Dumb and Dumber To’s Netflix Success Reminded Fans that It Aged Horribly

Dumb and Dumber will forever remain a classic to many millennials due to the hilarious antics and crazy one-liners from Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels’ harmless characters, Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne. It was one of those films that you could not help but tell your friends about, mostly because you could not stop quoting it. When the second film came out, fans were not too excited because Carrey and Daniels had no part in it. However, two decades after the original, when a third film was released, bringing the iconic duo back for more shenanigans, people were lining up to buy tickets. Sadly, no one, including the die-hard fans, seemed to even remotely like it.

Due to the 20-year lapse in time, it felt as if Lloyd and Harry had outgrown their own stupidity, and everyone knew that except them. The nostalgia for innocent pranks and offensive humor took a significant nosedive with the sequel, but now, 10 years after its release, Netflix has found a way to revive the legendary moronic pair. As fans of the original are rewatching Dumb and Dumber To, or some are just now finding out about it thanks to the streaming service, they are horribly reminded that just about everything within it has aged horribly.

Mama June’s Cameo was Controversial at the Time

Cameos are usually fun and humorous as big-name stars join the main cast of a TV show or film, but when June “Mama June” Shannon, also known as Honey Boo Boo’s very troubled mother, got her 15 seconds in the spotlight on Dumb and Dumber To, viewers merely grimaced. Shannon played Harry’s nameless love interest in Lloyd’s fantasy dream where he shows up to Harry’s trailer and sweeps his beautiful daughter away.

Shannon comes out of the trailer, says a couple of lines, and gets felt up by Carrey’s character, but there is absolutely no defining element to her role. If viewers did not already know Shannon from her previous reality television shows, then they may have overlooked her part altogether. However, many recognized her immediately and thought her presence in the sequel was a bad call on the director’s part.

Mama June’s Love Life Put Her in Hot Water with Fans

Months before Dumb and Dumber To premiered, Shannon had been receiving quite a bit of backlash from Here Comes Honey Boo Boo fans because she was openly dating a sex offender. According to TMZ, she had been dating Mark McDaniels, a known child molester who had served time and assaulted one of Shannon’s relatives, for several months.

In an attempt to distance itself from the controversy, TLC even pulled back and canceled Here Comes Honey Boo Boo after its fourth season. Now, taking a look at Dumb and Dumber To, directors really should have asked themselves if they wanted to get wrapped up in the mix of things for a few seconds of a semi-recognizable individual.

Animal Cruelty Is Never Funny

When it comes to the Dumb and Dumber franchise, everyone knows there are going to be some questionable jokes and scenes. However, anything dealing with the cruelty of animals is just plain wrong. In the original film, viewers had to endure the whole decapitating of Petey the parakeet, and the selling of his lifeless body to Billy in 4C (Brady Bluhm). Now, in the sequel, the animal cruelty significantly increases, and yet, no one is laughing.

Dumb and Dumber To Has a lot of Animal Abuse

After revealing his 20-year elaborate prank to Harry, Lloyd and Harry make their way back to Harry’s apartment where Billy, who has now grown up to appreciate and house many rare birds, still lives. Lloyd attempts to feed Billy’s macaws Pop Rocks, but Billy yells at him to pick up the candy before he makes his pets sick.

Later on, Lloyd reveals that he dropped off Harry’s cat — who actually got into some meth back at Harry’s apartment — at Billy’s so that he could take care of him while the two were away. Harry is distraught and brings up the fact that Billy has so many pet birds, but Lloyd does not see the problem with the arrangement. Moments later, Billy walks into a bloodbath of all of his pets, and there is absolutely no humor to be found in the scene.

Many Jokes are Cruel and Tasteless

Making a sequel 20 years after the original is much harder than it seems. Sure, getting the original cast on board is one thing, and getting them to nail down their characters and make their crazy antics come across as authentic can be doable. However, the real issue lies with the events that have taken place in the real world and how mindsets have changed over time. In 1994, people were a lot more accepting of cruel and off-putting jokes about anything and everyone, but in 2014, some tolerances had certainly changed. Now, in 2024, as Netflix has tried to revive Dumb and Dumber To, plenty of previous fans and new viewers are just disgusted or annoyed by the film.

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Crude and Shallow Jokes are Simply Outdated

Lloyd and Harry may not be the brightest of the bunch, but even they have to know that everything they say does not need to be a joke or offensive. From taking jabs about blind individuals to mocking the fact that women actually are successful in their careers, it seems like the shallow jokes were written for a much different decade.

When Lloyd makes fun of Harry’s adoptive mother speaking a different language, there are no laughs happening in the audience. When Harry lets Lloyd know that his failing kidney story was simply an elaborate prank, the joke seems old and washed up. Perhaps this is a film that should have been a one-hit wonder because with all the negative reviews surrounding the sequel, the nostalgia and brilliance of the first film are slowly washing away.