13 Classic Comedies That Fearlessly Challenge Your Sensibilities

      These unrestrained comedies have no regard for your feelings.

      From the outrageous hits of the 1970s to contemporary films released in our supposedly more sensitive era, these movies prioritize humor over meaningful messages.

      Yet, they sometimes incorporate a clever message as well.

      **Not Another Teen Movie (2000)**

      Credit: C/O

      This harsh yet affectionate satire of teen films, referencing titles from Lucas to She’s All That, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and The Breakfast Club, is a barrage of offensiveness filled with sexual innuendos, bathroom humor, outrageous violence, and surprisingly sharp social critique.

      Where else would you witness Chris Evans utilizing a banana inappropriately, white teens pretending to be Asian, and football players getting split in two?

      Not Another Teen Movie could eliminate all its offensive gags and remain hilarious, but it earns extra points for the audacity of keeping them intact.

      **White Chicks (2004)**

      Credit: Columbia

      Marlon and Shawn Wayans portray Black FBI agents who disguise themselves as wealthy white socialites to infiltrate an elitist Hamptons scene and thwart a conspiracy. Throughout their journey, they observe white behavior in the absence of other races, while also gaining insight into women's perspectives.

      If you’re not offended by something in White Chicks, you’re not paying attention. The Wayans critique privileged white individuals, as well as others, bringing attention to our peculiar racial and sexual complexities along the way. White Chicks continually keeps you guessing about its limits, and it tests those limits significantly.

      **Airplane (1980)**

      Credit: C/O

      June Cleaver speaking jive is deeply inappropriate — yet one of the most hilarious moments in film history.

      Kudos to Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker for the idea of Barbara Billingsley delivering the line, “Oh stewardess? I speak jive.” And for the countless other superb jokes in Airplane, regarded as one of the greatest comedies ever.

      You may question its taste, but it’s better to simply enjoy the laughs, of which there are many.

      **Team America: World Police (2004)**

      Credit: Paramount

      After watching this puppet-based spy thriller that mocks Kim Jong-Il and lambasts Sean Penn even more, it’s hard to take any self-righteous actor seriously.

      Puppet love scenes, excessive vomiting, and unabashed nationalism — Team America, from the creators of South Park, satirizes gung-ho patriotism while also serving as a compelling defense of American foreign policy at its best.

      There's even a brilliant metaphor involving three different body parts that we reflect on more than we probably should.

      **Borat (2006)**

      Credit: 20th Century Fox

      Sacha Baron Cohen embodies a sexist, anti-Semitic, and generally clueless Kazakh journalist who encourages Americans to voice things they’d typically keep to themselves. He is magnificently ignorant, but his naivety reveals the worst in people who should know better. (And occasionally, the best.)

      Borat’s offensive conduct is outrageous, yet his craziness elicits sympathy, and Baron Cohen along with his team achieves a remarkable blend of disgust and vulnerability. What’s most impressive is how much of it Baron Cohen had to invent spontaneously, often in tense and risky scenarios.

      The 2020 sequel, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, is also excellent.

      **The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)**

      Credit: C/O

      Packed with excessive nudity and racial humor, The Kentucky Fried Movie exemplifies what many might deem problematic, yet it serves as a quintessential snapshot of the liberated 1970s. It identifies and satirizes genres ranging from kung fu to Blaxploitation to women-in-prison films through quick-hitting sketches that mock numerous grindhouse classics.

      Surprisingly, it’s also a significant film — it marked a major breakthrough for its director, John Landis, and its writers, the comedic trio of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, who would soon create Airplane.

      Kentucky Fried Movie is one of those comedies that Generation X kids discussed in hushed tones because many parents prohibited them from watching it. It has earned its reputation as what we once referred to as a “dirty movie,” in a way that still feels rebellious, wrong, and exhilarating.

      **Coming to America (1988)**

      Credit: Paramount

      Are you Black, white, Jewish, Christian, African, American, young, or old?

      In the cartoonishly exaggerated world of Coming to America, there's something to offend everyone, as Eddie Murphy embodies characters across nearly all the demographics mentioned, mercilessly ridiculing them all.

      Coming to America critiques royalty, the newly wealthy, and the struggling underclass while emphatically focusing on gender dynamics. Its keen observation of human behavior leaves viewers in awe.

      **Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)**

      Credit: C/O