I accidentally saw some episodes of the office. Michael Scott and Dwight are more reactionary than I originally remembered. Just small details, but also the character’s personalities.

I just get a lot of vibes like, the writers thought “History has ended” but seeing this stuff later in life I know for a fact history comes back for season 2.

I’ve noticed things and gotten the vibe from other old TV shows, too.

66 points
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47 points

Men in Black, at least, was directly playing in to the Men in Black mythology that inspired the story; Faceless government agents in ill fitting suits doing spooky stuff. Like that’s not the subtext that is the text.

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39 points
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Meanwhile they were far more ethically vague in the comics. J neuralizes a kid who saw a vampire and tells him to become a clock tower shooter when he’s over 18.

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22 points
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23 points
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2 points
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4 points

It’s such a gen X “caring is for nerds” ideological lens. Could not have existed anywhere but the 80s-90s and carried through once they got jobs.

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50 points

Parks and Recreation really had a problem with thinking it’s the end of history, there’s nowhere to go but forward.

It’s really a show that only could’ve been made by libs during the Obama years.

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22 points
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the biden thing was WEIRD holy shit

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21 points
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20 points

the early seasons are the best, when the writers still remember that taking years to fill in a trash pit and plant some trees is supposed to be a joke

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7 points

That should’ve been the series finale, when they finally fill up the hole. Or they’re finally about to start, but some bureaucratic thing stops them.

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Someone had the theory that the change happened when one of the writers died.

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39 points

Michael is offensive but mostly as a result of being aloof and stupid and self assured. Dwight on the other hand is just a failed fascist lol

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11 points
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39 points

Yeah it’s honestly a trip watching stuff you enjoyed when you were younger and going :stalin-bummed: when it turns out to be flaming hot garbage.

Like I remember seeing a lot of shitty shows and really enjoy watching them with my dad when i was really young. Shows like ‘revenge of the nerds’, ‘national lampoon: Christmas vacation’, 'animal houses, or ‘apocalypse now’ and the few I rewatched out of nostalgia made me straight up :cringe: and say “wtf is wrong with these people”. Honestly now that I think about it I think trying to rewatch things I remembered I enjoyed and ending up disappointed actually motivated me to stop watching T.V alltogether.

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28 points
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national lampoon: Christmas vacation

I rewatch this with family every year, IMO it’s one of the ones that’s held up - mostly because it’s all about the absurdity of middle class American traditions, instead of being super racist or misogynist or whatever else.

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28 points
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17 points

Its got Chevy Chase though

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16 points

Apocalypse Now is good. What?

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The mixup I’ve seen people have is all the pro America parody’s of the “ride of the Valkyrie”scene that have been created since then, but I thought having the Americans attack to Wagner gave away the whole “we are the baddies” .

Great movie, descent into madness caused by the horror of Americas war.

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25 points

Especially because Killgore spells it out in dialogue and his name is Killgore.

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17 points

Martin sheen survived his drug trip and the French in the movie didn’t get their estate burnt to the ground.

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12 points

Martin Sheen wasn’t drug trip guy, the French estate scene is also only in the redux version. The rest of the list makes sense but I really don’t get how Apocalypse Now doesn’t hold up.

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2 points

As a lib I enjoyed Vietnam War movies, as a commie I can’t stand them, unless they’re from the Vietnamese perspective.

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3 points

Any suggestions for Vietnam war movies from the Viet perspective?

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3 points

That’s very categorical of you. I’m sure Ho would be stoked.

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38 points
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On trans issues, I think It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is the most progressive sitcom from that time period, which is saying something because the main characters are not kind to the one trans character. But at the very least the show acknowledges that how the leads are treating her is fucked up and they don’t require her to tokenize her existence to do so. That immediately puts them above 90% of their contemporaries, especially sitcoms.

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34 points

It was problematic how Mac’s relationship with her was treated as one of the first hints he’s actually gay, and the showrunners have said they regret that. Still, most of the jokes aren’t at her expense.

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the main characters are not kind to the one trans character

the main characters aren’t presented as people the audience should agree with though

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4 points

I might be misremembering but Mac punched her in the face at the end of one episode (I don’t even remember why) and two guys who saw came by to beat him up for hitting a girl. He tries to to tell them that she’s actually a guy so it’s not that bad, so they kick his ass for committing a hate crime instead.

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