There’s a point in time when you finally realize how many dated jokes there are in your favorite ’90s movies. It may not seem like ’90s movie jokes are that outdated, but 1990 was decades ago and some of the topical ’90s jokes are now pretty old references. Even if you watched Jumanji in the early 2000s, you may not realize that the joke about postal workers actually refers to a specific event in the late ’80s/’90s that completely went over your head.
This list breaks down specific topical jokes in ’90s movies that will definitely go over your head nowadays.
1. In ‘Robin Hood: Men in Tights,’ Cary Elwes Makes Fun Of Kevin Costner’s Inability To Do An English Accent In ‘Prince of Thieves’
Robin Hood: Men in Tights not only succeeded in parodying the story of Robin Hood, but also a preceding blockbuster Robin Hood adaptation, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which was released only two years prior. Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner, was criticized for Costner’s performance as the folk hero and his inability to speak with an English accent.
In Men in Tights, Robin Hood was played by Cary Elwes, a proper English actor, who poked fun at Costner by stating that he could speak with an English accent, unlike some other Robin Hoods.
2. In ‘Jumanji,’ A Gun Store Owner Asks Van Pelt If He’s A Postal Worker – A Reference To A Rash Of Post Office Rage Incidents In the ’80s And ’90s
If you watched Jumanji as a kid in the ’90s, there’s a pretty good chance this joke went right over your head. In the scene where Van Pelt is purchasing a high-powered rifle, the gun store owner asks Van Pelt if he’s a postal worker.
This is a reference to a series of incidents in the late ’80s and ’90s regarding disgruntled postal workers who went on a spree of shootings, coining the term “going postal.” It’s a pretty grim joke if you think about it.
3. In ‘Fight Club,’ Tyler Durden References The Infamous Lorena Bobbitt Incident
Fight Club is a very ’90s film, to say the least, but one seemingly random line of dialogue was actually a response to an early-’90s media frenzy that revolved around John and Lorena Bobbitt.
In the film, Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) warns the Narrator (Edward Norton) that a woman could chop off his manhood and throw it out of a moving car, which is exactly what Lorena Bobbitt did to her husband in 1993 – it was later successfully reattached.
4. In ‘The Naked Gun 33 1/3,’ A Character Repeats Rodney King’s Famous Quote About The LA Riots, ‘Can’t We All Just Get Along’
Rodney King and the LA riots may be more relevant now than ever, but in the early ’90s, everyone with a television set had seen the footage of an unarmed Black man being mercilessly beaten by four LAPD police officers. The incident sparked a set of historically significant riots that would eventually be matched by the 2020 George Floyd protests.
Nonetheless, the period of civil unrest sparked by Rodney King was encapsulated in the 1994 film Naked Gun 33 1/3 when a character declares publicly, “Can’t we all just get along?” which mirrors King’s same exact pleas to the public in the early ’90s.
5. In ‘The Mask,’ Stanley Ipkiss Channels Sally Field’s 1985 Oscars Acceptance Speech
Sally Field’s speech at the 57th Academy Awards in 1985 is a reference that almost got lost in time if not for being a brief gag in The Mask starring Jim Carrey. Usually, award acceptance speeches aren’t meant to stand the test of time, but every so often, you’ll come across a speech so extraordinarily unusual that it’s hard to forget.
Sally’s speech was so drawn out and melodramatic that it inspired a brief parody in The Mask where the Mask (Carrey) reenacts her speech during his prolonged stint of insanity. Apparently, the speech also sparked a Mandela effect controversy.
6. n ‘Addams Family Values,’ Pugsley’s Serial Killer Trading Cards Include Amy Fisher, The Long Island Student Involved In A Famous Attempted Murder
The name Amy Fisher may be completely unfamiliar now, but some folks may remember the media circus in the ’90s that revolved around Fisher’s attempted slaying of her lover’s wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco. Dubbed “The Long Island Lolita” at age 17, Amy’s story was so popular, her name was used as a gag in Addams Family Values.
In the film, Fisher is one of Pugsley’s serial killer trading cards, along with Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer.
7. In ‘Aladdin,’ The Genie Imitates Arsenio Hall’s Patented Fist Pump
Out of all of Genie’s impressions in Aladdin, there is one in particular that perfectly encapsulates the ’90s, while confusing kids of the 2000s who have never heard of Arsenio Hall. If that name still draws blanks for you, Arsenio Hall is an actor who had his own late-night talk show from 1989 to 1994.
Hall would do his signature fist pump during the show’s intro to pump up the crowd, the same one Genie impersonated in the film, which is now a very outdated reference.
8. In ‘The World Is Not Enough,’ Bond And Moneypenny Make A Flirtatious Reference To The Bill Clinton/Ken Starr Report
A James Bond film is probably the last place you’d expect a topical joke, especially when we have Austin Powers for that, but The World Is Not Enough did manage to include one very specific reference to a famous 1990s scandal now known as the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.
In the film, Moneypenny [referring to a cigar] says, “I know exactly where to put that,” referencing the claims by Monica Lewinsky that Bill Clinton had her use a cigar during an act of intercourse.
9. In ‘Lethal Weapon 4,’ Detective Butters Warns A Suspect He Better Not Hire O.J. Simpson’s Lawyer
O.J. Simpson jokes may be getting a little stale now, but back in the ’90s, it was still a fresh wound. In 1995, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty for the slaying of his ex-wife and her friend in what was essentially the trial of the century, thanks to a rockstar defense team led by Johnnie Cochran.
This was referenced in Lethal Weapon 4 during the Chinatown chase scene when Butters (Chris Rock) apprehends a perp, warning him not to get Johnnie Cochran as his lawyer.