This popped into my mind when I was watching The Fall Guy with a few friends last weekend. The movie's clearly very of the moment, with lots of current references like "It looks like Amber and Johnny went through here" (paraphrased) when seeing a wrecked room, obviously referencing Amber Heard and Johnny Depp. Another example from some time ago would be the "Wazzup" scene from the first Scary Movie. It still works today as a bit of nonsense, but it referencing a then-big beer commercial has been relegated to trivia. Making such references is kind of a double-edged sword, because it can be very funny when the movie's new, but will inevitably date it, and in some cases make the jokes completely fall flat if audiences lack the necessary context.
I don't know if this type of writing was less common in the past, hence the question in the title. I can't really think of one off the top of my head, because "older" movies I watch tend to be classics, and I'm often either informed of the history, or the movies are written with very few contemporary references.
by Identity_ranger
33 Comments
I honestly can’t think of any, likely for the reason you suggested. These types of references are great in the moment, but don’t stand the test of time, unless the thing they are referencing also withstands the test of time.
Not sure in general. But I love the Blues Brothers and never got the “Illinois Nazis” reference until recent years
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Party_of_America_v._Village_of_Skokie
I’m sure there are loads of such things that go over our heads.
Looney Tunes cartoons are full of references that are basically indecipherable to modern audiences. That doesn’t really matter because Bugs Bunny being silly works regardless of whether or not you understand what he’s parodying but there’s a whole level to those cartoons that has not aged well at all.
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I remember that the majority of the gags in Top Secret! still land to this day, but the joke where Nick Rivers says “I just told him I’d put his name on the Montgomery Ward mailing list” as a threat is nonsensical without knowing anything about a long out-of-business mail-order catalog company
Airplane! I’m right at your cut-off with 1980
that movie had a ton of references to the contemporary cultural zeitgeist, some of which have continued to persist or are largely still remembered, but many of which have been pretty much forgotten over the last 25 years or so.
Off the top of my head – most people today, particularly people under 40 are not going to recognize June Cleaver and while it’s still funny on the surface for an older white woman to be speaking jive (honestly something that would actually be kinda dated today anyway) that fact that it’s HER specifically adds a lot more punch to the joke.
totally get what you mean! a lot of early comedies, like some Mel Brooks films, have gags that rely on pop culture at the time. also, anything referencing politics or celebrities that aren’t relevant today can really land flat for new viewers. it’s wild how quickly some jokes age out, huh?
There’s a Three Stooges short where they’re in Nazi Germany and one of the SS officers says something like, “How can i do that? I only have an E card!” in reference to the level of fuel folks were limited to during the war in the US. That line creeps into my head every once in a while, and it’s one that i think becomes less and less understood every year
The Scary Movie franchise has a ton. Parodies, in general, do this. But I remember in Scary Movie 2 they had a joke where the punchline was a Firestone tire failing. I remember thinking then, “who’s going to remember that in 5 years? It’s barely a thing now.”
1985, back to the future.
“Can I get a tab?”
“Buddy I can’t get you a tab until you buy something!”
“How bout a Pepsi Free?”
“You want a Pepsi you’re gonna have to pay for it.”
Two soda related jokes for brands that were dated by the time the movie released as both brands weren’t selling well and were retooled or phased out lol.
The Kentucky Fried Movie suffers from this. Which is a shame because it’s one of the funniest movies ever if you get all the references.
You’ll find that mostly in comedies..
Network (1976) has a lot of dated references that would be lost on newer generations, but still remains eerily relevant today. The main thrust of the movie should still resonate with contemporary audiences.
Well, pop culture references don’t really date that badly. They’ll certainly hit home with the generations that experienced them. So they’re probably going to be good for about 60 years.
In dog day afternoon, at one point pacino chants “Attica, attica…” to get the crowd going. I had to look up that it was a famous prison riot in the US.
Blazing Saddles and Antz
The spoof on the Grey Poupon commercials in Wayne’s World. I’m old enough to know what it means, but anyone born a few years before or after that movie came out probably won’t get it.
“Holiday Inn” (1942) features a calendar joke where an animated turkey runs back and forth between the third and fourth Thursdays in November before giving up in confusion. Probably lost on modern audiences, this was a reference to a 1939 plan by FDR to move the date of Thanksgiving back a week to extend the Christmas shopping season and boost retail. This was not well-received and by the filming of “Holiday Inn,” the date of Thanksgiving was returned to the fourth Thursday permanently.
A LOT of youth out there don’t realize what makes the jive scene in Airplane! so funny is because the old lady was June Cleaver
There’s definitely a schism between pre and post cell phone movies. Many older movies have plots that would be easily reconciled with the ability to use a cell phone.
Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Most comedies.
You’re usually trying to illicit a humorous connection between something on screen and some sort of popular cultural reference at the time.
Obviously some comedies defy the ages. And there are plenty of serious satirical movies that rely on a popular current event. But those are outliers.
I said “Talk to me Goose” in front of my summer campers (13-15) and they all looked at me like I was speaking Klingon. Zero understanding at all, of one of the best lines from one of the biggest movies ever.
I am fucking ancient…
I’m gonna say 1963’s It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
An ensemble cast with a ton of cameos throughout, all of which were popular actors of their time.
Anyone born in the 21st century will see the Jerry Lewis cameo and go “what was that?”, no idea that he was THE King of Comedy.
To be fair to Fall Guy, the old Lee Majors TV show was itself a time capsule of a specific era in Hollywood.
The intro for the series had clips from several movies to imply that Colt Seavers did the stunts in them.
Movies like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The French Connection and Poseidon Adventure may be classics but others are bound to be obscure. I loved Silver Streak, but I don’t think many people remember that movie.
The theme song name checks Redford, Eastwood and Burt Reynolds as well as a number of girls like Sally Field, Cheryl Tiegs, Raquel Welch and a girl named Bo, names that people might recognize, but few today will realize that Majors is underselling it when he sings he was seen with Farrah, as he was in fact married to her at the time.
Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies, especially [Pillow Talk](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053172/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk). First you share a party line, and it leads to love… so youngins, what’s a party line?
This is precisely an issue I had with the TV show ***The Orville*** (2017) in its first season – there were lots of jokes that were based on contemporary issues, when this was about a spaceship hundreds of years in the future.
On the flipside, I was bummed that no one on the show ever mentioned the ***flying spaghetti monster*** that was on the captain’s desk.
Even though it’s in the 90s, Aladdin with Robin Williams had all sorts of pop culture references. Most of them would go over the heads of anyone born after that.
UHF and Night Patrol (1984) have many pop culture references that are dated now
Night Patrol had the Unknown Comic as a main character
I watched scary movie with my 15 year old. I had to explain way to much.
Johnny Dangerously.
It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. You can still watch it and be entertained, but it’s full of cameos and jokes that will go over your head.
Pillow Talk with Doris Day. The whole plot revolves around her sharing a ‘party line’ (shared land line) with an annoying stranger (Rock Hudson).
Many younger people have never heard of or used a land line, let alone being familiar with a party line.