For a kid, the hour and a half spent watching the ideal movie can be feel like jumping into a new, better world.
Absorbed by the colors, action, or imaginative worlds, we sat slack-jawed and as far from real life as we'd ever reached.
A quick word of advice: don't try to go to those places again as an adult. It just doesn't work.
In fact, watching those same beloved movies from childhood can be a very cringey, disorienting experience. We wonder just how we saw through the bad acting and ridiculous plot lines so many years ago.
Redditor I-am-Deathlock asked:
"What's a movie you loved as a child that you now consider to be cringe worthy?"
Many people talked about the movies that were so zany and silly that they, as kids, thought they'd accessed the pinnacle of comedy.
Put now, they could hear a pin drop.
That CGI Kangaroo Though
"Kangaroo Jack. Loved that sh**. Watched it so many times as a kid. Tried to watch it as a freshman in college and had to stop after 15 mins because the cringe levels were too high."
-- nanowaffle
When You Put It Like That...
"G-Force. That one Disney movie about the guinea pig spies? I thought that movie was the best as a kid."
"I got through about 10 minutes of it when I tried to rewatch it a few months ago. Man, that movie is weird..."
Turtle, Turtle
"Master of Disguise. Loved it as a kid. Holy sh** is it a terrible movie" -- iimSgtPepper
"In high school, a boy I liked fell asleep on my lap while watching it. So naturally because you're 15 and everything is weird AF, I felt like I couldn't possibly move and disturb him."
"So I slept all night long, upright, cute boy in lap, listening to the dvd menu music playing over and over. And over. And over. I can still hear it to this day but would literally rather die than ever watch it again." -- wicked0317
Other people remembered the movies that made them feel cool. But the satisfying action, the clothes, and the triumphant narratives were all smoke and mirrors.
Filling in the Gaps
"Catwoman (2003) haunted my childhood. I didn't realise the terrible special effects weren't real so I jumped around my living room trying to imitate her."
The Turning Point
"Shark Boy and Lava Girl. That sh** was the coolest thing I'd ever seen." -- StupidWithAChance
"The two things my son loves the most right now are volcanoes and sharks, so we watched it with him thinking it would be fun and nostalgic, and at first it truly was."
"But then everything changed when George Lopez attacked."
"Bonus points for Baby Taylor Lautner breakdancing to 'Dream, Dream, Dream, Dream, Dream, Dream' " -- JJNicolella
We All Need a Role Model
"Any of the Steven Seagal movies from the late 80s/early 90s. Jr High school me thought he was the biggest bada** ever born."
"Thinking about that now that feels like the most neckbeard fandom ever."
-- RoamingBison
Wildly Unethical
"Blank check. The thought of being rich as a kid made me love the movie when I was younger."
"Watched it a couple years ago and got some real predator vibes between the kid and the lady FBI agent. Really hard to watch the ending where they kiss."
-- JuniorJRIV
And other people talked about the times that parents are forced to sit through these terrible movies with their children. Sometimes, they have to do it over and over and over.
Sneaky Pops
"Mars needs moms, became my obsession and made my dad watch it at least twice a day with me until he hid it from me when i was 9 and told me he lost it. I watched it again holy crap."
A Shining Example
"Mac and Me"
"5 year old me used to make my parents rent it all the time. It's now used as a joke movie for bad Sci-Fi"
-- Byerly724
Kid Rock Rarely Ages Well
"My kids were talking about Osmosis Jones today. They were surprised at the lyrics from the song of Kid Rock. I didn't know it was that bad when we would watch it when they were children."
-- rdy4xmas
Of course, we've only scratched the surface. You're undoubtedly thinking about your own example of pure, out and out cringe.
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