Louisiana Viewers Shocked At Goodfellas Trigger Warning
When you see posts on social media that suggest classic movies and tv shows couldn't be produced today, its not hyperbole. There's legitimately a climate that makes it difficult to successfully create some content.
Now, before you get too far...this isn't a "right" or "left" thing, because "both sides" are equally guilty of this. The "cancel culture" that people scream about on cable news networks is direct lineage of the satanic panic/PMRC fallout of the 80s and 90s. The same people upset about things getting "canceled" have been "canceling" things for decades.
The problem is that we're not "canceling" things that actually deserve it. We've weaponized the concept, and now are "canceling" things that we just don't like. Which has spiraled completely out of control...hence the idea that some content made in the 70s and 80s wouldn't be allowed to be produced today.
For example...the movie Goodfellas.
This mob movie was written and filmed in the 1980s, and released in 1990. It was directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese, and stared legends like Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, and Joe Pesci. It won and Academy Award (nominated for 6) and was nominated for 5 Golden Globes. Not only was it a critically acclaimed movie, it was a box office success too. Making $47.1 million (this was 1990) in theatres.
But now, the film has to have a "trigger warning" air before it can play on cable TV. Here's what recently popped up on the cable network AMC:
This isn't the first time one of these warnings have been seen before old content either. Disney is even running similar warnings before classic cartoons.
With all of this under consideration, its no longer hyperbole to suggest that a Mel Brooks movie wouldn't be able to be produced successfully in 2024. Sure, someone could make a similar movie to Blazing Saddles, but they would have to fight through attacks online, during interviews, and in the press. The stars would be dropped from other projects, and fans of the work would be ostracized for supporting it.