▲

Many films can seem outdated because of how quickly technology has advanced, but even more interesting is looking at which films are outdated due to how our ethics have advanced. Have you tried revisiting an old favorite flick and suddenly felt very uncomfortable while watching it?

But don't be ashamed if you still love some of the movies that probably wouldn't get green-lit for production these days—not all of the movies are bad. Some may still be examples of fine film-making, and surely many of the riskier subjects were not intended with malice. But what people found perfectly acceptable a couple of decades ago can make us sick to our stomachs today.

Click through to take a second look at some well-loved films of the past that are a little more than questionable by today's standards.

▲

Rachael Leigh Cook and her nine-year-old daughter watched her 1999 rom-com 'She's All That'—to mixed results. The actress told Us Weekly in a piece published in 2022 that she let her daughter watch it because she didn't think there was anything too inappropriate, "But some of the language that they use to talk about women—I realize that it's about Freddie's character sort of going on a journey of opening his mind," she said. "And people were different than these popular crowd kids. But it is really pretty disparaging and disrespectful."

She continued, "There's body-shaming and other things that I'm like, ‘La la la Charlotte, I don't want you even hearing this.'" Cook did say, however, that she doesn't regret the role. "I'm not embarrassed to be associated with the movie," she explained. "And it was another time. But it's not great at points. There's stuff in there that's like, it's a little tough to defend in today's day."

▲If you look past the nostalgia, this '90s classic is about a guy (Freddie Prinze Jr.) who makes a bet that he can transform an “unattractive” girl into a beautiful prom queen, based upon his idea of how a woman should look and act. Not to mention the sexual assault attempt that is played off as a joke...

▲

Cary Fukunaga, the director of the most recent Bond film, 'No Time to Die,' has stated that the behavior of the beloved spy in some of the earlier movies is equal to assault. Particularly, he says, in the movies where Sean Connery portrays James Bond, such as 'Goldfinger' (1964) and 'Thunderball' (1965). He referenced those movies in a recent interview, remembering a scene where Bond is more or less forcing himself on a woman even though she's protesting. "That wouldn't fly today," the director said.

▲While this John Hughes film was huge for both Molly Ringwald and the '80s, it’s now widely criticized: the main love interest is an accessory to assault committed by Ted, who violates a heavily intoxicated girl. Even Ringwald has criticized the film.

▲Although it was a hit upon its initial release, 'Avatar' has since lost its 3D awe-inspiring feeling and has been criticized for its "white savior" complex, since it's about a white man visiting a foreign land to save an indigenous group of people.

▲Molly Ringwald also penned an article about the toxic relationship between her and Judd Nelson’s characters: "Bender harasses Claire throughout the film,” she wrote, criticizing his reaction to rejection: “When he's not sexualizing her, he takes out his rage on her with vicious contempt ... He never apologizes for any of it, but, nevertheless, he gets the girl in the end."

▲The film was first met with critical acclaim and box-office success, but over the years it's become better known for its many historical inaccuracies and goofs, like the fact that a car can be seen in the background of one of the battle scenes.

▲The comedy that launched Jim Carrey's career has since been called hugely offensive and homophobic. It climaxes with Ventura stripping down the libidinous Lt. Einhorn to expose her as a trans woman, following which a wave of men vomit in a homophobic panic.

▲Though it remains an Audrey Hepburn classic, there is one major flaw in the 1961 film: Mr. Yunioshi, a very racist depiction of an Asian man, is played by Mickey Rooney, a white actor who performed in an atrocious accent with his eyelids taped.

▲Many admired this film for helping nerds feel "seen" in Hollywood, but the sexual-assault-by-deception plot line, the racist Asian stereotype, and homophobia it seemed to condone don't do nerds any favors.

▲

In the installment where Indiana goes to a supposed colonial-era India, insidious racial stereotypes of Indian villagers and Hindu culture are seen by many as huge offenses.

▲

Considered by some as a classic of cinema, many others have criticized the film for its romanticizing of slavery and the Confederacy.

▲

Writer-director Kevin Smith ruled '90s indie, but this film about a man (Ben Affleck) pursuing an open lesbian, not respecting her sexuality and perpetuating the harmful idea that a lesbian can be “turned straight,” can be hard to watch.

▲

A few years after 'Chasing Amy,' Ben Affleck starred in yet another film in which his character, besides seeming like a misogynist and homophobe, tries to "turn a lesbian straight."

▲In this cult comedy, widely praised for its humor in 1968, it's unavoidable to acknowledge that Peter Sellers is in brown-face and using an uncomfortable Indian accent. Many argue that the clumsy Hrundi Bakshi has no malice written into his character, but even the slapstick humor hasn't aged well.

▲

This Christmas classic features many troubling tales in which men hold all the power, including how the Prime Minister dismisses Natalie after she's seemingly groped by the US President, Mark's rudeness because he loves his friend's wife, and especially the American women who have an orgy with Colin because of his accent.

▲The film was a huge box-office success in 1982, but looking at it now, the adolescent female characters are nothing more than objects, existing for little more than to strip naked through the view of a locker room spy hole.

▲

An escort learns how to be a desirable lady from a wealthy man—what could go wrong? Julia Roberts, who took the role after many other actresses passed, said she doesn't think a film like this could be made today.

▲While still regarded as a cult classic, many people today feel uncomfortable watching Deckard's character essentially force himself onto Rachael as she tries to reject him.

▲

Once a cult classic, this film has since been called "little more than a misogynistic male fantasy." After all, it's about two geeky guys who create the "perfect" woman that will do whatever they want.

▲

This 1975 film that saw Woody Allen's character making intimate jokes about his cousin (played by Diane Keaton), with whom he becomes romantically involved, is harder to digest after Allen's real-life allegations.

▲John Ford's 1956 western starring John Wayne is lauded as a stunning film, but its treatment of American Indians, and Wayne's character's willingness to kill his own niece if she's slept with (or even been assaulted by) a Comanche man, is unsettling at best.

▲While Michael Lewis' book was an in-depth look at Michael Oher's tough road to success, director John Lee Hancock's 2009 adaptation has been criticized for putting Sandra Bullock's character at the center of an alternate white savior tale.

▲

Jason Biggs' character meets an exchange student and tries to get in her pants, which would have been acceptable by today's standard if he wasn't later convinced by Stifler to secretly install a webcam so everyone can watch her undress.

▲If you re-watch this massive Tom Hanks comedy from the '80s about a 12-year-old who wakes up as a 30-year-old, it's hard not to be disturbed by the fact that a 12-year-old mind gets intimate with an adult woman.

▲Mike Myers plays a spiritual adviser of the Hindu faith, which offended people on many levels, from its outrageous portrayal of the religion and tired clichés and stereotypes to the level of acting.

▲

The Oscar for Best Picture went to a film where Kevin Spacey's character pursues and objectifies a teenage girl. Beyond the actor's multiple assault allegations (including incidents of misconduct with minors), the film already portrayed questionable intimacy politics.

▲It's been said that the movie now feels like it shows flat characters, eye-roll plot twists, and gives off a strange recruitment video vibe, in contrast to what was intended to be a pro-military, hyper-masculine love letter to America in 1986.

▲While it should still be applauded for its focus on successful women, and Meryl Streep's performance, the women are still villainized for their hard work, pitted against each other, and Anne Hathaway's character has to apologize to her ex-boyfriend for focusing on her career.

▲Bernardo Bertolucci's 1972 erotic drama, about an American businessman's relationship with a much younger Parisian woman, was already hard to watch without knowing that Bertolucci and Marlon Brando conspired to shoot a non-consensual intimate scene without telling Maria Schneider.

▲It's all fun and drag until you realize that a man goes against court orders and disguises himself as an elderly woman to secretly spend time with his children. Only the great Robin Williams could turn this horror plot into a fun one.

▲A spoiled teenager (C. Thomas Howell) poses as a young black man to get a Harvard scholarship... You already know "But it was the '80s!" will never make blackface okay.

▲

The movie's central concept hinges on two strangers falling in love without ever seeing each other's face: the stranger danger is through the roof!