Some movies just don’t hold up over time. Even movies from the ‘90s and early 2000s show us how far we’ve come in terms of equality and respect. Sexism, racism, fatphobia and lack of diversity plague even our movies today, so it’s impressive to find some that hold up to our standards today.
Here’s 6 movies that I’ve found to hold up well, even today.
- Twitches
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Beyond the magic and saving the world, Twitches covers deeper themes that still resonate today. For example, the twins were separated for years before they met, but they weren’t just separated by distance, they were also separated by class. One twin lives in a mansion in a gated community while the other one is crashing on her friend’s couch, desperately looking for a job. One is excited when they find each other, and the other is doubtful and cynical.
When I was young, their differences seemed more for comedic effect, with their contrasting personalities leading them on their adventures. Watching it now, however, it’s obvious their differences come from their different privileges. Considering the United States currently is among the developed countries with the widest class disparities, this movie does a pretty good job at giving a snapshot of that through the main characters.
- 10 Things I Hate About You
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The introduction of Kat (Julia Stiles) as the classic angry feminist trope at the beginning is cringeworthy to say the least. However, the rest of the movie does so much to highlight the flaws in that stereotype, that we can forgive it. One of the most important parts of the movie is how, despite their differences, Kat wants to protect her younger sister from a predatory upperclassman. She shares her own story about feeling pressured into having sex too young, which is a very Me Too Era plot detail to include considering this movie came out in 1999.
In addition to its feminist value, the late ‘90s fashion from this movie is also making a comback with it’s patterned skirts and colorful hairclips nearly two decades later.
- Princess Diaries 2
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First off, Anne Hathaway looks like she hasn’t aged since the movie came out in the early 2000s. Secondly, even though most of the movie is about her needing to get married to ascend the throne, she ends up standing up to the members of parliament and becomes a queen without having a king. While Genovia is a made up country, the rise of independent, female leaders is very real.
Within the past five years, there are more female leaders in the world than in the past century. At this rate, however, it will take a long time before females achieve equity on a global scale. Anne Hathaway for president?
- Wall-E
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This movie literally shows Earth being uninhabitable because people didn’t take care of the environment. I’m just going to leave it at that.
- Cheetah Girls
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From the fashion to the friendship, this movie never gets old. Even better, it has a group of teenage girls with different body types coming from different economic backgrounds. Even compared to movies today, it does a pretty good job at realistically portraying a diverse group of friends. I know I’ve never had a friend group where we all looked alike, or wore the same size, but that’s the default for a lot of movies from the early 2000s. Cheetah Girls effortlessly did what movies today are finally striving for: real life diversity.
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Cadet Kelly
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Hillary Duff meets military school will always be a classic, but the story of the independent, artistic Cadet Kelly goes beyond a shallow depiction of a teenage girl. The movie follows Kelly moving from an arts school to a military school, and dealing with reconciling her individual identity with the rules she finds herself facing.
This movie accurately portrays a young teenage girl trying to express herself, without trivializing her problems. Even though she’s young, Cadet Kelly is developed as a positive female role model who solves her own problems and cares for her family and friends (and even better…there’s not a forced heteronormative relationship that brings her a happy ending!).
While these movies are better depictions of the nuances in our society, there are still many movies today that aren’t accurate reflections. We can celebrate movies that do it well, we need to acknowledge there is still room to grow and improve.