It might sound like a cliche, but it’s also 100 percent accurate to say that the times are always a-changin’, and that extends all across every aspect of society. There’s a reason why plenty of beloved TV shows and classic movies haven’t sat too well with modern audiences when viewed through a 21st Century lens, but which titles couldn’t be made today for other reasons?
That’s the interesting subject put forward for the folks over on Reddit to discuss, dissect, and analyze, with the conversation already throwing up innumerable instances of films that couldn’t exist in the way we know and love them if they were plunged into active development today.
It’s always a good idea to start things off with an excellent point, with the OP stating quite rightly that the exponential advancement in technology makes the concept of Home Alone moot in the era of smart phones, ring cameras, trackers, and all the rest, even if that didn’t stop Disney Plus from foisting Home Sweet Home Alone upon us last year.
For the most part, anything set in the age before cellphones became commonplace would make the cut based on the comments, which is very true when the infernal handheld devices have created and solved an alarming number of problems people didn’t have to consider as recently as 20-25 years ago.
The Blair Witch Project‘s unique marketing campaign wouldn’t fly in an internet-savvy environment, North by Northwest‘s simply solved case of mistaken identity, classic rom-com You’ve Got Mail, Joel Schumacher’s Phone Booth, and Johnny Mnemonic almost killing its protagonist with a mere 300gb upload are all pointed out, which only makes us rue the technological age that much more.