Nice Dreams was the first C&C movie I had seen. I watched it when I was in college, when I was first getting into grass.
The whole film has a great vibe, and while the jokes don't always land, the movie feels like a time capsule, in a way, which makes it fun to watch in the 2020s.
Unfortunately, the past has a way of being problematic, and the bit where Cheech rapes an unconscious woman, before breaking the fourth-wall to have the audience justify him, is about as tone-deaf as it gets. And it ruins the movie.
The fact that he is a protagonist, and a "beloved character," is as self-destructive as it gets. Not only does he commit the act, but then turns to camera, admits to the audience that what he did was wrong, but then completely exonerates himself by pointing the finger back at the audience, saying, "you would have done it too!"
See? You can't get offended, because you would have raped too.
There's so much to unpack. It's all very problematic; and while the excuse "it was a different time" will always be thrown around to defend works like this, I think history will show that nobody wants this kind of film.
After all the former stoners from the 70s/80s die off, no one will be scrubbing through HBOmax looking for their next Cheech n Chong experience.
They'll probably look for something without horribly dated rape jokes.
The whole film has a great vibe, and while the jokes don't always land, the movie feels like a time capsule, in a way, which makes it fun to watch in the 2020s.
Unfortunately, the past has a way of being problematic, and the bit where Cheech rapes an unconscious woman, before breaking the fourth-wall to have the audience justify him, is about as tone-deaf as it gets. And it ruins the movie.
The fact that he is a protagonist, and a "beloved character," is as self-destructive as it gets. Not only does he commit the act, but then turns to camera, admits to the audience that what he did was wrong, but then completely exonerates himself by pointing the finger back at the audience, saying, "you would have done it too!"
See? You can't get offended, because you would have raped too.
There's so much to unpack. It's all very problematic; and while the excuse "it was a different time" will always be thrown around to defend works like this, I think history will show that nobody wants this kind of film.
After all the former stoners from the 70s/80s die off, no one will be scrubbing through HBOmax looking for their next Cheech n Chong experience.
They'll probably look for something without horribly dated rape jokes.