The ’70s were a wonderful time for cinema. The height of the New Hollywood wave, the decade was a period of transition between the remnants of the Golden Age and the dawn of the modern era of filmmaking, producing some iconic and groundbreaking pictures that paved the way.
Many films from the decade retained their iconic statuses for decades, but recent reevaluations have shifted the tide. These movies remain acclaimed, but several aspects surrounding their plots have become harder to accept under modern views, whether because of their outdated language, problematic themes, or a combination of several contentious elements.
10 ‘A Real Young Girl’ (1976)
The 1976 French unconventional coming-of-age drama A Real Young Girl follows the sexual awakening of a fourteen-year-old during a summer vacation in 1963. Quiet and somewhat disturbing, the film is a character study of a precocious girl and the complicated path to sexual self-discovery.
Awkward and discomforting, A Real Young Girl is an overly graphic representation of teen sexuality. The film’s uncompromising nature will make it a nearly unbearable experience for many, especially because of the main character’s age and the film’s treatment of her.
9 ‘Carnal Knowledge’ (1971)
The late, great Mike Nichols directs Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkel, Ann Margret, Candice Bergen, and Rita Moreno in the 1971 drama Carnal Knowledge. The story centers on two university friends whose romantic lives take a complicated and dramatic path in adulthood.
Carnal Knowledge received polarizing reviews upon its release, with some criticizing its cool and detached nature and portrayal of relationships. The film is often seen as an entirely male-centric view of relationships, with female characters framed under the male gaze and used to fit a specific, self-serving male narrative.
8 ‘Saturday Night Fever’ (1977)
John Travolta became an overnight sensation and earned an Oscar nomination for his performance in the groundbreaking and seminal disco film Saturday Night Fever. Travolta stars as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American who escapes from the hardship of life by dancing the night away at a local discotheque.
Saturday Night Fever deals with several delicate issues in the most unsubtle ways possible. From racial tensions to sexual freedom, the film handles its themes in a manner that’s unfortunately of its time. The film’s depiction of the disco scene is also sanitized, removing the queer, black, and female voices it showcased in real life to make way for Travolta’s white and straight character.
7 ‘Grease’ (1978)
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta star in Grease, one of the all-time most iconic and rewatchable musicals. The story centers on Danny, a greaser, and Sandy, a straight-A transfer student, who meet during the summer holiday and reunite in school. However, their romance faces pressure from their respective cliques.
It’s easy to see why Grease was such a classic: the music is catchy, and Newton-John and Travolta have incredible chemistry. However, Grease is filled with sexist views on relationships and a problematic message about romance and how a person must change their entire identity to win their significant other’s love. At least the soundtrack is an all-timer.
6 ‘The Deer Hunter’ (1978)
Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, and Christopher Wallace star in Michael Cimino‘s 1978 war drama The Deer Hunter. The film tells the story of three lifelong friends whose lives become marked by their experiences during the Vietnam War and the trauma that follows them home. The Deer Hunter receives stellar reviews, including nine Oscar nominations — the film even gave Christopher Walken his sole Oscar win.
However, The Deer Hunter has attracted considerable criticism for its problematic portrayal of the Viet Cong. The film’s most infamous scene, which features the Viet Cong using Russian Roulette on POWs, has been described as fictitious and racist, with film and political commentators criticizing its inclusion.
5 ‘Midnight Express’ (1978)
Hollywood sure loves its problematic depictions of foreign countries. The 1978 prison drama Midnight Express centers on a young American student sent to a Turkish prison after trying to smuggle hashish out of the country and his traumatic experiences inside. The film is based on the 1977 eponymous memoir by Billy Hayes.
Midnight Express is a troubling portrayal of what Americans believe living in a Turkish prison would be like. Hayes himself was critical of the film’s depiction of Turkish men, believing the film unfairly maligned them while deviating from his memoir. Years later, the film’s director, the late Oliver Stone, expressed regret over Midnight Express and its depiction of Turkey.
4 ‘Billy Jack’ (1971)
The 1970s had no shortage of action movies, but the Billy Jack series is among the most impressive. Starting as a small indie production, the series gained popularity with each new entry, spawning an unlikely four-movie franchise that spanned the entire decade.
The series’ second entry, Billy Jack, features the title character defending his girlfriend’s school against a local gang. The problem is the half-Navajo protagonist is played by whiter-than-milk actor Tom Laughlin. In one of the film’s most infamous scenes, Laughlin dresses in traditional Navajo clothes as part of an initiation. Suffice it to say, placing a white character as the representative of Navajo culture is a choice that has aged rather badly.
3 ‘Pretty Baby’ (1978)
Brooke Shields rose to prominence in 1978 thanks to the controversial historical drama Pretty Baby. Set during the last days of legal prostitution in New Orleans, the plot centers on Violet, a 12-year-old girl growing up in a brothel with her mother, Hattie. Susan Sarandon, Keith Carradine, and Diana Scarwid also star.
Pretty Baby attracted considerable discussion at the time of its release, particularly because of its depiction of child prostitution and for presenting several scenes with a then-twelve-year-old Shields in the nude. Pretty Baby‘s dubious reputation has only worsened over time, with many considering it a reprehensible and exploitative effort, although some find value in its depiction of lost innocence and the treasonous nature of the American dream.
2 ‘Last Tango In Paris’ (1972)
Bernardo Bertolucci‘s incendiary erotic drama Last Tango in Paris might be the most controversial film from the 70s. Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider star as a widowed American and a young Parisian woman who begin an anonymous sexual relationship.
Although the film is notorious for its graphic portrayal of sex, its reputation suffered irreparable damage when Schneider revealed the problematic on-set antics of the infamous butter scene. In 2007, the actress revealed the consequences the scene had on her psyche, putting the final nail in the coffin of a film that polarized viewers since its original release.
1 ‘Manhattan’ (1979)
The name Woody Allen is now forever tainted. His once-celebrated filmography is now the subject of discomfort, with audiences seeing his movies in a new and unfavorable light. However, perhaps no Allen film has suffered a more extreme fall from grace than 1979’s Manhattan, which sees his forty-two-year-old character in a relationship with a seventeen-year-old girl.
Although the problematic relationship received little attention during the film’s original release, it received renewed attention following Dylan Farrow‘s accusations against Allen. Now, Manhattan is the prime example of a film that aged badly, with modern audiences finding it hard and perhaps impossible to separate the on-screen narrative from Allen’s troubling real-life story.
