MovieChat Forums > The Bad News Bears (1976) Discussion > Movie reminds me of the 70s when the pol...

Movie reminds me of the 70s when the police state was not as powerful

posted 15 years ago by anonreviewer
42 replies | jump to latest

man, this movie is like a snapshot into the 1970s. Back then people were more inclined to do what they wanted. Today it is like a police state compared to those days. Less crowded back then. More jobs. You could drive down any busy city street back in those days and see lots of HELP WANTED signs on windows. Nowadays the CorpGovMedia has imported so many cheap labor immigrants that the HELP WANTED sign is a thing of the past.

People were not afraid to drink in their cars back then. TOday there are cops everywhere.

Sexual mores were more relaxed back then. One slip up and you are in prison these days.

Damn, this country has gone to hell.

THe only way this country has improved since those days is in regards to electronics, computers, the internet. That is the only way this nation has improved. Everything else has gotten worse since then. I am completely serious. This is not just an old man talking. This is the truth. OK, maybe clothing is a little cheaper. And food might be a little cheaper. But other than that, everything else is worse.

[–] m60green 15 years ago

I agree. Watch out for those electronics. They can track you with cellphone even when the damn thing is off.

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[–] Daddy_Cee 15 years ago

"People were not afraid to drink in their cars back then. TOday there are cops everywhere...."
++++
When I was growing up my Dad would routinely have a beer in the car, and later use the empty can as an ashtray. (why he wouldn't just use the ACTUAL ashtray, I never asked.) One time I borrowed the car to go to my girlfriend's house--she came outside and her Mom happened to be leaving too and came over to chat. She took one look at the beer can and gave me such a scowl!
Thanks, Dad! :p

-------
"I live in America. Why do I have to press "1" for English?"

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[–] dan6pitcher 13 years ago

The fact that you associate the "Christian" aspect of society with freedom is extremely laughable.

Christians are the idiots who pushed for Prohibition. They are the idiots who have tried to make abortion illegal. They are the idiots who stand against assisted suicide. They are the idiots who have kept gambling and prostitution illegal. They are the idiots who pushed for Proposition 8. Yeah, Christians are so great at helping a society be free.

[–] chrisdaco2 15 years ago

Damn, everyone on this board sounds like my grandparents. I was born in '69 by the way.
As for Christian Values, it seems like nowadays I can't take a piss without hitting someone who's telling me to give my heart to Jesus or burn in Hell.
The only redeeming thing about the 70's was that I was too young to know what a sh*tty place the world was.

[–] XtroTerrestial 14 years ago

Yeah, I feel the same way. I remember I was in a movie theater once. I brought a friend of mine who had scoliosis, so we brought a couple pillows in with us. Within seconds, security was all over us.

Security: "What's in the bags?"

My friend: "Just a couple pillows."

Security: (searches bag, examining each pillow) "What do you need these for?"

Me: "My friend has scoliosis. She can't sit in the seats because they are too stiff."

I thought the security guard was going to rip the pillows in half to search for contraband by the way he eyed them. But finally, we got in. But when I went back to the snack bar, he was still staring at me like I was planning something!

Now if this were 1976, the theater wouldn't have made such a big deal about it. I think I was born in the wrong generation sometimes.

[–] porfle 14 years ago

As for Christian Values, it seems like nowadays I can't take a piss without hitting someone who's telling me to give my heart to Jesus or burn in Hell.

I have the same problem with loudmouthed, evangelical atheists.

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[–] Rockhound6165 14 years ago

We live in a police state? Apparently not where I live. However, back then when I was growing up, you could leave your doors unlocked without fear of someone breaking in and you could leave your keys in the ignition without fear someone will steal your car. You could walk the streets at night without fear of being mugged(yes, there were those neighborhoods but mine was safe). Kids didn't have to worry about pervs snatching you up. We used to play in playgrounds that would be deemed too dangerous by today's standards and no body died. And most houses had at least one gun and nobody shot up a school or even each other.

Today, you don't dare leave the house without making sure all doors and windows were locked and if you have one, your alarm system armed. You need a degree in computer technology to operate some new cars' security systems. You can't walk the streets without looking over your shoulder and kids playgrounds are near non-existent and the ones that are around, the owners are so afraid to get sued if a kid got a splinter that there is nothing fun about them. And kids always have to be on the defensive because there seems to be a child molester on every corner. So I must ask, if we lived in such a police state, don't you think we'd be safe as babies because everyone would be in fear of getting thrown in jail?

Also, back in the 70's, people were more polite and actually had manners. Today, it's "I wanna do what I wanna do when I wanna do it, the rules and laws be damned". And we had personal responsibility. I'll take growing up in the 70's over growing up today every day of the week.

[–] bnbnumber12 14 years ago

We weren't as paranoid then.

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[–] gabby_bm 14 years ago

Those are some serious rose-tinted glasses. Though I agree that there was a lot more freedom to just be yourself back then, there were problems that are being addressed more aggressively these days. Back then, child molesters were weird, crazy or jokes. Today, they are taken as seriously as they should be.

Obvious drunk drivers aren't told to be more careful after being pulled over. They are arrested.

Teachers and parents are less apt to use violence as an initial response.

Still, so much has been lost as people took up causes to fill the void in their lives. Suddenly, everything was an issue and everyone a villain.

We have more social problems because we are controlled and lashing out, screaming inside for the freedom to just tell a dirty or racist joke in good company. We want to eat without fearing for our lives. We want to drive our cars without 120 safety features.

We want to send our kids out to play. Send them to the park to slide on metal slides 3 times as tall as they are. To hop on a spinning merry-go-round as the big kids force it to go faster and faster as the young kids hold on for dear life.

Where's the thrill of sneaking a peek at dad's Playboys when they are no longer in the house for fear of dad being accused of sexual abuse?

Give a kid a taste of beer and he'll never touch another one for ten years. Keep it away from him and he'll drink himself into oblivion at the age of twelve.

Yep. Our "safe" society has turned more dangerous than ever. The dog that's kept chained up will attack whatever it can get ahold of. Give a dog his taste of freedom and its loyalty and obedience will serve its master well.

"Atlas Shrugged- Part 2"- Coming in 2012! --The saga continues!

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[–] dan6pitcher 13 years ago

Actually, society is safer now, just more paranoid due to increased media coverage of things like Natalee Holloway and JonBenet Ramsey...

1/11044 people in the 1970s were murdered.
1/18069 people in the 2000s were murdered.

Meaning, you were 1.63 times MORE likely to be murdered in the 1970s than in the last decade.

You have any more wildly inaccurate claims to make?

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[–] yatzo376 10 years ago

Lol!
Sounds like my dad.

[–] dan6pitcher 13 years ago

In 1976 the Unemployment rate was ~8%...today it's just over 8%.

Hmm. It's the same.

I love your reasons why society is worse today...People aren't allowed to drink in their cars anymore and sex crimes are prosecuted too much. Really? Those are the things which matter to you? Driving drunk and sleeping with underaged girls? Wow, that's messed up.

To say that the mid-1970s were a better time is like saying that Smoking Meth is good for weight loss. You do realize that the 70s were one of the worst economic periods in the history of the country, right? We suffered through stagflation, oil crises, major presidential turmoil (Nixon, Agnew...), a costly war in Vietnam, The Dow Jones Industrial Average was dropping (In 1974 it had dropped about 25%, it still hadn't recovered in 1976), women could still be sexually harrassed and discriminated against in the workplace, etc.

Seriously, do you people ever even pay attention to the world around you or do you just idealize the past because your life sucks?

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[–] ridge-m-1 12 years ago

A few comments on the 70's, or what I call the last best decade for living in the U.S of A. Nixon resigned in '74 and the long national nightmare that was Vietnam ended in early '75. These two seminal events took a huge weight from the shoulders of the American public.

The sexual and cultural revolution which took place in the Sixties had gone mainstream by the Seventies and the repression of the Reagan era had not yet begun which is why so many posters equate the period with a sense of more individual freedoms.

The beginning of the modern day Police State (elected officials have always used the police to protect the interests of their financial backers from almost the very beginnings of the Republic, individual rights be damned), which has now morphed into the National Security State because of the misguided way in which Bush/Cheney dealt with the aftermath of 9/11, can be traced to Nixon's foolish War on Drugs. Drugs were, by some, considered to be such an evil scourge that the sacrifice of constitutionally guaranteed rights was considered to be a reasonable sacrifice to eliminate the use of such "dangerous" drugs as marijuana. Ask yourself why it took a Constitutional Amendment to prohibit the sale of alcohol but drugs such as marijuana, which is actually a weed that grows wild in many states of the country, was made illegal by the stroke of a pen and one can see in a nutshell the erosion of indivividual freedoms and personal liberties in this country.

The sad fact of the matter is that we have already crossed the threshold and there is no going back to what many still recall as a more civilized and functional society.

[–] looking4ahandout 12 years ago

We're done for. Dubya put the coffin in the grave and Obama is shoveling the dirt on as fast as he can.

Movies like this couldn't even be made anymore.

[–] drnossal 9 years ago

Don't forget the RICO act, instituted to fight organized crime, but eventually devolving into local cops confiscating your mom's Citation because you left a roach in the back seat.

"You didn't come into this life just to sit around on a dugout bench, did ya?"

[–] jefgg 11 years ago

I grew up in the '70s and I am glad I did. The kids today are under permanent lock down. I think I would have suffered a breakdown if I had to deal with 24/7 adult supervision. I feel badly for the youth of today. They are growing up without my two favorite things from childhood, prank phone calls and trick or treating. Caller i.d. has eliminated the endless joy of prank phone calls. Kids still trick or treat on Halloween, but it is nothing like back in the day. People gave out real candy bars back then, none of that "fun size" crap. I also enjoyed Goosey Night. It is also known as Devil's Night, Cabbage Night and Mischief Night. Goosey Night is the night before Halloween and you play pranks and commit petty acts of vandalism that night. It is huge where I live in New Jersey. But it isn't celebrated all over.

[–] sonofbeach-sheet 11 years ago

I think you nailed it! I remember as young as 6-7 years of age being around the neighborhood by myself or outside with other kids and no adult supervision! And I absolutely hated it when I got a nasty cut and was rubbed with that red-orange crap that burned like the fire of hell. I knew nothing about pedophiles until I was about 13-14 and saw that episode of Diffrent Strokes with Arnold and his friend being seduced by that bicycle store owner.

Yeah, many kids and teens alike have now become a bunch of lazy, entitled, blubber-bellied, pasty faced twerps with few street smarts if they live in the suburbs! And 99.9% of them would be horribly offended if a kid like Tanner made those kinds of comments!

As for the adults, 40-something men back then were usually muscular, broad-shouldered, hairy, and not afraid to put a kid in his place. A more timid or weaker 40-ish man usually had a lanky frame, wore button down shirts, slacks, loafers, and shirt pocket with a pen and glasses case in it. Now 40-ish men are like kids now and still dress like them!

[–] jefgg 11 years ago

I think YOU nailed it. I attended School #15 in Clifton, NJ. It was marked down from School #20 for good behavior. Sure, I took a few lumps growing up. But it taught me how to take care of myself.

I think bullied Miami Dolphins football player Jonathan Martin grew up in the sanitized suburbs attending "country day schools". It isn't surprising he never learned how to deal with bullies.

The schools now have the kids practically under lock down. The administrations don't actually care. It is all about the liability.

[–] sonofbeach-sheet 11 years ago

I know EXACTLY what you mean about kids being on lock down! I was at my son's high school a few times to "sign him out". I had to sign out my 16-17 year old son! I fargin had my own car at that age and went to my classes by myself! Not only that, it was a totally quiet and sterile environment, even in between classes when the kids are in the halls. Some of us went out for a smoke in between classes, but I think now even the teachers can't smoke anywhere near the schools.

Now, I grew up in what would be sanitized suburbs, on the outskirts of Austin and today live on the outskirts of Anchorage. But in the 1970's, most suburban kids that were age six or older had some degree of self-sufficiency! The Generation Joneser and X'ers, mainly those born in the late 1950's to early 1970's, were BAD! Meanest and toughest generation to ever grow up! Fathers that drank those shortneck Budweiser and Coors beers with red faces, screaming and cursing at their kids were not uncommon.

When I played little league baseball, you could heckle the opposing team as much as you wanted, harass your teammates like Lupus, etc. But there was the mandatory "good game" handshake with the opposing team at the end

Summer camp. I was a counselor several years back before I retired from the Air Force for kids of deployed parents. Summer camp was for the most part, Scouts or not, at least half the day of unstructured time! Now one hour if you're lucky and it's supervised! You don't want any boys sneaking unstructured time in the woods because God forbid they might start jacking off!

I know I'm being judgmental, but I really despise much of the generation that has been born in the 80's and 90's! Not all their fault, the No Child Left Behind and helicopter parents afraid of kids making the same mistakes they did crippled them more. Many can't find or hold a decent job because they weren't given enough real world and real life skills. Even worse off than the X'ers.

And one of my wife's friends has four boys between 5 and 13 years old. They NEVER go outside to play, just sit in the house playing video games, eating crap, and have a complexion like Darth Vader under his mask.

As a final note, Jonathan Martin needs to get his big boy panties on, LOL! I despise bullies today just as much as then, but nobody is given the skills to deal with them!

[–] LukeLovesFilm28 10 years ago

God. I was watching Bad News Bears the other day. It was the first time in a long time. And OMG. When Tanner said, "First, spicks, Jews, n-word and now a girl," I was thinking that everyone in the audience would walk out or have a heart attack, the pansies. They can't even enjoy the outrageousness of that comment coming out of the mouth of a 10 year old boy.