Last week, I wrote about the ridiculous controversy surrounding Turning Red and said that the period scene would probably just go over little kids’ heads should their parents choose not to explain it. Someone commented about watching Grease at age 11 and having no idea what “knocked up” meant and consequently not understanding a major plot line about Kenickie getting Rizzo pregnant until way later in life. This reminded me of the first time I saw Dirty Dancing, when I was in 7th grade, and having no idea why Johnny’s dance partner had to have some sort of underground operation, why Baby had to pay for it and why that whole medical situation made Baby’s dad hate Johnny. I still loved the movie though!
What movie did you see as a kid that had a plot line, scene, or reference that you didn’t understand until you rewatched as an adult?
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I also just remembered that I went to a sleepover party in 6th grade and the parents put on Flashdance for the kids! I had absolutely no idea what was happening (I do not think I had any clue that strip clubs/exotic dancers existed) but remember thinking— MY MOM WOULD NOT BE OKAY WITH THIS.
I used to tell people my favorite movie as a kid was "When Harry Met Sally" because I loved Meg Ryan. I recreated the diner scene with the pie and Meg Ryan saying "yes, yes, yes" so many times in restaurants as a kid. I thought she just really liked the food and it was funny. The sexual innuendo went over my head. As an adult, I am now mortified looking back. My mom never said anything.
Dirty Dancing! I watched it as a kid and when I saw it again as an adult I asked my mom why she would let me watch that as a kid. Her answer "you had no idea what was going on, you just liked the dancing." And she was right, ha.
The scene in Grease where Rizzo and Kenicke are having sex in the car - when they realize the condom broke I had ZERO idea what they were talking about. I remember thinking his wallet broke or something?? LOL
Since sex ed in the 80s and 90s was so lacking, Look Who's Talking - the scene where they kiss then there's sperm and an egg, I thought kissing was how you made a baby. Then later my mom was running for school committee and she said our school systems need better sex ed "My own daughter thought kissing is how babies are made from Look Who's Talking!" At that point I knew... OMG MOOOMMMM. Obviously Grease and Dirty Dancing went over my head too.
Not a movie, but a Broadway show. I did not understand the references to drugs in Rent. I thought they were looking for her sash in “Light My Candle”, not stash.
Pretty Woman!! I didn't really understand what she did for a living until way later....I still loved the movie, one of my favorites till this day. I remember when I finally understood, going to my mom and asking her "You let me watch this?" her response was "Did you understand? No. You understood what was age appropriate for you and still loved it"....she had a point. I also understood all the Disney movies differently as an adult than when I was child!
When around 13 and I saw Clueless and I remember not quite understanding the part where Cher finds out that guy she was crushing over was gay. I remember just thinking the guy just wasn’t into her that way. I can’t believe I didn’t really understand what gay was back then even at 13.
My grandma let us watch The Blue Lagoon when I was about 5. I loved the magical island living and was only shocked to see them swimming naked. The minor detail about them being brother and sister (and having a kid together) completely went over my head.
So when I was little (like 10ish)my mom let me watch Pretty Women with her…it became our thing and I was always like “Why is this rated R it’s not that bad”….flash forward to my freshman year of college when I rented the DVD from the college movie shop…I was blown away ….bc for all those years my mom and I had only ever shown me the tv edited version she taped off of TBS 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️… was I surprised!!
75% of Grease went over my head. And I see someone else mentioned Bachelor Party...the scene where the 2 prostitutes turn on a vibrator and then go down to the floor...I had no idea what the vibrator was, or what they were doing, lol.
Ok I have no clue why a parent let us rent this, but a friend and I watch Bachelor Party with Tom Hanks at some point in the late 80s, early 90s. The friend is saying something to the bride (Tawny Kittane) at the beginning about a blow job. I thought it had something to do with the big 80s hair...
Parenthood - the scene where the power goes out and Steve Martin looks for a flashlight at his sister’s house and comes back with a vibrator instead. It sticks out because I had NO IDEA why my dad freaked out and turned off the movie.
I must’ve watched Dirty Dancing about 50 times as a kid. The whole thing went over my head. I thought Penny was sick-isn’t that what they said in the movie? That’s why she needed a doctor. I was thoroughly confused why my aunt wouldn’t let my teenage cousin go see it in the theater with her friends.
When I was in 5th grade I saw Wayne's World and there is a scene when they are in the control room, talking about hand cue's for filming the show and Wayne says "I believe I requested the hand job" and I thought they were talking about plastic surgery, like a nose job.
I felt the same way about Dirty Dancing … not a clue what was happening lol. In fact, the scene after Baby is “sawed in half” at the magic show, she’s standing, receiving a duck as a prize. There’s a little belt on her dress. As a kid I was so sure that was holding her body together 🤦🏻♀️ … so clearly the whole abortion thing went right over my head.
In addition to this, I rewatched Mrs. Doubtfire as an adult and I feel like so much of that went over my head as a kid too. Just about every conversation Mrs. Doubtfire had with Stu and a lot of the goings on at the Bridges restaurant scene too.
Forest Gump! Not only did most of the historical references go over my head, but also the scene in Jenny's dorm room was absolutely something I didn't understand as a kid!
I don't remember a particular movie but am still surprised I was allowed to watch every episode of Saturday Night Live as a child. I watched the first few seasons every week with my parents. Every sexual innuendo went straight over my head at age 10. By the age of 13/14 my father no longer allow me to watch it.
Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman and Mannequin... I think there's a part where one of the men couldn't "perform" lol plus Emmy and Jonathan had some low key sexy time. I'm sure there were more, I was an only child and ratings meant nothing back then LOL
A babysitter let me watch Dirty Dancing when I was 7 or 8. All I remembered about it was that the dancing was amazing and that she wasn't allowed to babysit for me anymore after that.
Shortly after that I also saw Spaceballs at a sleepover and so much went over my head.
I thought Penny got beat up in dirty dancing. When they say the guy had a rusty knife and a folding table, I thought that meant he came in her room and beat her up. Let’s just say it was a whole different movie after the realization about what happened.
Not a movie but I remember watching the first episode of the tv show That 70s show when they were all sitting in the character Eric Forman’s basement in a cloud of special smoke 😆 not making any sense being goofy and my mom laughing and me having no idea why this would be funny lol.
Basically all of Mrs. Doubtfire. I watched it with our nieces recently and could not believe my parents let me watch that movie roughly 600 times as a child! 🤣
I grew up watching Dukes of Hazard. Fast forward to Y2K and my friends and I were watching some reruns. We were all completely shocked at all the innuendos laced through the whole show. Crazy.
Grease for me, too. Understanding the album I listened to nonstop, especially the song "Tell Me More". Just some good ol' dancing fun around a hotrod while hyping up sexual assault.
In the 90's I let my 6 year old watch Friends with me at 8pm on Thursday nights. It went completely over her head, and I only regret she was exposed to all the homophobia and fatphobia.
Big, with Tom Hanks. OMG I watched this as an adult and YOWZA are there some inappropriate scenes. My sister and I watched Big, Dirty Dancing, and Top Gun on repeat. The adult stuff just went all the way over our heads lol
Dirty Dancing for me too! I got a copy of it for Christmas when I was in 6th or 7th grade from my dad and stepmom. I don’t think they had any clue what it was about. The abortion storyline went over my head at the time but I loved the dancing and music. (Still do!) And Patrick Swayze was an instant crush.
We watched Pinocchio and Dumbo when my son was younger - and my husband I could not believe all the racist and highly inappropriate themes in both. Totally went over our heads when we were kids. Won't let my kids watch those now!
Back to the Future! I rewatched it with my son last year and was so surprised by how incestual the plot line got! My son didn't pick up on it though (age 10) so I guess I didn't as a kid either....? totally ruined the movie for me as an adult!
Ok yes to not understanding half the stuff in Grease!! But also Dirty Dancing… I had no idea about the abortion stuff, I just liked the dancing and lift scenes!!
in a very conservative Baptist home, so I was sheltered beyond belief. I didn’t get ¾ of Grease and I was around 12. I swear sometimes I still feel like I’m catching up!
When I was just shy of 10 my Aunts took me to see Junior Bonner. When I read the marquee before going in I asked them what junior “boner” was about. They laughed and repeated that for weeks and I never had any idea what was so funny 🤣
I remembered another one. I remember going to Ghost (Patrick Swayze was a fan fave) in like 6th grade at the movie theater for a friends birthday....thinking, um this is kinda scary and my parents would probably die if they knew we came to see this!!
Labyrinth. I LOVED it as a child and watched it so much. But I thought Jareth was a woman (makeup, hair, fancy outfit) and couldn't understand why he fell in love with Sarah.
Aside: I watched the National Lampoons movies WAY too young.
Pretty Woman! I remember as a kid having ZERO idea what she was holding in her hand.
Also, we used to watch Dirty Dancing all the time. We owned the VHS. I don’t remember at what point I finally understood what happened to Penny, but my mom never bothered to discuss it with us. Her answer to any movie/show that showed sex was always that sex was for marriage. 🙄
Like many others Dirty Dancing and Blue Lagoon. Also, The Bodyguard, I was about 11 and the scene about and the stalker masturbating on her bed went right over my head. My stepmom thought it was a good opportunity for us to have the first sex conversation, she could have just ignore it because certainly I had no idea.
omg yes to ALL of these (including Look Who’s Talking … I totally forgot about that one!) But also in the original Annie, the scene where Carol Burnett is getting drunk during “Little Girls” - I never caught on. It wasn’t until I was watching it with my oldest daughter (who was 6 at the time) and she was like “Mommy why is she falling all over the place??” 😳🤣
I wanted to watch Dirty Dancing SOOOO bad when I was around 10 or 11. My mom kept saying no. Then one day when I asked she said, "Do you know what an abortion is?" and I said "no" and so she didn't let me watch the movie. Then a few months later we all watched it at my aunt's house....still with no explanation about abortion! I didn't get what was going on except I definitely got the "dirty dancing" aspect of it!
I was maybe in 4th grade when I saw grease. My aunt recorded it off her tv but left out the sex scene, and then mailed it to my mom for me to see. I watched it so many times but it wasn’t until I was older that I saw the whole version and wondered why there was an extra scene. Even when I saw the scene, I didn’t get it entirely because I was still too young to know anything about sex (probably middle school).
I was surprised by so many inappropriate themes in Big Trouble in Little China. I shouldn't have been so surprised, but I remember loving that movie as a child and just wide-eyed when I rewatched it as an adult. I was a blonde child with green eyes and just wanted badly to be taken to break the curse. Later I realized I was fantasizing about being trafficked. Ummmmm. Mom?
Mine would have to be Gigi. I first saw that in the 60s when I was 8. That Gigi was being groomed to be a courtesan was totally over my head. I was just loving the songs and costumes. It wasn't until the 70s when I watched it again that I clued in.
As soon as I saw the title of this post, I immediately thought of Dirty Dancing! Same experience. I watched it later as an adult and was like, "woah, I had no idea that's what this movie was about." Hah!
I also just remembered that I went to a sleepover party in 6th grade and the parents put on Flashdance for the kids! I had absolutely no idea what was happening (I do not think I had any clue that strip clubs/exotic dancers existed) but remember thinking— MY MOM WOULD NOT BE OKAY WITH THIS.
I used to tell people my favorite movie as a kid was "When Harry Met Sally" because I loved Meg Ryan. I recreated the diner scene with the pie and Meg Ryan saying "yes, yes, yes" so many times in restaurants as a kid. I thought she just really liked the food and it was funny. The sexual innuendo went over my head. As an adult, I am now mortified looking back. My mom never said anything.
in the movie "now and then" when the girls see the boys naked and are talking about hard-ons- thought they were saying "heart on" for years
Dirty Dancing! I watched it as a kid and when I saw it again as an adult I asked my mom why she would let me watch that as a kid. Her answer "you had no idea what was going on, you just liked the dancing." And she was right, ha.
The scene in Grease where Rizzo and Kenicke are having sex in the car - when they realize the condom broke I had ZERO idea what they were talking about. I remember thinking his wallet broke or something?? LOL
Since sex ed in the 80s and 90s was so lacking, Look Who's Talking - the scene where they kiss then there's sperm and an egg, I thought kissing was how you made a baby. Then later my mom was running for school committee and she said our school systems need better sex ed "My own daughter thought kissing is how babies are made from Look Who's Talking!" At that point I knew... OMG MOOOMMMM. Obviously Grease and Dirty Dancing went over my head too.
Not a movie, but a Broadway show. I did not understand the references to drugs in Rent. I thought they were looking for her sash in “Light My Candle”, not stash.
Pretty Woman!! I didn't really understand what she did for a living until way later....I still loved the movie, one of my favorites till this day. I remember when I finally understood, going to my mom and asking her "You let me watch this?" her response was "Did you understand? No. You understood what was age appropriate for you and still loved it"....she had a point. I also understood all the Disney movies differently as an adult than when I was child!
When around 13 and I saw Clueless and I remember not quite understanding the part where Cher finds out that guy she was crushing over was gay. I remember just thinking the guy just wasn’t into her that way. I can’t believe I didn’t really understand what gay was back then even at 13.
My grandma let us watch The Blue Lagoon when I was about 5. I loved the magical island living and was only shocked to see them swimming naked. The minor detail about them being brother and sister (and having a kid together) completely went over my head.
Oh and Hocus Pocus! The entire storyline revolves around Max lighting the candle as a virgin - and I had no idea what that meant until much later!
So when I was little (like 10ish)my mom let me watch Pretty Women with her…it became our thing and I was always like “Why is this rated R it’s not that bad”….flash forward to my freshman year of college when I rented the DVD from the college movie shop…I was blown away ….bc for all those years my mom and I had only ever shown me the tv edited version she taped off of TBS 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️… was I surprised!!
75% of Grease went over my head. And I see someone else mentioned Bachelor Party...the scene where the 2 prostitutes turn on a vibrator and then go down to the floor...I had no idea what the vibrator was, or what they were doing, lol.
Ok I have no clue why a parent let us rent this, but a friend and I watch Bachelor Party with Tom Hanks at some point in the late 80s, early 90s. The friend is saying something to the bride (Tawny Kittane) at the beginning about a blow job. I thought it had something to do with the big 80s hair...
Parenthood - the scene where the power goes out and Steve Martin looks for a flashlight at his sister’s house and comes back with a vibrator instead. It sticks out because I had NO IDEA why my dad freaked out and turned off the movie.
I must’ve watched Dirty Dancing about 50 times as a kid. The whole thing went over my head. I thought Penny was sick-isn’t that what they said in the movie? That’s why she needed a doctor. I was thoroughly confused why my aunt wouldn’t let my teenage cousin go see it in the theater with her friends.
When I was in 5th grade I saw Wayne's World and there is a scene when they are in the control room, talking about hand cue's for filming the show and Wayne says "I believe I requested the hand job" and I thought they were talking about plastic surgery, like a nose job.
I felt the same way about Dirty Dancing … not a clue what was happening lol. In fact, the scene after Baby is “sawed in half” at the magic show, she’s standing, receiving a duck as a prize. There’s a little belt on her dress. As a kid I was so sure that was holding her body together 🤦🏻♀️ … so clearly the whole abortion thing went right over my head.
In addition to this, I rewatched Mrs. Doubtfire as an adult and I feel like so much of that went over my head as a kid too. Just about every conversation Mrs. Doubtfire had with Stu and a lot of the goings on at the Bridges restaurant scene too.
Forest Gump! Not only did most of the historical references go over my head, but also the scene in Jenny's dorm room was absolutely something I didn't understand as a kid!
I don't remember a particular movie but am still surprised I was allowed to watch every episode of Saturday Night Live as a child. I watched the first few seasons every week with my parents. Every sexual innuendo went straight over my head at age 10. By the age of 13/14 my father no longer allow me to watch it.
Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman and Mannequin... I think there's a part where one of the men couldn't "perform" lol plus Emmy and Jonathan had some low key sexy time. I'm sure there were more, I was an only child and ratings meant nothing back then LOL
Right there with you on Dirty Dancing! Why was everyone so mad Baby was in Johnny’s room?? Ha!
Yes! My answer was Dirty Dancing before I even read your full post
A babysitter let me watch Dirty Dancing when I was 7 or 8. All I remembered about it was that the dancing was amazing and that she wasn't allowed to babysit for me anymore after that.
Shortly after that I also saw Spaceballs at a sleepover and so much went over my head.
I thought Penny got beat up in dirty dancing. When they say the guy had a rusty knife and a folding table, I thought that meant he came in her room and beat her up. Let’s just say it was a whole different movie after the realization about what happened.
Not a movie but I remember watching the first episode of the tv show That 70s show when they were all sitting in the character Eric Forman’s basement in a cloud of special smoke 😆 not making any sense being goofy and my mom laughing and me having no idea why this would be funny lol.
Basically all of Mrs. Doubtfire. I watched it with our nieces recently and could not believe my parents let me watch that movie roughly 600 times as a child! 🤣
I grew up watching Dukes of Hazard. Fast forward to Y2K and my friends and I were watching some reruns. We were all completely shocked at all the innuendos laced through the whole show. Crazy.
Grease for me, too. Understanding the album I listened to nonstop, especially the song "Tell Me More". Just some good ol' dancing fun around a hotrod while hyping up sexual assault.
In the 90's I let my 6 year old watch Friends with me at 8pm on Thursday nights. It went completely over her head, and I only regret she was exposed to all the homophobia and fatphobia.
Big, with Tom Hanks. OMG I watched this as an adult and YOWZA are there some inappropriate scenes. My sister and I watched Big, Dirty Dancing, and Top Gun on repeat. The adult stuff just went all the way over our heads lol
Dirty Dancing for me too! I got a copy of it for Christmas when I was in 6th or 7th grade from my dad and stepmom. I don’t think they had any clue what it was about. The abortion storyline went over my head at the time but I loved the dancing and music. (Still do!) And Patrick Swayze was an instant crush.
Not only movies but songs too!
We watched Pinocchio and Dumbo when my son was younger - and my husband I could not believe all the racist and highly inappropriate themes in both. Totally went over our heads when we were kids. Won't let my kids watch those now!
Back to the Future! I rewatched it with my son last year and was so surprised by how incestual the plot line got! My son didn't pick up on it though (age 10) so I guess I didn't as a kid either....? totally ruined the movie for me as an adult!
Don’t ask why I was allowed to watch Pretty Woman as a pre-teen 😳
Ok yes to not understanding half the stuff in Grease!! But also Dirty Dancing… I had no idea about the abortion stuff, I just liked the dancing and lift scenes!!
Literally all of them. I grew up
in a very conservative Baptist home, so I was sheltered beyond belief. I didn’t get ¾ of Grease and I was around 12. I swear sometimes I still feel like I’m catching up!
When I was just shy of 10 my Aunts took me to see Junior Bonner. When I read the marquee before going in I asked them what junior “boner” was about. They laughed and repeated that for weeks and I never had any idea what was so funny 🤣
A classic!
I remembered another one. I remember going to Ghost (Patrick Swayze was a fan fave) in like 6th grade at the movie theater for a friends birthday....thinking, um this is kinda scary and my parents would probably die if they knew we came to see this!!
Labyrinth. I LOVED it as a child and watched it so much. But I thought Jareth was a woman (makeup, hair, fancy outfit) and couldn't understand why he fell in love with Sarah.
Aside: I watched the National Lampoons movies WAY too young.
Pretty Woman! I remember as a kid having ZERO idea what she was holding in her hand.
Also, we used to watch Dirty Dancing all the time. We owned the VHS. I don’t remember at what point I finally understood what happened to Penny, but my mom never bothered to discuss it with us. Her answer to any movie/show that showed sex was always that sex was for marriage. 🙄
Like many others Dirty Dancing and Blue Lagoon. Also, The Bodyguard, I was about 11 and the scene about and the stalker masturbating on her bed went right over my head. My stepmom thought it was a good opportunity for us to have the first sex conversation, she could have just ignore it because certainly I had no idea.
omg yes to ALL of these (including Look Who’s Talking … I totally forgot about that one!) But also in the original Annie, the scene where Carol Burnett is getting drunk during “Little Girls” - I never caught on. It wasn’t until I was watching it with my oldest daughter (who was 6 at the time) and she was like “Mommy why is she falling all over the place??” 😳🤣
I wanted to watch Dirty Dancing SOOOO bad when I was around 10 or 11. My mom kept saying no. Then one day when I asked she said, "Do you know what an abortion is?" and I said "no" and so she didn't let me watch the movie. Then a few months later we all watched it at my aunt's house....still with no explanation about abortion! I didn't get what was going on except I definitely got the "dirty dancing" aspect of it!
I was maybe in 4th grade when I saw grease. My aunt recorded it off her tv but left out the sex scene, and then mailed it to my mom for me to see. I watched it so many times but it wasn’t until I was older that I saw the whole version and wondered why there was an extra scene. Even when I saw the scene, I didn’t get it entirely because I was still too young to know anything about sex (probably middle school).
I was surprised by so many inappropriate themes in Big Trouble in Little China. I shouldn't have been so surprised, but I remember loving that movie as a child and just wide-eyed when I rewatched it as an adult. I was a blonde child with green eyes and just wanted badly to be taken to break the curse. Later I realized I was fantasizing about being trafficked. Ummmmm. Mom?
Mine would have to be Gigi. I first saw that in the 60s when I was 8. That Gigi was being groomed to be a courtesan was totally over my head. I was just loving the songs and costumes. It wasn't until the 70s when I watched it again that I clued in.
As soon as I saw the title of this post, I immediately thought of Dirty Dancing! Same experience. I watched it later as an adult and was like, "woah, I had no idea that's what this movie was about." Hah!
Yep, Dirty Dancing!