Wouldn't this be something that caused a moral outcry in the US in 1990?
It didn't.
I think most viewers saw this movie as a whimsical farce (which it was), and to be honest, there were few hetero males of Kevin's age who wouldn't or didn't get a glimpse at some point at a "nudie" magazine out of sheer curiosity if nothing else.
My recollection of Playboy magazines is that they showed breasts and muffs, nothing more explicit IIRC. If Kevin was showing watching a real porn, there might have/probably would have been some commentary about this in the movie reviews.
reply
share
EleazarHisSon (598)
4 months ago
Yes, no doubt boys looked at nudie and even hardcore magazines before the internet. I first saw a hardcore magazine when I was nine and I was completely grossed out about it like Kevin (although he is not looking at something hardcore). I think most prepubescent boys are.
But back then, I'd think these very conservative think-of-the-children mothers and people typically would be in denial and outraged about it. There is a scene in Weird Science (also written as well as directed by John Hughes) where Lisa tells Gary's mother that his only sexual tension is from tossing it to magazines and his mother completely freaks out. Now in the online age, there is no shock value to it anymore obviously.
reply
share
strntz (10843)
4 months ago
I was a kid in the 60s, and someone's big brother (it was either a big brother or an upper classman) provided a well worn nudie magazine which me and my friends all studied like it was for an anatomy final.
I think Gary's mother was written for laughs more than accuracy, although I'm sure some very uptight mothers somewhere would freak out to the knowledge their teenage post pubescent boys were tossing off, but I think most mothers even today would prefer to believe that their sons didn't do such things. I honestly think the joke would still work today.
reply
share