Your misty, watercolored memories of films from your childhood are about to be shattered by Fred Savage, who has found some “very problematic” plot points in beloved ’80s hits like “Splash,” “Big” and “Sixteen Candles.”
The former child star, best known for his TV series the “Wonder Years” and the beloved 1987 fantasy classic “The Princess Bride,” told host Seth Meyers during Monday’s “Late Night” that he’s recently been sitting down with his wife and kids to share some of his favorite movies from back in the day.
But, uh, turns out not all ’80s flicks hold up in 2019.
“The kids like ‘The Princess Bride.’ But we do try to show them movies that we loved as kids,” Savage, now 43, said. “And they’re very problematic now in this age of trying to raise very kind of socially aware, morally responsible kids. And you try to show them these movies and we’ll be like, ‘Kids, we’re gonna show you a movie!’ and they’ll be like, ‘Oh, great, what misogynistic, racist movie are you gonna show us today?’ And I’m like ‘What are you talking about?!’ And we look at the movies and I’m like, ‘Oh, these are problems.’”
For instance, Savage points out that in the Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks-led 1984 mermaid love story “Splash,” there is “a lot of nudging about this guy taking a girl that can’t walk or talk up to his apartment.”
Savage called out “Big,” another Hanks classic from the ’80s, for the whole part where an adult woman has sex with a young boy, without knowing it because he’s trapped in an adult man’s body.
“And then you defend it and say horrible things!” Savage said, “You say like, ‘But he was dressed like an adult! He was acting like an adult! How was she to know? He was dressed wrong!’”
“Guys, it’s rough out there. Watch ’em again with a new lens and it all falls apart,” the “What Just Happened??!” host added, laughing.
Watch the clip above to see Savage take down some more movies, including the beloved John Hughes films “Sixteen Candles” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.”