I can do with my left hand." The teacher was a lefty.
 
Just remembered this one from the mid-70's. I was 16 and got a job selling Rainbow (vacuum type cleaners). We were given leads and went to houses to do a little cleaning song and dance. Commissions were good.
In my orientation (a few of us, varying ages, me by far the youngest) the boss said "I don't want you drinking vodka. I can't stop you from drinking, but I'd rather our customers think you're drunk than that we hired someone stupid" (e.g., at least have booze on your breath if you're drunk).
This to a group of people who were going to be driving to and from demos...
 
One of the scenes from the movie, "Airplane". " Joey, have you ever.....:woot:



The scene in "an American Werewolf in London" where Jenny Agutter asks the annoying little kid "Have you ever been severely beaten about the arms and legs?"

Kid "No!"

Nurse Price "I thought not."


The scene in "Brazil" where the little 3 year old girl (Terry Gilliams daughter) playing Michael Palin's kid, says to Jonathan Price "Hey big boy. I want to look at your W***y".


God bless 'em!
 
Interacting with kids whom you don't know in public places.

Years ago, you could be sitting on a park bench reading a book and some boy or girl might walk up to you and say hello. You could chat with the little urchin and even pat them on the head or tousle their hair.

You do that today and the cops will show up and taser you and haul you off to jail.

A few years ago I was driving home from work on a residential street and passed by a group of 4 kids riding bikes. One kid wiped out and landed on his face in the street so I stopped to see if he was okay. He didn't have any obvious injuries but he was crying hysterically.

The other 3 kids were standing around watching so I asked them if they knew the hurt kid's parents and where lived. One girl said that was his younger brother and they lived a few blocks away.

I thought about giving them a ride home to their parents and then decided not to. I'd have to toss their bikes in my vehicle and then have them both ride in the back seat. Anyone seeing this might think I was abducting them. Especially considering I was driving a 30 year old conversion van. It wouldn't look more suspicious if "Free candy!" was spray painted on the side.

So I parked my van and started running the video camera on my phone. I gathered all 4 kids together and told them we were all going to walk together as a group to the home where the hurt kid lived.

It worked out fine in the end. The kid was just fine and his folks were grateful that I took the time to walk them home. But it's kind of sad that this is necessary today.
 
Married with children.

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