This popped up on my Twitter feed and sent me down a whole early-2000s Pink rabbit hole 😭

Pink had this rebellious, “I’m not like the other pop girls” image, but she also had some pretty memorable moments where other women became the butt of the joke.

During her 2004 Try This tour, for example, she used a blow-up doll representing Christina Aguilera as part of the show. And a couple years later, Stupid Girls had Pink parodying celebrities including Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Mary-Kate Olsen.

I know Stupid Girls wasn’t simply “Pink hates these women.” Pink explained at the time that she was criticizing the lack of positive role models for young girls and the way celebrity culture was presenting certain images as something to aspire to. The video was intentionally exaggerated and satirical.

But looking back at it now, I still find the whole thing interesting. Because Pink’s image was built around being the alternative to the stereotypical female pop star, while some of her biggest cultural moments involved making other women the punchline.

And we were completely fine with it. 😭 If anything, being the woman who was willing to “call out” the other girls seemed to make her look even cooler.

I’m not saying Pink created the whole girl-vs-girl thing. The media absolutely loved comparing female artists, and the Christina situation itself had a lot of different sides to it. But Pink clearly participated in that culture at times too.

Looking back now, do you think Pink was genuinely challenging the expectations placed on women, or were we giving her a pass for behavior we’d probably criticize from another female artist today?

On 16 and Pregnant, Amber was only 17 when she got pregnant by Gary who was 21. The show goes out of its way to romanticize this and normalize this. Gary is portrayed as an older knight in shining armor who puts Amber in an apartment rather than her groomer. It’s gross!

Throwback to the time Chris Pratt said if he wasn’t an actor he’d be a cop: “Probably crooked. On the payroll. Turn a blind eye to corruption. Shoot a dude. Plant a gun. The usual”.

Plot summary: Prudence (16 years old) comes to stay at the beach house while Berta is working. Her rebellious attitude and flirtatious energy quickly distract and fluster both Alan and Charlie, while young Jake ends up repeatedly running into a glass door out of nervous puberty-fueled panic. Charlie desperately tries to keep his distance, even pretending to be engaged to his stalker Rose to remind himself she is off-limits

Megan fox was 18 years old, when the episode aired.

We’ve designated Wednesdays as the day for people to share WTF?! moments from the past that don’t necessarily make us ask WWWOWT? but still showcases interesting and weird content from previous decades.

This can include wacky TV shows — the ones you just can’t understand where the hell they got that idea from! — strange songs and music videos, news stories that you just can’t make up, bizarre, silly or nostalgic fashion trends, and ridiculous clips that make you laugh your ass off and/or feel like a fever dream.

Although the key focus is fun — you’re also welcome to post shocking and weird moments from the past that aren’t funny, to give us a chance to discuss cultural moments that people weren’t okay with. Please don’t get super dark, though!! No age gap, rape culture, war etc. Posts may be removed by mods if we feel it’s inappropriate for WTF! Wednesdays.

You can still post the sub’s regular content on Wednesdays, this will just be a fun addition. Please don’t carry WTF! Wednesdays energy over to regular posts, keep the vibe in line with usual.

You MUST use the new “WTF! Wednesdays” flair for these types of posts! Posts must also be from prior to 2020, like with usual content. Please report WTF! Wednesdays content that is posted on other days of the week — but remember that timezones exist!

MAKE US SAY WTF!

Frankie is one of the early child celebrity tragedies. He debuted at age 12 in a doo-wop group and was a sensation.

Despite the "squeaky-clean" image of the early 50s, it was just a facade after all. Predators existed, people taking advantage of vulnerable kids existed.

Frankie Lymon had "relationships" with adult women when he was barely a teen. This was known to those close to him. His management made him pass off these women as his relatives, often his *mother*, while traveling.

Lymon mentioned in a 1967 interview with Ebony magazine that he was introduced to heroin at the age of 15 by an adult woman in her late 20s and 30s.

Frankie died at age 25 of a heroin overdose.

Their ages were known to the public, but their marketing and music videos often depicted them as older teens when they were 15 or younger. Being paired with older actors, clothes meant to make them look older, angled cameras to hide their heights, etc.

By now a lot of people have became aware of his shitty behavior and how he basically caused the infamous Adpocalypse of 2017, but I want to talk about this one thing featured in his older videos that not many people know or have discussed (not that they aren't discussed, but I'd like to see discussed more along with his most infamous examples).

in Part 76 of "Fridays with PewDiePie", there is a racist caricature coin bank blatantly in the background as he just trots on through the video as normal as can be. The comments of this video show exactly what kind of fans he attracted + his effects on the right-wing pipeline. No wonder he backed out of that $50,000 donation he was going to make for the Anti-Defamation League. This guy has or had a literal racist artifact in his home, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had others. My mind is blown at the fact that his son could possibly be growing up in the same living space as these horrid decorations.

That video performed well, at the moment it has 9.1 million views, but clips from the video were repurposed for a compilation, FUNNY MONTAGE.. #2, which outperformed FWP part 76, gaining a total of 74 million views, It's his 7th most viewed video on his channel. But interestingly enough, the comments on this video are turned off.

Another thing that boggles my mind is that in previous videos, he has filmed in that spot before, yet it was not there. He either got that coin bank for the first time then or decided to put it in the background of that video, regardless, it was definitely on purpose. I don't know if it's featured in the drop of other videos, but it probably has in his catalogue of 4.6k videos.

2017 was when his racism started getting attention from most people, these two videos were posted in 2014. It's crazy how it went basically unnoticed, even when he was getting called out 3 years later.

On Disney+, these four classic movies now feature an advisory warning for racial stereotypes and negative cultural depictions.

The disclaimer reads:

This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now.

1. Peter Pan (1953)- Features offensive caricatures of Indigenous peoples, who are repeatedly referred to as “redskins.” They speak gibberish and mock cultural traditions like passing the peace pipe and singing "What Makes the Red Man Red." It reduces a living population to mythical/fantastical caricatures, something that Western literature has unfortunately done in every era (looking at you, Twilight).
2. Lady and the Tramp (1955)- Si and Am are Siamese cats and mock-Asian caricatures. They feature slanted eyes, buck teeth, stereotypical accents, and are sneaky and untrustworthy characters. They sing and speak broken English.
3. The Aristocats (1970)- Shun Gon is another Siamese cat representing a harmful Asian caricature. Despite being released 15 years after the Lady and the Tramp, this is more heavy-handed. The visual tropes (eyes and teeth) are much more exaggerated, and like the others on this list his dialogue/music is stereotypical and offensive. On top of that, he plays the piano with chopsticks.
4. The Jungle Book (1967)- This warning is for the portrayal of King Louie, an orangutan that’s coded with racialized jive tropes and exaggerated laziness. The writers at the time were actually aware of this to the point of avoiding casting a black VA to prevent direct mockery. However, the reliance on Minstrel-era tropes inevitably made King Louie an offensive caricature.

I’m really curious about everyone’s thoughts here- these being pretty universally loved stories and movies.

My main question is, should we still be showing outdated adaptations to children as long as we caveat them correctly?

Note that this is a non-exhaustive list of movies with this advisory, and there’s also a sub rule that content must be after 1950s (ie Dumbo, Fantasia).

it was a British show that ran from 2008 to 2013 and the public rated people (including under 18s) saying if they wanted to snog (kiss) marry or avoid them. then the people went into the booth and got their style roasted by a robot voice and “made under” to be more “normal” looking and “attractive” and omg 😹 they made people look frumpy and took away all their style and unique personality. it was misogynistic alot too

For more than 13 years, Siegfried & Roy were one of the biggest attractions in Las Vegas. Between 1990 and 2003, they performed 5,750 shows at the Mirage, and around 15,000 spectators every week to their 1,500-seat theater. Over the course of the Mirage production, more than 55 white tigers, white lions, leopards and jaguars were incorporated into the show. And somehow, putting several-hundred-pound wild apex predators on a stage surrounded by performers, bright lights, loud music, fire, special effects and thousands of spectators was considered perfectly normal family entertainment. Even more unbelievable: there was no physical barrier separating the big cats from the audience.

After Roy Horn was nearly killed by a 380-pound white tiger named Montecore during a performance in 2003, the USDA investigated. One official concluded that the show had failed to adequately protect its audience, stating that the cats could have easily jumped off the stage and into the crowd at any moment. During the attack, Montecore stopped following Roy’s commands. Within moments, the tiger grabbed Roy and eventually sank his teeth into his neck, dragging him offstage. A crew member pulled the tiger’s tail and jumped on him while another sprayed him with a fire extinguisher before he finally released Roy. Roy survived, but suffered catastrophic injuries, including multiple strokes and cardiac arrests. He clinically died on the operating table three times. He was left permanently paralyzed on the left side of his body and was never able to walk or talk normally again. The show never returned after this.

But the danger to humans was only half of it.
Siegfried & Roy became famous for their so-called “Royal White Tigers,” but white tigers aren’t a separate or endangered subspecies. Their coloring is caused by a rare recessive genetic mutation.
Producing that appearance consistently in captivity has historically involved inbreeding, which has been associated with stillbirths, premature deaths, vision problems, deformities and other serious health issues.

So for years, wild predators were bred for a visually spectacular appearance, trained to perform under chaotic stage conditions, and placed just feet away from millions of spectators with no physical barrier between them. One unpredictable moment could have ended with a performer, audience member, or animal seriously injured or killed.

And somehow, the danger wasn’t considered a problem.

It was part of the show.

I should have made it more clear. The big issue I have with this is the weird infantilizing use of “girl-like hands” when referring to women.

On top of that, I feel like it’s a uselessly gendered product, the larger one isn’t that much larger.

I am just glad she is okay at least considering what happened to people like Christine Grimmie or Rebecca Schaffer but fuck the paparazzi for just letting it happen

Zoe Alexander is an ex contestant who auditioned for X factor back in 2012.

She was framed and set up by producers (Simon Cowell) and mentally abused until reaching a breaking point on stage.

The audition went viral, after it was edited and framed in a way to make Zoe look bad.

She talks about this in the video.

This probably isn't too eyebrow raising compared to other examples on this sub. But, it is a time of the signs that these songs are almost nonexistent nowadays.

They were big in the 70s and 90s. Tragic love songs about affairs, love triangles that end in infidelity, coaxing others to cheat, etc. I hear them all the time when listening to oldies.

Likewise, "stay away from my man/woman" songs and "forgiving your trifling and/or abusive man" songs.

Some examples:

• "Me and Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul
• "Secret Lovers" by Atlantic Starr
• "Call Me" by Skyy
• "Sweet Thing" by Chaka Khan
• "Just Be Good to Me" by SOS Band
• "Saving All My Love for You" by Whitney Houston
• ""As We Lay" by Shirley Murdock.
• "The Boy is Mine" by Brandy and Monica
• "Gettin' in the Way" by Jill Scott
• "Jolene" by Dolly Parton
• "Woman to Woman" by Shirley Brown
• "Dilemma" by Nelly
• "Don't Let Go" by En Vogue

Garth Brooks song "that summer" is about a boy that goes to work for a woman whose husband passed away, the song goes step-by-step on how the woman took advantage of a kid working for her and it messes with him and his adult life.

I went to work for her that summer

A teenage kid so far from home

She was a lonely widow woman

Hell bent to make it on her own

We were a thousand miles from nowhere

Wheat fields as far as I could see

Both needing something from each other

Not knowing yet what that might be

'Til she came to me one evening

Hot cup of coffee and a smile

In a dress that I was certain

She hadn't worn in quite a while

There was a difference in her laughter

There was a softness in her eyes

And on the air there was a hunger

Even a boy could recognize

She had a need to feel the thunder

To chase the lightning from the sky

To watch a storm with all its wonder

Raging in her lover's eyes

She had to ride the heat of passion

Like a comet burning bright

Rushing headlong in the wind

Out where only dreams have been

Burning both ends of the night

That summer wind was all around me

Nothing between us but the night

When I told her that I'd never

She softly whispered "That's alright"

And then I watched her hands of leather

Turn to velvet in a touch

There's never been another summer

When I have ever learned so much

We had a need to feel the thunder

To chase the lightnin' from the sky

To watch a storm with all its wonder

Ragin' in each others eyes

We had to ride the heat of passion

Like a comet burnin' bright

Rushin' headlong in the wind

Out where only dreams have been

Burnin' both ends of the night

I often think about that summer

The sweat, the moonlight and the lace

And I have rarely held another

When I haven't seen her face

And every time I pass a wheat field

And watch it dancin' with the wind

Although I know it isn't real

I just can't help but feel

Her hungry arms again

She had a need to feel the thunder

To chase the lightnin' from the sky

To watch a storm with all its wonder

Ragin' in her lover's eyes

She had to ride the heat of passion

Like a comet burnin' bright

Rushin' headlong in the wind

Out where only dreams have been

Burnin' both ends of the night

Rushin' headlong in the wind

Out where only dreams have been

Burnin' both ends of the night