Classic movies often got away with a lot of misogyny that wouldn’t fly if filmed today.
The following are some of the worst incidents of blatant misogyny in classic movies.
Rampant misogyny exists in each of these otherwise classic films, from the aforementionedPsychotoThe Birdsand everything in between.
will eventually lead to pecked death by the titular creatures.
Norman Bates is often taken as a character-insert for Hitch himself.
The 1964 classic movie adaptation doesn’t fare much better.
Sandy and Danny have just spent the whole summer together having a great time as themselves.
Why does she suddenly need to change to fit in with his bad-boy high school persona?
The Little Mermaid
It was easy to idolizeArielas a little girl.
Including, essentially, beaching herself to spend time with a man she barely knew.
At least the flick boasts a bad-ass female villain in the form of the terrifying Ursula.
When it comes to writing strong female characters, Hughes certainly isn’t the worst offender.
It’s in Ringwald’s first collaboration with the director, though, where certain issues arise.
He also takes her underwear home as a souvenir.
As for her boyfriend?
The hero, and most attainable, must-have guy in the movie.
Nowadays, not so much.
According to Fisher, he showed her sketches of the design to “frighten me into exercise.”
James Bond movies
This one is a bit of a no-brainer.
As far as Bond is concerned, woman are disposable.
Scarlett is presented as vain, selfish, and ultimately doomed.
The issue is that the film is torn between loving Scarlett’s gumption and punishing her for it.
Would that life were so simple.
It’s also majorly problematic.Revenge Of The Nerds’misogyny has to do with a fairly dodgy date rape sequence.
And, echoingSixteen Candles,here the perpetrator isn’t the obvious jock but one of the titular nerds.
Bizarrely, when Betty discovers the truth she isn’t horrified but instead almost immediately falls for Lewis.
The two even end up married in a sequel.
Dangerous, never mind dumb.
That’s not to say Ilsa makes the wrong decision.
She doesn’t make the decision at all; it’s made for her.
Just to be clear, Rick’s reassuring her that it’s okayto stay with her own husband.
One of the most famous quotes fromThe Godfatheris “may their first child be a masculine child!”
This declaration is seen as a moving, emotional moment between two characters.
Slowly, but surely, the lessons of the past are being learned by those in power.
Without looking back, there is no real room for growth.
