If you’re a millennial, chances are you grew up watching, endlessly quoting, and very likely loving Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. That wacky, over-the-top character portrayed by Jim Carrey was deeply entrenched in pop culture at the time, but now that we’re all adults and have the gift of hindsight, many people think it might be one of the most deeply offensive movies ever to hit the big screen.
1. Many of the jokes are extremely problematic.
Perhaps the cruelest “gags” have to do with the character Finkle. Finkle has escaped from prison, so in order to try and find him, Ace Ventura pretends he has Downs syndrome, throws on a pink tutu, and pretends he has a mental health issue to infiltrate the mental hospital. Yikes.
2. Lest we forget, Finkle is actually Lois Einhorn.
Einhorn is a police detective that Ace actually had a crush on one time, but once he realizes that he actually kissed her and she’s transgender, he goes through a horrific scene of gay panic in which he throws up, washes his mouth out, burns his clothes, and cries under a hot shower while Boy George’s ‘The Crying Game’ plays in the background. What the hell?
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4. Oh, and then there’s the animal cruelty.
Ace Ventura is allegedly so in love with animals that he can’t bear them experiencing the slightest bit of suffering. However, the fact that Snowflake the dolphin lives its entire life in captivity is more than a little problematic. The fact that Ace never so much as notices it or comments on it shows just how flimsy his character’s defining personality trait really was.
5. I don’t think “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” would ever get made today.
We can all clearly see just how offensive the movie and its brand of “comedy” was today, which should make us grateful that for as far as we still have to go, we have also come a long way.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is considered to be offensive in 2023.
And the irony? The missing dolphin in the film is called Snowflake.#CancelJimCarrey#MakeAceVentura3 pic.twitter.com/Qt76ZIRyDh
— H U G H E Z Y ð®ðª (@TheHughezy) January 7, 2023
We now live in a world where the younger generation finds Ace Ventura: Pet Detective offensive. Ace Ventura. pic.twitter.com/QTSV7aUKrP
— JT (@Jaberuski) March 27, 2019
Millennials calling “Ace Ventura” offensive…yeah. It is. That’s why it’s great ð¤·âï¸
— Sprinkles (@GoGoSirico) August 2, 2022
This guy on a dating app went off about millennials saying Ace Ventura is offensive. He also wanted me to explain it all to him because I’m “so smart”.
No surprise, he’s 27 and white. Hard pass pic.twitter.com/5Z39kqt6zn
— Dee (blue m&m) ð«¶ð½ (@MissCWilshire) September 25, 2019