The Scary Movie franchise is one of the most successful horror movie parody franchises of all time. The first film in the franchise was released in the summer of 2000s, focussing on the success around the film Scream and parodying the horror cliches in the slasher genre. However, due to the fact that the film was released almost 20 years ago, there are several elements that age the film, some more terribly than others.
This article will list 10 ways the Scary Movie franchise aged poorly.
Needless 'Gross-out' Humor
It would be no exaggeration to state that the Scary Movie franchise relied heavily on ‘gross’ humor in order to deliver laughs or a punchline, with vomiting being a favorite of the writers.
While it would be wrong to state that ‘gross-out’ humor is always bad or childish, it wouldn’t be wrong to suggest that the Scary Movie franchise relied heavily on them in order to deliver their punchlines.
Humor Of The Time
Humor changes over time, what was once funny in the 1960s is no longer funny today. While there are still comedy films from the past that stand up today, those that rely on humor relative to the time do not. Unfortunately, Scary Movie relies heavily on contemporary phrases and humor.
This reliance on contemporary jokes and phrases not only dates the movie heavily, but it also excludes future viewers from understanding their jokes.
Spread Itself Too Thin
Originally, Scary Movie was focussed around parodying horror movies and the tropes that had become cliche within the horror genre. However, as the series released more and more sequels, the topics of their parody began to expand beyond horror movies.
Films such as the Planet of the Apes and Black Swan received parodies from the Scary Movie writers, which is odd considering they aren't horror movies.
Parodying Movies That Don't Really Exist Anymore
While it's not necessarily a bad thing to parody current movies and their tropes, it does make it harder for new audiences to understand the humor and enjoy the jokes made in the movie as the subject of the parody no longer exists.
The subject of its initial parody, Scream, was a subtle satire on the slasher genre that can still be enjoyed today; whereas Scary Movie and its sequels are a combination of both the dead slasher genre and the dying teen comedy genre that was very popular in the early to mid-2000s.
Its Initial Audience Has Grown Out Of It
Most viewers of Scary Movie initially watched it when they were young, whether it be older or younger teenagers. It should come as no surprise that one's humor changes over time and what one found funny in their childhood may not elicit laughs later in life.
This is certainly the case for Scary Movie. Despite its mature humor, it was childish in its delivery (particularly during the sequels) and this has not aged well among an audience that has grown out of it.
Homophobia
The LGBT+ movement has made huge strides across the globe over the past two decades, with more LGBT+ movies being released every year, more LGBT+ awareness, and even same-sex marriage being legalized in several nations across the globe. The LGBT+ movement has caused some jokes from the past to be seen in a different light.
The Scary Movie franchise certainly made its fair share of homophobic jokes, with the object of several jokes simply being homosexuality in general.
Random Humor
Random or surreal humor is certainly a valid form of comedy, with comedians such as Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, Noel Fielding, and Matt Berry's Toast of London being brilliant examples of how surreal humor can work incredibly well.
However, the Scary Movie franchise used random and absurd comedy in a cheap way that ties into the childish nature of its humor.
Ableism
In a similar manner to the homophobia entry, modern society has advanced to a point in which jokes made concerning the disabled are not as well regarded. This isn't to say that jokes can't be made about disabled people or disabled issues, just that the joke cannot use disability as a punchline.
As Ricky Gervais once said, "people confuse the subject of a joke with the target of a joke, and they're rarely the same.' In other words, jokes about the disabled can work, but jokes at the expense of the disabled are not; this is the mistake that Scary Movie makes.
Pop Culture References
Nothing ages a film as terribly as pop culture references, particularly if the pop culture reference is the joke. The series relies on several references to pop culture as punchlines, with the most obscure being a reference to a popular Nike advert at the time.
Making reference to these past events do nothing but age the film, preventing future audiences from understanding the joke at all.
Sexual Assault
The #MeToo movement was one of the most important social movements of the past several decades. It highlighted the issues that women have been suffering from on a daily basis since they were born and helped raise awareness of these issues across society and culture.
The Scary Movie franchise, however, was released before the #MeToo movement and, as such, relies on several forms of sexual assault as humor, with the most memorable occurring in Scary Movie 2.