Have you ever re-watched an old movie and cringed?
Maybe you were watching Breakfast at Tiffany's and Mickey Rooney's overtly racist Asian stereotype made you sit slack-jawed while staring at the screen. Maybe you were watching Goldfinger and couldn't believe Sean Connery actually slapped a woman on the ass to dismiss her while saying, "Man talk."
The good news? Those films are so old — made back in the '60s. As time has moved forward, we've become so much more progressive with our filmmaking, right? Right? Wrong.
You need only go back to the early 2000s to find movies that are equally sexist, racist, and homophobic. In fact, it's so awful that it makes you wonder if they were making movies in the 2000s just to offend people.
From Dude, Where's My Car to Win A Date With Tad Hamilton — we've rounded up early 2000s movies that seemed like a good idea at the time, but in hindsight are totally deplorable. Click ahead and prepare to cringe.
New York Minute (2004)
First, the Olsens are scared when they end up at a Black hair salon. Then, we're forced to endure Mary Kate and Ashley getting twerk lessons and weaves from Black women — because that's not racist. Also, there's a white man walking around with a faux Asian accent — for a gag. And a scene where a bro finds them dressed in bathrobes and towels and asks, "Is it my birthday?" Cause they're twins! Get it? Don't female twins only exist to be male fantasies?
Speed Racer (2008)
While Hollywood loves making movies based on Japanese anime and manga, it also loves whitewashing them. Speed Racer was a popular animated franchise in Japan and it carried over to the U.S. And in true Hollywood style, when they went to cast the film, they chose all white people. Unfortunately, Hollywood still hasn't learned their lesson. Please see the Ghost in the Shell movie.
Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)
Hollywood clearly loves mocking Asian accents. There's an entire scene from Dude, Where's My Car? where the guys try to order Chinese food and it's offensive. There's ongoing homophobic jokes. Also, women are sex objects. And the movie ends with their girlfriends getting larger breasts as a reward to the men for saving the universe.
John Tucker Must Die (2006)
Sure, this movie seemed great in 2006. Yay women seeking revenge on a douchebag! Except, for the fact that these girls are still fighting over a man, which just doesn't hold up well these days. Add the super sexist scene when they spike John Tucker’s workout supplements with estrogen — leaving him to break out in tears and "act like a girl" by asking his teammates if his thighs look fat. He also compares Kate to wine, which is... sexy? No, sorry, meant sexist. Yes, that's better.
The Love Guru (2008)
To be fair, The Love Guru was considered offensive even when it came out. But it's even more terrible when watching it years later. Like, really, Mike Meyers? You're still doing "midget" jokes? You're actually pretending to be an Indian man? The only way it could have been worse is if he wore brown face.
The Dukes of Hazzard (2005)
The description for this movie literally characterizes the main characters as "a pair of good-ol'-boy brothers who tear through rural Hazzard County, Georgia." It fails to mention they also drive around in a car with a confederate flag painted on it. But that's not the real point of the movie. The real purpose of the film is for us to gawk at Jessica Simpson's body. Duh.
Me, Myself & Irene (2000)
The thing that's supposed to be funny about Me, Myself & I is that Jim Carey's character Charlie suffers from multiple personality disorder. He's referred to as a "schizo" — no matter that schizophrenia is a completely different disorder. There's also plenty of racist, sexist, and homophobic jokes thrown in there too. You know, for laughs.
The Hot Chick (2002)
What isn't wrong with this movie? Thanks to a Wiccan curse and "voodoo earrings" Rachel McAdams switches bodies with Rob Schneider. What follows is over an hour of homophobic, racist, and sexist tropes that just don't stand the test of time.
Norbit (2007)
Remember when Eddie Murphy was so close to winning an Oscar for Dreamgirls? But then Norbit came along and ruined it. Which is understandable since Norbit is a terrible movie. The jokes include Eddie Murphy pretending to be an Asian man and playing a number of awful Black stereotypes. Of course, the ongoing joke is about the plus-size Rasputia. The gag isn't that she's offensive — because of what she says and does — but rather that she's overweight. The entire movie is lazy and crude.
Win a Date With Tad Hamilton (2004)
Here's the thing that makes this film unbearable to watch now: Topher Grace's character. Pete's masculinity is so fragile that he has to constantly make Rosalee (Kate Bosworth) doubt herself to stop her from dating another man. He literally says to her after she and Tad Hamilton fall in love, "Tad Hamilton is an actor, how do you know that he's not acting with you?" He tells her to protect her "carnal treasure" and often reminds her that Hamilton only wants to use her for sex. Worst part: Pete only wants Rosalee once someone else does. Gross.
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