‘Do the jokes make you randy, baby? Or just uncomfortable…’: Gen X and Millennials Ask Gen Z's Take On the Iconic ‘Austin Powers’ Films

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Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Jun 26, 2024 2:00 PM EDT

Does the humor still land or are the outdated?

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  • If you are a millennial or Gen X then you know and love Austin Powers. This franchise was top tier comedy for these generations. In fact, as a millennial myself, I still catch myself quoting the comedy film and all my fellow millennials get it and laugh with me. But if I were to make these references in front of a younger generation, say Gen Z and Gen Alpha, would they get it? Or maybe they would get it, but would they also find it funny? These are the questions the internet is asking. The younger generations missed the James Bond era that the Austin Powers films were making fun of, so they might just see the jokes as offensive. But in actuality, they were making fun of something that was actually found a little offensive. The question was posed on Reddit and Gen Z seem to be giving a mixed review—some say the movie still slaps and they enjoy the comedy, while others say it's a generational humor kind of thing and they just don't get it. What do you think?

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    "The Austin Powers movies were made in the politically correct '90s to parody the absurdities of '60s-era Bond.❞
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    Does generation Z enjoy the Austin Powers movies or find them offensive and outdated? Discussion I recently watched Austin Powers with my nephew. He found half of it funny, but the other half he didn't really get. Some jokes he thought were racist and not funny. This made me wonder, Gen Z, do you like these movies, or do you find them offensive and outdated? Personally, I found these movies of really funny. I love that Mike Myers has the laugh. Per minute dialed up in these movies. There's const
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    Ө Yoda2000675 16h ago • That seems funny to me because Austin Powers is a direct parody of the old Bond movies, so the overt sequal and offensive jokes are part of the satire 6.3K Reply zuma15 • 16h ago Thank you, I was going to say this exactly. The joke is Austin's outdated views, not whatever now-offensive (and of course offensive in the 90s when it was made) se ist stuff he was saying. OP's nephew Orobably didn't understand the context. 2.1K Reply
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    • mikepan 18h ago The lapse in time from when Austin was frozen in 60s and unfrozen in the 90s is about the same as when the movie came out to now. 13K ☐ Reply redheadedjapanese • 18h ago STOP RUINING MY LIFE ✩ 7.6K Reply ...
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    Old-Chemistry-9151 • 18h ago I have a hard time laughing at a man who has lost his mojo. 2.8K Reply
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    Frozen_Shades 17h ago There's only two things in this world that I hate. People who don't respect other people's cultures and the Dutch. 3.9K ☐ Reply konydanza 16h ago Do you know who I am? Do you know how many anonymous henchmen I've killed over the years? 429 ☐ Reply
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    MainZack 18h ago • Yeah. I grew up watching them. Plus Austin understands consent anyway. Ө 2.8K ☐ Reply MeiNeeds MoreBuffs • 18h ago Austin Powers understands consent better than James Bond does, which is hilarious and definitely intentional 1.9K ☐ Reply
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    BigRedFury 18h ago • One thing I've noticed with younger folks and comedy is they simply don't know the references or context behind certain jokes. With Austin Powers, I could see a lot of jokes landing flat for your nephew if he doesn't have any understanding of the Connery era Bond movies or deeper cuts like In Like Flint. A good example from another series is the jive scene in Airplane! My nephew thought it was kinda funny but weird that a random, old white lady tried to assist those guys. He
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    SonnyBurnett189 • 18h ago Comedy is often relative to the time and place it was released. On the flip side, you probably wouldn't enjoy some of the more recent comedies that are specifically catered to a younger crowd. Reply > 521 AVery FineUsername • 17h ago My cousin Vinny is timeless 343 Reply
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    R3AN1M8R 18h ago • Besides the Fook Yu/ Fook Mi thing in Goldmember and Will Ferrel's character (who's doing a voice but really isn't doing anything stereotypical of any race or making any race the brunt of a joke) what could be considered racist in Austin Powers? Maybe I'm misremembering but I don't remember any racial jokes at all in the first two. 405 Reply The-Cynicist • 18h ago I'm sure there's some mild stuff with Foxy Cleopatra, but if Beyoncé is in on the joke it's probably not that big
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    WrongSubFools 18h ago The Austin Powers movies were made in the politically correct 90s to parody the absurdities of 60s-era Bond. Yes, it was full of jokes and stereotypes, but they gave it a framing device to make it enjoyable specifically to a generation who'd find that stuff offensive in its original form. One exception is Fat , which wasn't parodying 1960s fat jokes but simply making 1990s fat jokes. Other than that, I'd be interested in hearing what in the movie comes off as more offensive
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    berserk_zebra 18h ago. • I'd say movies from 15 years ago are considered more offensive today than Austin ever could be. Superbad, Tropic Thunder, and I'm sure I'm forgetting others... do the young even like forgetting Sarah Marshall? ↑ 69⇓ Reply
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    Sporkitized 14h ago This is how I feel about Idiocracy. Most comedies I enjoyed in the 00's aren't nearly as enjoyable to me. I've outgrown the punching down humor and I'm glad we've mostly moved past it culturally. But you have all the same humor in Idiocracy, just framed as "these are clearly idiots in the future" and it somehow works even better now than it did back then. 44 3 Reply ...
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    adamsandleryabish • 17h ago Austin Powers is a very strange piece of satire rooted in 60's Bond and spy movies in relation to the politically correct 90's. Its a relic of two very foreign eras to a young person today. Like obviously aspects of the movie are objectively funny to anyone but it still requires a lot of context to fully take it in 101 ☐ Reply PoorMansTonyStark 9h ago To me they've always felt like watching monty python making jokes about the bbc. Just not funny since I didn't live in
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    IWasOnThe18th Hole 18h ago • The movie was ahead of its time when it came to the idea of consent 40 83 ☐ Reply Wazula23 18h ago Consent wasn't invented in 2015. ↑ 79 ↓ + More replies ParlorSoldier Reply 18h ago Austin was a lover, he needed to know everyone was having a good time 34 ☐ Reply
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    pompeii12 • 17h ago Daddy wasn't there To take to the fair It seems he doesn't care 77 Reply Perihelion_PSUMNT No I dadn't • 12h ago 10 Reply Optional Depression . 8h ago If you've got a daddy issue, here's a daddy tissue. ↑ 5 ↓ Reply
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    Old_Heat3100 • 18h ago Eh younger people will literally watch the STOOOOP scene with the steam roller and go "omg that's so dumb why didn't he just move?" McBain meme "Dats da joke" was made for them Ө 75 Reply sylekta 18h ago • That million point turn stills gets me 91 Reply
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    PassionForSoccerGuy 18h ago Most of my Gen Z friends have watched these movies and think they're pretty funny. 56 Reply • thestoryteller13 15h ago These people are simply just looking for an echo chamber to confirm "wahhhh this new generation and is soo woke" it's so annoying.. gen x said it about millennials and now they are saying it about us (as if most gen z didn't start in 96-97 Imfao). Can we agree to stop this madness? Each generation has its own pop culture let's just leave it at that 33
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    FenisDembo82 18h ago They are certainly more enjoyable if you grew up on the early Bond movies. → 54 ⇓ Reply not_cinderella • 17h ago I'm never seen a James Bond movie (I know I know but it just doesn't appeal to me) but my sister showed me the Austin Power movies at a young age and I loved them. I didn't even know they were a James Bond spoof until this thread. ↑ од Reply
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    LazybyNature • 18h ago I love the movie, but I would guess most young people don't have the same exposure to the classic James Bond and other spy movies that it satirizes. Also, there are quite a few jokes that reference older cultural ideas that they just wouldn't have exposure to. The Zima reference is the best example of this off the top of my head. ☐ Reply 41 pinkocatgirl • 15h ago Poor Gen Z didn't grow up with those rerun cable channels... exposure to older shows and movies used to be a lo
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    K1NG3R 16h ago • I'm technically Gen-Z (late 90s), so more like Gameboy Gen-Z, not TikTok Gen-Z, and I feel like most people my age haven't seen a lot of the Bond films except maybe a few of the Daniel Craig ones. Maybe I'm out of the loop, but I didn't know anyone watching Goldfinger casually. Also, I don't remember any references to Austin Powers when I was in HS or college. We had a professor do the "1 million dollars" joke in class, and I think a few people got it, but the joke died there. I
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2000s millennial humor gen x humor '90s movies early 2000s millennials james bond parody 90s films comedy movie gen x comedy gen z parodies austin powers films early oughts '90s films early 2000s humor
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