Why American Beauty Is Horrifying To Watch Now

If you look back at the most popular comedies through the years, there are always parts that don't hold up. A lot of the time when it's a sex, bro, or gross-out comedy, the stuff that doesn't hold up is usually a cringeworthy scene or two where you think, "they could never do this today."

For example, Vince Vaughn getting raped in 'Wedding Crashers' is played for laughs, but then we feel better about it at the end because he falls in love with his assailant. Shannon Elizabeth's Nadia in 'American Pie' is secretly taped getting naked and her character is deported for it while no punishment comes to the men who do this to her. The villain in 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective' is a trans woman outed by a bunch of grossed-out dudes. Funny!

The fact that you can't get away with stuff like this anymore isn't a bad sign, or a sign that comedies are becoming PC or watered down. This is a good thing. It means we're not making fun of genders, races, or sexual orientations at their expense for no reason.

On this week's podcast, Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked editors Soren Bowie and Alex Schmidt to talk about some very recent movies, commercials and bits of pop-culture like these where what was once funny or en vogue is now horribly insensitive.

Throw on your headphones and click play above, go here to subscribe on iTunes, or download it here.