We’re all familiar with the sitcom that follows a group of teenagers as they live their lives in the 70s. In That 70s Show, which actually began airing in the late 90s, we meet all sorts of dynamic, wild, and quirky characters as they go through life dealing with relationships, school, and family. However, while this show is still hilarious, not everything from it has aged incredibly well. In case you’re wondering, here are 10 things from the series that don’t exactly hold up by today’s standards.
The Huge Deal About Homosexuality
This show is definitely not homophobic, and, sure, it takes place in the 70s, but that doesn’t mean this show doesn’t feed stereotypes. In the first season, Eric starts hanging out with Buddy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). He discovers that Buddy is gay when Buddy tries to kiss him.
This episode perpetuates the idea that gay people are attracted to all men, which is kind of ridiculous. Also, remember when Fez has a weird dream about Kelso, and they’re both horrified by the thought of being attracted to each other? Yeah, we, unfortunately, do, too.
Frowning Upon Female Empowerment
Donna is a strong woman, and she constantly is getting made fun of for her “non-girly-like” tendencies. This theme shows up most prominently, though, when her mother, Midge, starts taking female empowerment classes in “Stolen Car”.
Bob is not pleased about this and has difficulty accepting the fact that Midge should have her own ambitions and strengths. That’s pretty misogynistic Bob, and we’re not having any of it.
Insulting Men’s Emotions
Red is pretty old-school, and it goes without saying that he likes his gender stereotypes. Yes, some of the characters do break these, but it doesn’t go without being chastised by the other characters.
Red is constantly on Eric for not being manly enough. Another example is in the episode “Grandma’s Dead” when Red’s brother comes to visit after their mother passes away. Red is embarrassed that his brother is emotional at the funeral. How dare a man cry over his mother’s death, right?
Contraception
There’s a whole lot of talk about sex in this series. Of course, it’s the 70s, and what else do young adults talk about? However, one thing that definitely hasn’t aged well is the whole deal with contraception.
There are a couple of times where either Donna or Jackie thinks they are pregnant, which is humorous, and, honestly pretty relatable. However, everyone tries to get involved with Donna’s means of contraception, and we’re not having anyone tell any woman what to do with her body, ever.
Expectations for Sex
Again, sex is a pretty common theme for this group of friends. Sure, kids can be mean and get pretty involved with each other’s sex lives, but this show doesn’t do anybody any favors when it comes to gender expectations.
For example, when Eric and Donna sleep together but don’t have sex, Eric is chastised for not being a ‘man’. Similarly, Eric, for who knows what reason, pulls Donna’s pants down during a basketball game, revealing her “granny panties.” Of course, she’s made fun of for this. Today’s lesson: have sex when you’re ready and wear whatever the hell you want.
Everything To Do With Leo
Sure, Leo is the hippie guy that loves photography and smokes a lot of pot and has long hair and is super stupid. Need we really say more about this absolutely atrocious stereotype? Yeah, it’s funny, and we all love Tommy Chong. In fact, we’re sure this guy has absolutely no grievances with playing this character.
However, we’re not exactly sure that this character ages well in terms of inclusivity and stereotypes. Leo is also kind of a bad person who ends up in jail and has tons of money problems. This huge jab at stoners isn’t sitting well with us.
The Shaming of “Big Rhonda”
If you remember at the beginning of the fourth season, the gang is introduced to Big Rhonda. For starters, her name is literally “Big,” and, yes, that should be offensive.
What’s even worse, though, is that Fez amazingly becomes attracted to her after he gets drunk, and it’s, like, a huge deal. We don’t really have to explain much more about why this isn’t aging well. Yes, you should be offended about everything to do with this character. Oh yeah, they also give her a makeover?
“Eric’s Hot Cousin”
Yes, this is in fact even the name of the episode that you probably remember cringing all the way through. When Eric’s cousin comes to visit, the boys realize that she is older, mature, and smoking hot. However, she takes a liking to Eric.
Of course, this is all a ploy by her to get revenge on Eric for some childhood prank he pulled on her. Still, this episode is absolutely appalling to watch, and it’s definitely one of Eric’s least redeeming moments in the entire series. Can’t say incest was ever okay, but it certainly hasn’t aged any better.
“Let’s Spend the Night Together”
This is another episode title, and we chose to include the whole thing because there are multiple parts that are definitely not holding up.
For starters, Hyde finally meets his real biological father. He happens to be a black man, which ends up being the source of many jokes and awkwardness. Sure, it’s the 70s, and, yes, Hyde is white, but this whole race fiasco shouldn’t exactly be surprising. On the other side of the gang, Donna takes Eric to a feminism rally. This whole scene is horribly unrepresentative of feminists—and rather depicts radical ones—and gives a bad name to all women and men in the movement towards equality. This didn’t hold up then, and it’s definitely only getting worse as time goes on.
When Charlie Falls Off the Water Tower
There’s a lot of things from this sitcom that should, and do, make you cringe and definitely question how on earth kids are allowed to watch it these days. While we almost included the plethora of strippers, dating older women, and the weird thing that was Donna and Eric’s engagement, we settled on this item for the last spot on this list.
Kelso falls off the water tower A LOT, but do you remember when their new friend, Charlie, falls off the tower in the first episode of the 8th season? Do you remember that he dies? This was supposed to be funny, and it’s actually just kicked under the rug, like, immediately after. Yeah, we draw the line at young teenagers falling to their violent death.
We still love this hilarious and quirky show, and we know you’ll watch it again. However, you might want to just skip these episodes or at the very least, take them with a grain of salt.
